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| www.thepaintedburro.com |
This place does not ooze cheesy Tex-Mex (Thank God!). It also doesn't reflect authentic Mexican street food establishments, but the first sense stimulated upon entering is definitely a wonderfully enticing smell of great food!
The service provided by Kara and her colleagues was superb. We received a very warm welcome and Kara, our server, was friendly and offered great recommendations.
Seasonal ingredients (corn, squash, zucchini, mushroom) make a major appearance on the menu.
We started with house made corn tortilla chips and the original guacamole. We loved the creamy guacamole, but weren't fans of the salsa. Though I can appreciate a hearty salsa-more than chunky-this salsa contained strips of stringy veggies that made it less than appealing. The flavor was just ok and didn't quite make up for the off textures.
"The Painted Burro offers an incredible list of over 100 bottles of craft 100% agave tequilas, mezcals and aged rums from all over Latin America."
I enjoyed the Ilegal (pronounced "eeh-lay-gal") Mezcal flight
Ilegal Mezcals are small artisanal batches produced from 100% espadin.
1. Ilegal Mezcal Joven: From Oaxaca, Mexico. Each bottle is wax sealed and bears a hand-numbered parchment-style label.
2. Ilegal Mezcal Reposado: From Tlacolula, Oaxaca, Mexico. The initial reposado batch (2010) was limited to 1836 bottles and rested for ~4 months in medium char American oak barrels.
3. Ilegal Mezcal Anejo
I have come to love Mezcals. As a scotch drinker, and one who appreciates a peety scotch, I enjoy the smoky characteristic of Mezcals. All three were lovely with the Reposado being my favorite.
To read more about different types of tequilas (blanco, reposado, anejo, etc.), click here.
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| The Mezcal Flight. The reddish juice was the palate cleanser which was made up of several tropical fruits! |
The margaritas were also pretty tasty. The house made original was refreshing and I really loved the fresh, herbaceous cucumber+mint marg!
We were all blown away by the pork belly, which my friend says will change your life!
Succulent, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of pork belly in a sweet & tangy serrano chile & tamarind glaze over frisee and radish salad. One of my friends saved the tasty glaze to dip other things into! That's how amazing it was!
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| Pork belly! |
The "Cholo" corn cob coated in roasted garlic mayo, cojita cheese, and cayenne was a bit more garlicky than I anticipated with this classic Mexican dish, but good nonetheless. The corn was super sweet and fresh which played well with the cheese and spicy mayo.
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| Traditional Mexican Grilled Corn w/ a Twist! |
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| Local goat meat, tres quesos, poblano rajas, roasted red pepper & tomato-chipotle salsa empanadas! |
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| Chorizo de la Casa Taco! |
Beautifully presented, the Chorizo del la casa taco
topped with a farm egg “soleado”, papas, chipotle mayo was pretty
tasty. The egg added a nice mild balance to the spice of the mayo and
chorizo.
I found the flavors of the Fish taco (Crispy Maine Redfish) with
an abundance of savoy cabbage & jalapeno slaw and baja mayo to be a bit one dimensional and flat, though the fish was very fresh and only lightly fried (the way I like).
an abundance of savoy cabbage & jalapeno slaw and baja mayo to be a bit one dimensional and flat, though the fish was very fresh and only lightly fried (the way I like).
The Short Rib Barbacoa taco was served with a decent amount of pulled short rib prepared in a red wine Mexican cola mole sauce, corn, serrano salsa, and sprinkled with cotija cheese! The meat was perfectly tender and savory. I really loved the addition of the cotija cheese for a little extra sharp bite!
The side of charro beans was perfect. The beans were tender, but not mushy and had great flavor.
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| Redfish taco, Short rib taco, and side of Charro beans |
The White Gulf Shrimp "Diablo" taco was amazing! The smoky, char-grilled, spicy shrimp were served with guacamole and a habanero+mango salsa. The shrimp were flavored nicely! I found the Pork “Cochinita" taco with pineapple+serrano salsa and a spicy citrus achiote (which added notes of pepper) to be pretty good. The meat was moist and seasoned well.
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| Pork taco, charro beans, and shrimp taco! |
We were served the served the apple cobbler (a new seasonal dessert item) on the house! The apples were sweetened to perfection and warm under a nice buttery, crumb crust! It was topped with a lovely, savory salted caramel ice cream with was the perfect pairing of sweet, savory, and tart deliciousness!
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| Apple cobbler with salted caramel ice cream! |
And finally, I had to try the corn popsicles I've heard about! It was intriguing, but that's as far as it went! I think maybe adding a bit more cream and sugar elements will really elevate this sweet treat. It did contain kernels so the texture was also interesting. I am glad that I gave it a try. I'd like to try a few of the other interesting cold treats like the avocado ice cream!
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| Corn Popsicle |
Overall, we really enjoyed The Painted Burro.
Have you been?
What's your favorite dish?
Disclosure: I received the apple cobble dish gratis.
