Rincon Criollo, 1523 Grandville Ave ~ 3/21/14

Scouting for restaurants we haven't written up, we came across this one south on Grandville Avenue. As we got close, we started to recall being here before some years ago and when we walked in, we were sure of it. At that time we took a look around, no one was there, employees or customers, the buffet looked closed, and we walked out. Today we stayed and were glad we did.

The small space holds about 8 tables for 4, and again, there were no customers there but we were eating a very late lunch. Three employees were on hand, however, and we were immediately greeted by a server to take our beverage orders (it's bottled water or cans of soda). Music was blaring so loud when we walked in we knew we had to say something. But before we could, our server turned it down.

That server was replaced with another who brought us our menus and was incredibly friendly and informative. He let us take our time and had helpful suggestions. The buffet was available but we tend to avoid buffets. Ordering off the menu, we started with a recommendation, Tostones Rellenos, stuffed fried plantains with miscellaneous vegetables, spices, & chicken. Wow ~ we could eat these everyday.

Contrary to our usual ordering practices, we ordered our main dishes before our appetizer arrived and that turned out to be a smart move. This chef is making everything from scratch and we were there one hour before our entrees arrived. While we were waiting, several customers came in for take-out orders and another couple entered to dine in. Everyone knew everyone else, except us :-) Then a gentleman entered who greeted the seated couple, walked into the kitchen where he greeted the staff, and walked back out holding what looked like a potato. He joined the seated couple. After a few minutes, he walked over to our table and told us there was one Alcapurria left and in 5 minutes if we didn't order it, he would. How could we resist? He said it was more addictive than Lay's potato chips ~ you can't eat just one.

So we said yes, we wanted it, and he promptly went into the kitchen and got it for us. We sliced it up to share it. And this item, mashed up plaintain crust, briefly deep fried, and stuffed with pork & spices, was incredibly tasty. This friendly man soon left, saying he had to meet a client. Then our main dishes arrived ~ Bistec ala criollo ~ sauteed skirt steak with veggies, Puerto Rican rice (server recommended), and salad with a lovely oil & vinegar dressing.

The other was a dish offered for two, Bohio Criollo ~ skirt steak, chicken & shrimp sauteed with green peppers, red onion, and mushrooms. It was a work of art, and massive! Matt & Rachael shared it and took huge take-home boxes. They also split an accompanying salad.

We all added hot sauce (provided on the table) to our dishes. The food is loaded with flavor but not with heat so we adjusted accordingly. A little while after our dishes arrived, the chef came to our table to ask if we liked the food. That was wonderful, personal service. The fairly large menu is in Spanish with English translations and contains entrees, sandwiches, appetizers & sides. Just ask your server (or restaurant customers) for help navigating the menu. Highly recommended for the authentic food and great sense of community. We were asked if we'd be back and we promised we would.

Bangkok Taste Cuisine, 15 Jefferson ~ 2/20/14

Matt had been here before with a group of friends but we had not been there together so today it was our lunch choice.

Walk into this place and you are greeted by a large, airy room, holding about 15 tables. If this was done in One Trick Pony style, the room would have been stuffed with double or triple the tables. As it is, each table has some privacy, and if they develop a crowd-waiting problem, they have plenty of room for expansion. Decor is minimal and tasteful with most pictures depicting food. This one is in the ladies’ room.

We took a seat in this alcove, holding 4 more tables. At one point a cute little Thai woman stepped out from behind the screen (that leads to the kitchen) and waved at us and said hi as she headed to the ladies’ room. Everything about this place is friendly.

And the menu is quite reasonable for a Thai restaurant, just two large pages, and we started with pork spring rolls. Ah, make that one pork spring roll. (1) is indicated behind it on the menu but we were ordering under time pressure and missed it. Our fault but another server might have mentioned it. Served with wonderful plum sauce that I can still taste as I write this, the roll was deep fried pork wrapped with ground pork, vermicelli, black mushrooms, and carrots in a spring roll wrapper. The pork flavor was a little strong for me but fine for Matt.

We both ordered Pad Thai, mine with tofu, Matt’s with pork, that is described as “the most famous Thai dish.” How could we resist? Stir-fried rice noodles with egg, bean sprouts, and green onions topped with crushed peanuts and lemon ~ amazing. The little taste of lemon juice overall, the lovely noodles, and the egg that was actually noticeable made this an incredible dish, served in a beautiful bowl.

There are five spice levels ~ no spice, mild, medium, hot, extra hot. Matt went medium because he had been here before and can take food a little spicier than I can so I was dilly dallying between mild and medium and our server pipes up with the fact that I could order mild+. Alrighty. Done. We were both happy and be warned that the medium spice level is quite hot.

The portions are large and we each took a box home. Service is exemplary and friendly, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the food is remarkable. This is now our favorite Thai restaurant in Grand Rapids (sorry Erb Thai).

We couldn’t find a website but they are on facebook, although it’s a pretty inactive account. And like most Thai restaurants in Grand Rapids (Little Bangkok, Forest Hills, the exception), they don't have a liquor license but are working on it.

Aperitivo and Fish Lads, Downtown Market - 1/30/14

We decided to make another visit to the Downtown Market to see how lunch options were shaping up. And choices are becoming more numerous ~ Tacos el Cunado (although our favorite chef pictured here has left). (The market sign above was also obviously taken earlier.)

Rak Thai (we've already dined at their Northland Drive location)

Rak Thai ~ 12/22/10

                     Fish Lads (earlier photo & current lunch menu),

 

and Aperitivo (offering a grilled cheese sandwich, and otherwise cheese plates & charcuterie).

We were leaning towards Fish Lads but there was no comfortable place to sit. They have only a small counter (oyster bar) with stools. Tacos el Cunado has a small seating area behind it but we’ve already sampled their tacos. The market provides a dining area for all to enjoy whatever they’ve purchased but it’s an aesthetically cold, pale, and unfriendly space ~ metal furniture with no plants, art, or color.

Granted, there are more tables and chairs there now then when this photo was taken on 8/31 but the atmosphere is not improved.

So we’re toying between Fish Lads and Aperitivo (who has small dining area and now a lunch menu), liking the space at Aperitivo but wanting something from the Fish Lads menu. Out of the blue, a Fish Lads employee tells us we can eat our food over at Aperitivo so long as we purchase a beverage from them to accompany our lunch. Score!

That sealed the deal, and after placing our orders we headed over to Aperitivo to take our place at their counter. One of the owners waited on us and after we informed her of our lunch selections she expertly paired beers for us.

Shortly thereafter, a Fish Lads employee brought us our seafood lunches. Our appetizer was a delightful Crab Cake topped with a delicious aioli and accompanied by a fresh green salad. Exquisite!

We split that and then dug into our main dishes Arctic BLT (Arctic Char, bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayo) and Fish & Chips (Cod). Both dishes came with fries that were a little over done but there was no complaint about the fish. It’s flown in daily and the flavor reflects that, as does the price. However, Fish Lads announced recently on their facebook page that due to the large volume of business they were doing, they would be able to lower their prices. Good news.

To close out this posting, I'm going to share some photos of the market from its opening weekend (8/31/13 & 9/2/13), which then included a huge Farmers' Market in its parking lot. We're looking forward to that coming back this spring.

The building design is beautiful.

 Second floor greenhouse and the view from upstairs.

This graffiti is now gone and other less than subtle changes are also taking place, including fencing off a nearby underpass so the homeless can no longer sleep there.

 

To finish off this digression, here are photos taken on 12/3/13 when our staff enjoyed a lunch there.

Cheers!

Wine Beer & Food Festival ~ November 21-23, 2013

Hop over to All Things Grand Rapids for a review ~ and don't miss this event each November!

Wine, Beer & Food Festival, 2013

Wine, Beer & Food Festival, 2012

Wine, Beer & Food Festival, 2011 

Tacos El Caporal, 1717 28th St SW - 11/19/13

Cruising southwest for a new restaurant, we came upon this one claiming to be “chief (alright, foreman) of the tacos.” How could we resist? Two entrances make it a little confusing ~ one opens into a dining room and the other into a smaller dining area with a take-out counter and waiting area. The smaller room holds about 8 booths along with the open kitchen, and the dining room holds about twice as much seating area.

It was busy this lunch hour, complete with dining-in Wyoming police, and we had to wait a bit for service. Our first server brought us menus, and shortly thereafter, tortilla chips and very spicy red (hotter than the green) and green salsa. Unfortunately, we didn’t get small plates on which to enjoy them but had to apply salsa individually to each chip.  Also unfortunately, there’s a lot of styrofoam used here along with plastic silverware.

Another server came to take our order, neither of them spoke much English, and both seemed a little ill at ease with us and we’re not sure why. We decided on beef gorditas for our first dish: onions, cilantro, beans, lettuce tomatoes, cheese, with a touch of sour cream, and a side of rice and beans.

The rice and beans came out along the grilled vegetables ~ radishes, green onions, jalapeno, and limes ~ and then came the main dishes; the second of which was tacos dorados: 4 crisp beef tacos with beans, rice, lettuce tomato, avocado, and sour cream. With both the gorditas and tacos coming with lightly fried tortillas, we couldn’t judge the tortilla freshness but we were both very satisfied with our selections, particularly with the prominently featured cilantro and avocado ingredients.

The food was flavorful and all house-made ~ you can watch the cook at work.  We don’t like to use the over-used-in-restaurant-reviews-word “authentic” but this is fresh, well-prepared food with no Americanized versions of Mexican food on the menu. The atmosphere is simple, stark, and clean, and the food is delightfully delicious, including the rice and beans being above average. Go for the food, but not the ambiance.