Food

We're taking it easy at the hotel today, since the next few days will likely be pretty hectic as we take possession of the fifth wheel and hopefully start to head back home. I figured I'd use this time to post about some of the food we've had on this leg of the journey.

The photo up top is a picture of chips and salsa from my beloved Manuel's. We did wind up going there our first night in Phoenix, and I'm sad to report that it wasn't a great experience.

See, Manuel's food is usually good--really good--but it's their chips and salsa that are unbelievable. The chips are warm, light, sweet...wonderful. Totally addictive. This time, though, the chips were blah: hard, bland, indistinct. I still ate a ton of them because I needed a way to get the still-excellent salsa into my mouth and drinking it directly from the bowl would have been uncouth.

Anna had fun smashing the chips, though, so I guess that's something.



The rest of the food was also mediocre. Steve's chimichanga was soggy, and my Pollo Especial (shredded chicken stuffed in a flour tortilla, then fried and topped with a cream cheese-chile sauce) was lacking in cream cheese-chile sauce.

Maybe it was an off night. Maybe it was that particular location. In any case, I'm not writing off Manuel's completely. It was too good for too long to let one bad experience ruin it for me. Plus I still have $60 left on my gift card.

Our next noteworthy meal was at a steakhouse in Kerrville, Texas. I think it was called the Cowboy Steakhouse. We have gone back to In-N-Out a few times since my virgin burger, but besides that haven't had any red meat. But we figured, when in Texas, do as the Texans do.

It was time for a steak.

Steve had his tastebuds set on a ribeye. I had no idea what I wanted. Even when I used to eat beef I really didn't eat steak. I explained my situation to the waitress and left it up to her. She said filet mignon would be best for my "sensitive palate." Ok, then.

I have to say...it was amazing. So. Good.

It was also the first time in three attempts that I found a restaurant that served fresh green beans that were still green and slightly crispy.

Best of all, our waitress was also the restaurant's baker, and she was having a chocolate-pie-tasting. She had prepared six different recipes and was trying to determine which pie to put on the menu.

I subscribe to the theory that all pies should be fruit-based, but I also subscribe to the theory that one should never pass up a free dessert.

Steve and I have extremely different tastes in dessert (for example, he believes that no pies should be fruit-based), yet amazingly we both chose Pie #2 as our favorite.

Another gem we discovered was a Mexican place in Livingston, Texas. The name escapes me, but I did take a business card for when we're back that way.

The first thing that made me love the place was the warm queso they served with the chips and salsa. Maybe that's typical here, but it was a first for me. In it, Elias met a cheese product he didn't like (because it actually had flavor), but Anna liked it so much she resorted to dipping her whole hand into the bowl. Ah, to be young again.

Our food was great, too. Steve had chicken tacos al carbon--simple yet delicious with a fresh, tasty guacamole. I had something called the No-Name Enchiladas: fajita chicken stuffed inside mild chile peppers, then wrapped in corn tortillas and covered with enchilada sauce.

We've had a few duds, too. There was the place with the Sponge-Bob-clad employees and dry, bland chicken. There was a Thai place that came highly rated on Yelp, yet wasn't very good at all.

To be honest, we've mostly been eating at chain places (and a lot more fast food than I'd like) because that's what tends to be the most readily available. We're trying to eat at small local places as much as we can, though, and so far the results have been surprisingly good.