Chuy's Finally Disappointed Me

I have finally been disappointed by Chuy's in The Woodlands.

Saturday, a staple of Tex-Mex for our household fell shorter than the Texans did against the Rams on Sunday.

Chuy's is one of those restaurants that gets me in the door with one signature dish.

For me, that signature dish is the Southwestern Chicken Enchilada ... with two eggs.

I have eaten this dish at every one of their Houston area sites and I have never been disappointed with the quality of the dish ... until now.

It was Saturday afternoon and we arrived with the whole of my spouses family in tow for a one hour wait ... which is normal for a weekend visit at that time of the day.

After we sat and plowed our way through chips and salsa, queso and their wonderful creamy jalapeno sauce, our order came.

After the dishes were passed out, I began to tuck into what is usually a feast for the eyes, tongue and nose.

My eggs were there on display just begging me to smear the creamy yellow yolks all over the top of the enchilada ... only, there was not so much yolk to smear around.  They were just a touch overdone and the yolks had begun to congeal.

I lifted my fork and plunged it into the mass of blue corn tortillas, chicken cheese and green sauce that lie under my overdone eggs.

I cropped a wedge from the circular presentation and began to chew.

The tortillas were rubbery.

The chicken was a bit on the dry side ... what chicken I could find hiding under the blue rounds of maize.

The cheese and sauce that were usually in abundance were MIA as well.

I looked over at my wife and we both shared the same expression of disappointment with our meal ... she ordered the same as I, but one egg atop the pile.

She and I have been coming to Chuy's for almost two decades together.  We would make the drive down to the one on Westheimer, inside the loop, at least every month during our first few years together.  Since the Woodlands store opened, that has been our home site when we want Tex-Mex.

I still go to the ones on Westheimer, inside the loop and the one near the beltway ...

I have talked up Chuy's to friends and visitors to Houston indicating that I have never had a bad meal there.

Now I have to admit to my first mediocre meal and find it in myself to give the Woodlands store another chance.

I will have to do just that because my wife still enjoys their Green Enchiladas a lot.

Perhaps another dish needs to be ordered the next time ... maybe something with Elvis in the name.

Ciao!
Darrell

Temptation of the Tandoory Taco

Sometimes you want to try something outside of your comfort zone just to see if you are up to the task.

For me, travelling out of the zone usually includes food from the sub-continent ... otherwise known as Indian Food.

Indian cuisine has always stymied me ... usually with their curries.  I really had no idea how well balanced and tasty curries are until I walked into Tandoory Taco.

Just outside of the door, you begin to get a hint of the flavors that await you inside.  The spiciness of the chilies ... the marjoram notes along with the smell of freshly baked Naan.  I am sure that I am completely missing a lot of the flavors that are found in curry, but those I distinctly remember welcoming me upon entry.

Burger Boy and I took a look at the menu and decided on some basic Indian inspired tacos.

I took control of a chicken Yolo taco and a hot chicken Yolo to see what the differences were.

Burger Boy settled for a beef taco that was mildly spiced.

These arrived in our hot little hands a few minutes later and we enjoyed them ... right on down to the very last bite.

This was my first taste of Indian cuisine that I enjoyed and I was determined to come back soon.

Well, the week went by and I managed to talk the Missus into doing take out from them.

I also wanted more of their Chicken Yolo tacos.

I ordered the Yolos ... two of them on their Naan bread.

My first mistake.

I opened up the foil wrapper and was consumed by a spice profile that reminded me of the nuclear hot sauce my brother makes with ghost chilis.

My eyes began to water with the first bite.  My throat was just shy of peeling away.

Mmmmmm.  This was getting me and I was enjoying it.

I finished off the first one and began attacking the second.

My second mistake.

Little did I remember that during my first experience with the Tandoory Yolo, the method of delivery was a tortilla ... not Naan.

This slapped on the inside wall of a ceramic oven piece of bread acted like a dry sponge and soaked up every bit of curry juice it could during the trip from Tandoory to my house.

The Naan sponge was depositing the fiery liquid that leeched into it all over my mouth, lips and fingers.

The resulting chemical peel of the more tender parts of my flesh were coming fast and the layers could be felt removing themselves from my cheek.

The heat was tremendous, but the flavor was also a thing to behold ... because behind all of that peeling was sweet, tangy, earthy and alien flavor that danced across my tongue like a Bollywood movie scene.

The Tandoory Taco is beckoning me back to try some of their more traditional curries and several of their Indian tacos.

Ciao!
Darrell