Taco Bamba – Falls Church, Va

What's NEXT: Taco Bamba is led by Chef Victor Albisu, whose offering up his Mexican taco creations in Falls Church, Va. I had the urge to eat there after a long day at King’s Dominion and I was ready to devour some tacos. Each regular taco is $3, but you can get 3 for $8 which I get every time. They do offer specialty tacos at $4+.

The Menu is quite extensive with tacos featuring:

Carne Asado – Grilled Beef

Barbacoa – Shredded Beef
Carnitas – Shredded Pork Confit
Cecina – Seared Beef
Chorizo – Mexican Sausage
Enchilada – Spiced Pork
Lengua – Beef Tongue
Al Pastor – Pork and Pineapple
Tripa – Beef Small Intestine
Ting a- Stewed chicken

The tacos itself were surprisingly flavorful. I decided to order the lengua, carnitas and cecina. Each taco had heaping amounts of meat and by the end of the 3^rd taco, I was surprisingly full. Along with the chips and guacamole appetizer, I knew I couldn't fit another taco in my stomach.

There’s also a sauce bar featuring a multitude of different sauces and salsas available. I prefer what I call the “green crack sauce”. It’s a spicy blend of jalapenos, peppers, cilantro and lime. Trust me, after you've had it, you’ll understand why I call it what it is.

The service is quick and there’s barstool seating. There’s no tables,  but just enough seating for 15 customers. It’s slowing becoming a popular place among the locals for takeout or a quick meal.

Overall, Taco Bamba has fulfilled my 3 main taco criteria:

1.       The tortillas cannot break when eating

2.       Must be enough meat on each taco

3.       Affordable

4/5 Stars

Tacos and Sauces

3 Tacos for $8

Storefront

Jaleo Crystal City – Arlington, Va

Earlier this week, I was invited to a kickoff party for Jose Andres’s 11^th Annual Paella Festival (July 29^th – Aug 11^th) at Jaleo Crystal City. 

The event benefited Jose Andres’s charity, World Central Kitchen and was to promote the 2 week long festival. There were a number of paella stations set up for the event, each presenting its own types of flavors.

Paellas:

Arroz Iberico de bellota – A paella with Iberico belota ribs, sausage, and baby artichokes

Arroz Caldoso de Pollo, Conejo, y Acelgas – A soupy rice with chicken, rabbit, and swiss chard

Arroz de Verduras de Temporada – Traditional paella of summer vegetables

Fideuá Negra con Gambas – A paella of black "fideos" with head-on shrimp and calamari

Other Dishes Include:

Gazpacho

Flan

My favorites of the night were the Fideuá Negra con Gambas (shrimp) and the Arroz de Verduras de Temporada (summer vegetables). The Fideuá Negra con Gambas was great due to the texture of the black fideos and the head on tiger shrimp. The summer vegetable paella was a favorite since it had the greatest crust out of all the paellas. It was cooked thoroughly and charred to perfection, which is exactly what a paella should taste like.

I definitely need to applaud all the staff at Jaleo Crystal City. The event was run very well and everyone was having a great time. The addition of live music also added to the overall experience. I will probably having a paella craving within the next week so count me in. I’ll see you at Jaleo!

4/5 Stars

Arroz de Verduras de Temporada – Traditional paella of summer vegetables

Entrance Area

Arroz Iberico de bellota – A paella with Iberico belota ribs, sausage, and baby artichoke

Gazpacho

Fideuá Negra con Gambas – A paella of black "fideos" with head-on shrimp and calamari

Far East Taco Grille (Food Truck) - Washington, DC

What's NEXT: Far East Taco Grille is now one of my favorite food trucks in DC!

You can choose 1 taco for $3 or 3 for $8. I really enjoyed the pork, steak and chicken tacos. You can choose toppings like kimchee lime slaw, spicy corn, grilled veggies and a bunch of different sweet and spicy sauces. Also, they serve the tacos using corn or flour tortillas. I enjoyed all 3 of my tacos combinations!

I have 2 pet peeves when it comes to tacos:
1. The tacos must not break when eating! I hate when this happens because it's such a mess and usually it means they've used poor tortillas.

2. Needs to have fresh flavors and decent portions! It's absolutely crucial for any successful taco to have great flavors and portions. If your taco lacks flavor, it will be dull. If it's miniature and for $8, it's an obvious waste of money.

Now, I know that it can be difficult to have decent portions of meat without the taco breaking but that's why not everyone's making tacos. It's not the easiest thing in the world!

Now, Far East Taco Grill delivers and offers fantastic tacos for the lunch crowd. The service is friendly too! Next time the truck is around, looks like I'll be making my way here for lunch!

Words of wisdom:
1. Get here early as lines start to form around 11:30am
2. Tacos are made to order, so you can be in line for a while. Again, look back at #1.
3. They are absolutely worth the wait!

5/5 Stars

Menu

3 Delicious Tacos

Lime Fresh - Arlington, VA

What's NEXT: Since moving to Pentagon City, I've been to Lime at least a dozen times and it's always been a great lunch option for me. While it's not the best Mexican food you've ever had, it does it's one job: satisfy my Mexican/Salsa craving.

Besides the burritos, I go for the fajitas options which comes out sizzling on a hot plate. I mostly come here for the great options on their salsa bar though. Cilantro, limes, pineapple salsa, regular salsa, salsa verde, you name it. They also give you chips with most orders as well.

I agree with other reviewers that I wished they offer a salsa with more heat since I would say most of them are pretty mild.

All in all, a good place to come if you want a delicious and laid back meal.

3/5 Stars

Salsa Bar

Burrito and Chips

Table Seating