La Mexicana

I arrived at La Mexicana today after a devastating morning. Having completely bought into the ramen craze that is sweeping the nation's tastebuds (or at least my tastebuds) I set out this morning to Nippon on Montrose. Guess what guys, it's closed on Monday, meaning I had to make alternative plans for lunch. After a succession of similar blows, I found myself in the Montrose area, mourning the fact that I had paid full price for a shirt at Target that showed boob sweat in a really visible way, almost unable to go on. My boyfriend had pulled his car into the parking lot of La Mexicana and was waiting expectantly for me to follow him in. Would I be able to? Would I have a nervous breakdown? Would I ever eat again? I'll spoil the ending for you guys: there was a 4runner in the parking lot at La Mexicana with an open spot  next to it -and they were open on a Monday and for lunch- yes. I was able to have breakfast. This just goes to show, 4runner owners of America - leaving a parking spot open for you on one side for other 4runner owners really does change lives.

Let's talk about the salsa here at La Mexicana. You know how lots of Mexican restaurants have two bowls of salsa, one green and one red? And the green salsa, no matter how good it tastes, always has the consistency of boogers? Just real thick and mucus-y? Look I know it's real gross, but I kind of like it. It's like the texture of okra, which is something I've been eating a lot of lately. (The only thing about okra is that the seeds come back out whole, which is a bit alarming if you know what I mean :/) Anyway so yeah at La Mexicana, the red salsa tastes like it has a ground up jellyfish in it, too! I just think it's wonderful, because I normally don't like the flavoring of tomatillo sauce but I do like the flavor; it's perfect, they've just combined the things that I love and made them into THE PERFECT SALSA. +14 Thank you La Mexicana, it was worth not eating ramen.

Except here's the thing: if I'd had a bowl of ramen instead of a bowl of chicken tortilla soup, when it came to my table it would all be in one bowl instead of the THREE SEPARATE BOWLS I was given to hold the chicken soup, the tortilla, and the cheese and avocado. Seriously guys???? If I'd wanted to make my own dinner I would have stayed at home! -9 The problem with this is when you give me a side dish of cheese, it's not going to go into my soup guys, it's just not! I'm going to take a pinch of it, "just for a taste", and then it's going to taste good so I'll have another, and then another and another and before I know it there's a cube of cheese in my soup and the rest has been pre-eaten. Same guys for the avocado, and don't even get me started on tortilla strips, guys. I just don't get what the big deal is I mean it's soup. If I didn't want to eat all that stuff I could just eat around it you know, there's no reason to have a create your own adventure here.

Look but more than anything, here's why I love this place: they sell Obleas! You know, that treat from Mexico where it's a pair of wafers and in between is caramel made from goat milk?? Or something??? Either way I think these things are the best thing in the world. The first time I ever had one I was like six or seven and my aunt went to Mexico City and sent us a package and I'm sure there were lots of very cool things in there, but all I remember are the Obleas (and this neat-o Mayan sculpture she sent to my brother that I always thought was really awesome because it had real gold flakes in it, but now as I'm typing this I'm finally realizing that she probably did not send a nine year old boy a whole sculpture filled with gold flakes, and also that statue was not even heavy enough to be filled with gold, and also my whole childhood is now ruined.) Anyways so I've been addicted to them ever since, spending lots of time in Mexico (A note to Homeland Security: This is a bit of exaggeration that comes down to about three weeks in the past six years), crying whenever my stash runs out. These things are awesome life changers, and now I know where to find them here in Houston! Look guys there's probably a lot of places you can buy them, not least of which is Fiesta, but I was having a bad day when these appeared and I'd thank you not to judge me. +20