Heart of Darkness

Yesterday Traci and I made our first foray into the wilds of Georgian Mexican food. It was not a good beginning.

We went to Mexico City Gourmet, one of the closest Mexican restaurants near the apartment. It has a great and tacky outside, complete with Mariachis and the Mexican flag painted on the windows. Also, a neon sign. When we walked in, there were "Best of City" reviews from Citysearch. It turned out that these were a bad sign, because all they mentioned were the margaritas and the service, but not the food.

The service was fine, as were the prices and the beer list, but good God, the food was crap. The salsa was spicy, but not-fresh, it was clearly Pace-style from a jar. The chips were those disgusting, dark yellow things that come in super-bulk size. We ordered queso fundido, which was okay; the chorizo was delicious, but it just had a thin layer of cheese on top that was nothing special. It was clearly not baked, but heated. Despite the fact that we ordered queso, the waiter was sure to offer us "some guacamole or cheese dip?" Being offered "cheese dip" in a Mexican resturant is never a good sign.

Traci got enchiladas verdes and I got mole enchiladas. I'll stick to bitching about the mole, since Traci covered the verdes on her blog, Glamour at Every Turn (www.gaet.blogspot.com). First, the beans were from a can, with no additional seasoning and a large amount of CHEDDER CHEESE melted over them. Traci says that this is a Georgia thing. The rice was even worth the two tastes I gave it. It was the color of Meixcan style rice, but it had no flavor and nothing but peas in it. The "salad" was a pile of shredded lettuce and half of a tomato slice, covered in Ceasar dressing. Then there were the enchiladas. Soggy, packaged tortillas, drenched in gooey black mole with no spice to it whatsoever. There was also a pile of raw, white onions, that I suppose were meant to be a substitute for flavor. The only good thing was the chicken, which was moist and chunky and flavorful. Odd that the chorizo and chicken were so good. In Mexican food, isn't the meat the most expensive part? why skimp on everything else, but not the pricey stuff?

Anyway, we were unimpressed. The check was only twenty-nine bucks, with me drinking a beer, and the service was fine, but so not worth it. We didn;t even come close to finshing our food. Before we left, I was sure to walk back to the bathroom and look in the kitchen door. Yep, it was full of real Mexicans. Were they just playing a trick on us gringos? Or, have they been so beaten down by the lack of interest in authentic Mexican food that they just don't bother anymore? There are plenty pf Mexicans in town, so there has to be the real deal somewhere in Atlanta.