Tacos El Gordo

After a couple of days at the resort, we were getting a little stir crazy (although we did make a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some necessities like sand toys for the kids!) We decided to venture out to dinner before we were sick of the food options in the hotel (personally, I could have eaten at their fruit bar for the rest of my life since it had a never ending supply of papaya). We asked a cab driver where locals eat because we wanted real Mexican food and he suggested Tacos El Gordo:

We requested a driver take us there and when we arrived, it was literally on the side of the highway (and very close to the Wal-Mart we had visited earlier). The taco stand is all outdoors and it was a true family operation; the women made the corn tortillas while the men cut the meat and grilled it and the children prepared the salsa/condiment platters for guests. Here are the women preparing the fresh corn tortillas:

A little boy (around 7-8) brought a tray of different condiments to place on the tacos – we didn’t know the spice level of any of them so we had to taste them all. Some of them were deceptively hot – the green one on the right hand side, for instance, was blazing hot!

The taco stand’s grill was right by the highway – perfect to entice people as they’re heading onto the highway:

The boy brought by some chips so we could dip them into the salsas – the avocado cream helped balance out some of the hotter sauces (although the green one I mentioned before was so hot that nothing really helped when you ate that one!)

Everything is stored outside – the sauces were right next to the grill:

Charley ordered a plain beef taco:

And I ordered a beef taco (front) and a pork taco (back):

And a tripe taco for good measure:

The tacos were probably the best I’ve EVER had – the best anyone had ever had! We were a little nervous when we arrived because it looked a little…run down, but we actually ended up running into the cab driver that recommended the place! He must’ve gotten a craving for it after he told us how good it was.

My favorite was the pork (it was also Ken’s favorite!) and Paul liked the tripe the best (I think he actually had four tacos because he liked them so much!) The meat was very lean, surprisingly, and flavored with lots of fragrant cumin. The sauces were a great touch and the tacos were all really fresh and light. Charley was accidentally served some of the extremely hot green sauce and his lips turned bright red for our group photo:

But he said the tacos were really good and managed to survive after gulping down a large bottle of orange Fanta.

After we got home from our taco adventure, we ordered more chicken tacos from room service and ate some more (with some dessert, too) and couldn’t stop talking about the deliciousness of El Gordo. We wanted to go back before we left Puerto Vallarta but we ended up going to another Dreams resort on the other side of town so we were too far to go back. Next time!

Puerto Vallarta: Highlights

Ken’s family planned a great vacation in Mexico the week before Christmas – we all flew to Puerto Vallarta and spent seven days at the Dreams Resort in Nueva Vallarta on Puerto Vallarta. We had a super early flight on Saturday, December 17th, and I checked in my carry on (I figured it was okay since it was a direct flight). I was terribly wrong — a pair of silver cufflinks were stolen out of my bag (they were gift wrapped and in a box for Ken’s brother in law, my secret santa pick). I was pretty upset; not only had someone gone through my stuff, someone actually had the audacity to STEAL a gift…RIGHT BY CHRISTMAS! Shame on them.

Ken and I flew directly from New York to Puerto Vallarta (a surprisingly quick flight) and Ken’s parents and his sister flew in from Chicago and his other sister flew in from San Francisco. We managed to find them in the airport (lots of people are at the airport trying to sell you timeshares or give you a ride) – we were really happy that we found Ken’s family (and that they actually thought about booking a van to take us to the resort!) Puerto Vallarta was much cooler than expected; I only packed short sleeved dresses since I figured it would be warm the entire time, but it was actually in the high 70’s with a nice breeze everyday.

When we arrived at the hotel, Sammy and Charley immediately jumped into one of the three pools behind the hotel:

We spent many afternoons by the pool, sipping virgin daiquiris:

It was a great all-inclusive resort with a lot of options for food and drinks – they even had a bar next to the beach where the seats were swings:

Ken and I also took naps on the hammocks – these weren’t in the shade but there were four or five hammocks situated next to the bar where people hung out everyday:

Since we couldn’t stay on the resort the entire time, we ventured out to the city (here’s the sunset from the boardwalk):

Paul, Ken’s brother in law, also chartered a boat one day so we could go fishing and whale watching. Charley was so excited to catch fish (he memorized every single boat and fish in the pamphlet he’s holding):

We ate a ton of great food (including one restaurant that deserves its own post, Tacos El Gordo), spent a lot of time swimming on the beach and in the many pools, and had so much fun with that we were very sad to leave Puerto Vallarta!

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year! It’s been quite a while since I updated; I had a plan of posting all of my year end posts before I left for Mexico but got busy at work and ended up leaving without even introducing my guest post by Jessica’s Dinner Party! My dad actually emailed me and said he thought my blog had been hacked because it sounded like I was in Korea and he thought I was actually in Mexico!

Anyway, I’m back and ready to start the new year on this blog. In fact, Ken and I are going to be blogging together (more on that soon!) We have a lot to catch up on: Puerto Vallarta, Kibo, a private dinner at Del Posto, NYE at ABC Kitchen, New Years Day dumpling party, and our new blog! First up: Puerto Vallarta!

Desserts at Bacchanal Buffet

On Monday, I wrote about the savory foods at the Bacchanal Buffet in Las Vegas. Today, I’ll show you all of the dessert options! Initially, I didn’t even see the dessert area because I was so overwhelmed with the savory options. Someone from our table got some berries and told us the desserts were all in the middle of the room in a freestanding area, so I made the trek over to find something sweet to eat.

There were so many different mini desserts available that I didn’t know where to start! Here are some little pies, cakes and tarts (and gumballs, chocolates and gumdrops above them):

Some of the tarts:

Crumbcakes, chocolate cakes and more:

Red velvet cake, candy and other sweets:

Breakfast pastries:

Candy and the sugar free options:

The crepe stand with an abundance of berries and almonds:

Crepe making in action:

Cookies in containers:

More crepe making:

The entire section is really colorful and smells amazing:

I ordered a crepe with bananas and topped it with whipped cream, berries and almonds:

Next to the crepe station is the gelato/sorbet station:

Lots of cupcakes being added to the dessert display:

The berries at the station were larger than berries I’ve ever eaten – the bluberries were gigantic! Paired with a coffee, it was a pretty good way to end the morning of glutinous eating:

Kong Bol

After being abroad in Paris for a year and a half, I’m back home in Korea for the holidays. One of the best things about Seoul is the street culture and the vibrant eating culture each “borough” has to offer. A favorite hangout of mine during grade school was Edae, in front of Ewha University. Full of cute shops, street carts, and cafes, it’s the perfect place to pass the day. Although I’ve been hanging out in this area for over ten years, the streets are constantly changing and evolving, which makes me feel like there’s always more to discover. A new find this time around was Kong Bol, a cheap eat with generous portions, flavor and all the best aspects of K-food culture:

The base of Kong Bol food is a large bowl of white rice and bean sprouts with a special spicy seasoning, which they cook at your table on a hot iron pan:

In addition to the basic order, you can add squid, rice cakes, beef, fried rice, udon noodles, and extra meat:

All of this is enjoyed with complimentary pickled side dishes and some warm seaweed soup:

We of course ordered the whole nine yards. At first bite, I was surprised at how un-spicy it was, considering how red and generously seasoned it looked, but as one bite turned into three, and three into a whole bowlful, my face was burning red hot with spice!

At the end, we left a little rice and bean sprout mixture and asked the server to stir fry the two in the caramelized juices leftover in the pan. Don’t forget to do this as I thought it was the best part!

There are multiple locations throughout Seoul, so if you’re ever walking around looking for a good, cheap eat, don’t hesitate! It’s a good find.