Besito

Suburban Square
105 Coulter Ave.
Ardmore, PA 19003
(484) 417-6825

Besito (little kiss) is a new entrant to the high-end Mexican scene in the burbs. They have a number of other restaurant locations, and invited me to come check out their soft opening last week. It is located in Ardmore, and the attention to detail is extremely nice.

The interior is slick, with modern Southwest flair (which reflects their menu), and nicely appointed decorations.

I was told to start with margaritas, so I had to oblige. They were great drinks, though possibly a bit of the old velvet hammer, as I could barely taste the tequila. The salsa was fire roasted tomato, and had a touch of heat.

First up was the table side guac. I really don't care if it's gimmicky, I love watching it be prepared.

The server took into account the level of heat I wanted, and served it in the same stone mortar it was mixed in. The guacamole was great. Each order contains a whole avocado, and was well seasoned, creamy, and still had the chunks that let you know this was made with a ripe avocado.

The owner John Tunney stopped by and chatted while I stuffed my face. He also sent out some shrimp tacos, as they are always a crowd favorite. I can't argue, these were one of the tastiest things of the night.

Crispy shrimp, chipotle sour cream, and queso fresco, three of the things I like most about Mexican cuisine, came together for an explosion of flavors and textures. It was fresh, rich, and clean. I could eat approximately fifteen of these things.

Next up was the dinner course (I skipped any additional appetizers), and decided to try the enchiladas de mole poblano, the mixtos tacos, and a variety of sides.

The mole sauce was rich, thick, and delicious. It had a perfect consistency and was deep in the toasted flavor of poblanos. I really liked this iteration of the timeless (yet time consuming to make) Mexican dish.

The mixtos was basically queso fundido, topped with chorizo, chicken, and grilled skirt steak. It came with napoli (cactus) salad, and two sauces. The salad was fantastic. It was like a Mexican version of succotash, and was bursting with bright acidity. I was surprised with the flavor and how much I liked this salad. The queso was made with melted queso Chihuahua, and had so much flavor I could have  eaten this with a fork (and possibly did). The chicken and steak were good, the only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the chorizo. It was more like a Mexican hot dog and less like the chorizo I traditionally see.

All together, this was a great dish, and the cheese was just fantastic. You will not be able to tell from these pictures, but it is incredibly dark in there. They even give you little Besito branded lights to see the menu. It's that dark. Probably a good thing if you were going on a date with someone who looked like me. Not so much if you are a fat guy trying to see what ELSE you are going to order.

A cheesy taco creation shown below.

The elotes de la calle was simple and fresh. It was roasted corn, some queso fresco, and some chili. I loved this take on the traditional street corn (which I make quite often at home), but I use mayo at home and wished they had too...

The beans were okay, nothing to write home about, but they came extra with the entree, so that is a nice touch. The rice was well cooked, and was studded with pepita seeds. It was almost like a pilaf, which was an interesting twist on standard white rice.

John the owner came by and asked if I tried the plantains. At this point, I was starting to hit the wall of gluttony, but I powered through when he had an order brought out. Fried sweet plantains, queso fresco, and crema. Simple, indulgent, and delicious. The cheese and cream balanced out the sweetness, and the caramelized edges had just enough crispiness.

At this point, I was really getting too full for comfort. That being said, the flan was supposed to be great. So I obviously had to indulge.

Sure enough, it was great. A light texture, with not overly sweet base, and some fresh whipped cream.

The meal ended with a to-go bag of hot churros, and a gift of two Mexican worry dolls. You put these under your pillow and they take your worry from you. Very cool little treat, and I was happy to only be worrying about waddling back to the car. Thank you Besito, I will be dreaming of that queso fundido until I make it back.

Qdoba (of Conshohocken)

200 West Ridge Pike #108
Conshohocken, PA 19428
(484) 243-6118
Website

While it may not be my typical fare, I have some love for fast food. In particular, new "fast casual" chains where they are serving actual food, and not the garbage you get at the Golden Arches. Qdoba is a weakness of mine, especially with all of the new spicy options. I get so tired of "hot" not actually being hot. They put the heat into some spicy queso dips, and it has improved my love of burrito-bar chains. Oh, and they invited me to come "roll my own" at a grand opening in Conshy which was a perfect fit for an April twentieth posting. See below for video.

The new interior is much sleeker than what I was used to. ¡Qué color! They're officially opening tomorrow and are having a DJ with some free foods tonight. If you can't make that, then click here to get a coupon for free chips and salsa tomorrow only.

I was brought some of the new quesos to sample. The spicy version was called "el Diablo" and it brought the heat. Plus, it was spicy cheese. So it was obviously a winner. The three cheese blend was a mixture of cheese thinned with tortilla soup. A good use of resources. It certainly had more complexity than the capsaicin version.

The next sample was "Mexican Gumbo" which was really just the burrito ingredients served over rice and tortilla soup. Still, it showed some creativity, and let you create the stew you want.

We were also treated to a handmade guac tutorial. where they took 87 (appx) avocados, and smashed them using a giant masher. It was pretty impressive for a burrito chain, Especially if you have ever had WAWA's guac, which tastes like citric acid mixed with unripe bananas.

The guacamole was good, could have used a bit more salt, but the acidity was there, and I was more than happy to eat well over my fair share.

Now for the moment of truth. Qdoba - behind the glass. I strapped on my gloves and showed my dinner mates how the rolling was done.

My personal trainer was very knowledgeable (as was all of the staff we encountered) and anxious to help.

I used almost everything on the line.

Including their bacon jalapeño queso. That's right, they have 3 different kinds and I put a bit of each on my pile. The bacon jalapeño is amazing.

See a video below if you want to waste a minute watching me roll a giant burrito and struggle to atone for my glutenous choices on the line.

Now that was just the roll, you can waste 6 more minutes of your life and watch me down the entire line if you want. CLICK HERE to do so.

My dining mates were convinced they rolled a better burrito. But I disagree.

Guess which one is mine?

So anyway, check out the new menu at Qboda, they have a whole bunch of new menu items, and possibly win a card for a free entree... Come back tomorrow and enter to win.

California Tortilla

200 Town Centre Dr #3
Glen Mills, PA 19342
(610) 358-5880
Website

Here we are again, traveling the Philadelphia suburbs, searching for delicious and reasonably priced food. I prefer the kind I can eat with my hands, as you already know, so in addition to sandwiches and hoagies, I'm always on the look out for a great burrito.

Can't have suburbs without strip malls. Or kids. I mean, I felt like I had just walked into a Chuck E Cheese's.

But I didn't let that get me. Too much. I had to look beyond the little people that were running into my legs so that I could start to enjoy what was coming next.

It's your usual build-a-burrito bar, but you don't get to walk down the strip and tell them item-by-item what to add. You have to tell them your fixin's order at the register, before you even get to see the fixin's, which isn't my favorite way to order a burrito. I need to really see what's offered before I tell them to just add everything. So I choked a little and got two of their "chef-inspired creations" that already has the insides chosen for you.

On the way to my seat, I spotted their 'wall of flame.' They've got seventy five (75!) different kinds of hot sauce up there at your disposal. It looks like more than that, but I'm not splitting hairs. I had to try at least a few while I waited for my number to be called.

I ordered their signature California Screamin' Burrito, with blackened chicken, rice, queso, fajita veggies, their house-made California Screamin’ hot sauce and salsa. When asked if I wanted to make it a combo, I couldn't say no to a side of chips and queso.

I'm pretty sure they use Velveeta here, which is a sign of true quality in any liquid cheese application. It wasn't bursting with salsa flavor, but it was better than your usual nacho cheese pump-action distributor. But I wasn't here for the sides.

Now, I realize that burritos do not photograph very well - they never do - but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying to capture their inner beauty. The chicken was tender, juicy and packed with blackened flavor and the screamin' hot sauce had a really nice chipotle heat to it. The burrito was very well made with a perfect distribution of ingredients throughout, every bite was made of equal parts. Better than Chipotle? Hell yes. Way better. And I love me some Chipotle.

Second up was the Korean BBQ Burrito and I chose to get the pork/carnitas on this one. Served with rice, fajita veggies, sweet and spicy Korean BBQ sauce, crisp slaw, Sriracha chili sauce and cilantro, this one was the sure-fire winner. I couldn't believe a place like this managed to get their Korean flavors so accurate. It was spot on with the hot and sweet, with the gochujang flavor mingling with the gingery garlic of the traditional BBQ sauce. Simply delicious. The fresh crunch of the cabbage slaw was a pleasing surprise in every bite.

All in all, California Tortilla does a really great job with the food. Not so much on the atmosphere, but who am I to judge? (minus one cheesesteak for Chuck E Cheese likeness.)