9/18/08 - Wifey and I checked out that wierd Coen brothers flick, "Burn after Reading," at the Ward Entertainment Complex. These movies are so twisted these days, I tell you. I mean, the majority of personalities all have some kind of psychosis going on, there is not a single respectful character, and everyone's an idiot! What's the deal? Yes, I can appreciate all the good acting, but if I'm not laughing hysterically throughout the movie (which is a redeeming quality in itself!), I'd wish there was at least someone I could cheer for, someone to put my hopes into. Call me old-fashioned, but... I still believe in heroes!!! Or at least give me a good feeling afterwards - know what I mean?
Sometimes, you come out of a movie theatre glowing, either with laughter, a mini-education, or best of all, inspiration. Yet, other times you just come out "shaking it all off." This time, the latter was the case. Hey, no worries, brah! The beautiful sunset we caught right after walking out of the theatre sure helped in getting us back into the right frame of mind. Of course, those laser beams in the middle of the road didn't quite look like they do here...
And the right frame of mind continued on throughout the evening as we left to check out Torito's Mexican restaurant, at the Market City Shopping Center in Kaimuki. We walked in at about 8pm, and were kinda surprised to see such a large crowd there, almost every table in the good-sized dining room filled with hungry eaters. This particular inside shot, however, was taken at the end of our meal, as I still don't particularly look forward to taking snaps in a crowded room where people may not be so happy about their pictures being taken by a complete stranger. Not that I'd stop if they didn't...
In actuality, I am a lot more comfortable taking shots these days, even amongst crowds. Give me another year or so, and I'll be as brazen as a paparazzi on Brittney Spears.
Torito's is one of your typical, old-school Mexican restaurants in Hawaii, which means, yeah, maybe a little tacky, a little cheesy, but hey - lots of fun!!! You know that bullhorns, chili peppers, and oversized hats hanging on walls, along with a well-stocked bar and festive Mexican music will always lead to good times. Margarita's of all kinds, of course, are ever-popular here, as are about 10 different draft beers and everything else needed to keep any party happy and in a celebratory mood.
The waitstaff was also super-friendly and helpful, with no less than three different servers arriving to check up on us throughout the evening. All of them came with big smiles and great personalities.
Wifey and I were both hoping for a starter ceviche, but no deal. In fact, there were only four different starters available - fries, taquitos, nine-layer dip, and a Mexican pizza. I guess, though, you could also use the various salads and nacho's for starters, as well. Since we were both going to order large combination plates of two different items each, we decided to pass 'em all up anyway.
What we wouldn't dream of passing up, however, was the free, single order chips and salsa, as Torito's has some of the best salsa anywhere. Aaah, what a sense of relief it is to finally get fresh, 100% made-from-scratch salsa, with the simple, refreshing flavors of tomato, onion, peppers, cilantro, and lime. It just sets the tone, is all. On a scale of one to ten, a home-run salsa will add at least a half-point to any dishes that follow! A decent, but not 100% salsa? Aaah... nuetral. A bad, or worse yet, 100% canned or bottled salsa...? At least a full point back!!!
After a cold Kona Bigwave lager for me, a margarita for her, and an excellent, free starter, we were both well past any strange afterthoughts of pscychotic characters and twisted sub-plots, and definitely hopeful in regards to our coming main courses. And why not - they were already spotted a half-point, right? That's almost a Michael Phelps lead!
Wifey chose a combination enchilada/tamale plate. The enchilada was filled with fresh, easily-shreddable chicken and covered with a light red sauce. It came looking very much happy, happy under a sprinking of chopped olives and green onions, as well as two different cheeses layered on. Right next-door, in the fore-ground, was an excellent tangy/sweet salad of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.
Her other half was a tamale, this one with no corn husks, but some kind of thick, soft-tortilla-like wrap that I failed to identify - just kinda didn't think about it until it was too late! Sorry. The filling of corn dough, or masa, was mixed with pork, making for a tasty, pastele-like dish. I don't particularly care for masa, maybe because I had so much while in Kenya, where it is called maize and is the staple starch of the poor there. Not that I had it spiced up with pork, gooey-ooey cheeses, and a deliciously dark red sauce, like tonight, though! Some of my friends there in Bungoma, Kenya end up eating just straight maize - not good at all, lemme tell you! Breaks my heart, it does. One day, I'll be able to do something about it - you'll see!
Both of our combo meals came with beans and rice, in this case a very good, large-grained rice that was noticeably bigger than any I've had in recent memory. As for re-fried beans, I'm not particularly the biggest fan, but this one was at least good enough for me to finish three-quarters of it, especially with the generous smothering of cheese on top.
For main dishes, my first half came with the Tex-Mex favorite, chimichanga, buried under red sauce, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. It wasn't nearly as crispy as I had hoped for. In fact, it almost didn't look deep-fried at all! It seemed more baked than anything else. But who knows. Maybe it was just pulled out early. Whatever the case, it was still a decent chimichanga, filled with tasty chunks of fresh, spiced-up chicken.
The final half of my plate came with a very interesting-looking relleno, indeed. For the first time in my life, my chile relleno actually looked like uh... well... A chile! Who'duh thought? Instead of taking on the appearance of a flattened enchilada (when they use a thin batter) or a puff pastry (when they go thick), this one was very much true to form, from the thick-on-one-end and thinner-on-the-other-end shape to the three-inch stem to the inedible (or maybe not?) inside portion, flurry of seeds and all! Everything was all there, intact... And you know what...?
..... I like it!!!
To further complement the chile, the batter was super thin, yet crisp (crispier, even, than the chimichanga!), as to see right through it, at least in the portions not covered by cheese or red sauce. The chile itself was a little bitter, but even that was a point on the positive side! C'mon, now... How many times have you started on a chile relleno, allowed your mind to wander off a little, and then momentarily believed you were eating a cheese-filled tortilla? Sometimes, the taste of the chile is so mellow that you just forget! Not gonna happen with this bad boy. As I said..... I like it!!!
All of Torito's dishes seem to come more full-flavored and robust than most other Mexican restaurants without risking quality or being just plain heavy. This aspect alone, I believe, makes it well-suited to the local palate, in particular. Not that it's not suited to Mexican tastes, or any other culture, for that matter, but it just seems like the meals here are always flavored generously, a fact that may bode well for us here in the islands who are used to more taste in general. Of course, too much taste, and it sometimes becomes just a band-aid to bad quality, kind of a play on the cheaper, easily sensationalized, lower-end spectrum of our palates. Torito's does a good job staying away from this end and putting out a great, quality Mexican meal.
See you all again soon and hope with each passing day you grow wiser, stronger, healthier, and happier - all the inevitable products of aging, yes?
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