The missing ingredient for my new life in Orlando has finally been satisfied in the form a Mexican food restaurant that actually deserves the slogan “Authentic Mexican Food”. Just as I was getting ready to resign myself to quick trips into Mexico for my nutritional requirements, Taco Palenque on West Colonial saves my culinary needs and keeps my wallet intact.
I have been having major withdrawals for true spicy food and in my search for delicacy fulfillment I kept running into one culinary disaster after another. There needs to be a disclaimer on all so-called “authentic Mexican food” labeled restaurants that tells the would-be Mexican food disaster victim that “authentic” is just a word put on to trap the desperate searcher of a Mexican meal.
I cannot tell you how many restaurants tag themselves with “authentic Mexican food” labels only because it sounds cool but when one wanders in, they are greeted with a disaster masquerading as Mexican food. The pendulum swings from outright fraud, where food is named “Mexican something” but has nothing remotely Mexican about it to Tex-Mex that is often confused with Mexican food.
There should be an international tribunal tasked with identifying falsely labeled “Mexican food” establishments who, when discovered are then forced to publically account for their culinary misbehavior. But just when my stomach was about to rebel against my decision to drag it out to Orlando, I happily find Taco Palenque to pacify my rebellious stomach.
I just couldn’t get enough of the place and my stomach kept demanding I try everything on the menu. Alas, my logical angel controlled my out of control taste-buds and forced me to limit my experience to the Tacos al Pastor and a Carnitas Torta. As my eyes darted to the vertical roaster holding a rotating mound of pork with a pineapple dripping succulent juices down its perfectly seasoned meat, I knew I had found culinary nirvana outside of Mexico. The salsa bar complete with thousands, oops maybe just ten salsa choices, but who’s counting when the taste-buds are practically jumping in glee, completed the experience for me.
The torta was as authentic as the ones found in Mexico, complete with a perfectly buttered telera (bread). The Tacos al Pastor were not perfect but at this point anything beyond roasted pork labeled as Tacos al Pastor is a significant leap forward for me. In the case of Taco Palenque, they are as good as most in Mexico but not quite the tacos in Jalisco. The salsa, well suffice it to write that I don’t think the owners have had to refill the bar as often as when I’m there. Delicacy and satisfying is an appropriate label for the salsas.
Even the finicky munchkin decided that Tacos al Pastor are much better than chicken nuggets, relegating the nuggets to something amusing for occasional fulfillment when the Tacos al Pasto are nowhere to be found. The girlfriend, well let’s just say it was her who said let’s go get some tacos for breakfast, the very next day after we had dinner there. Two meals in a row!
The search for Mexican food is now over with Tacos Palenque fulfilling my gastronomical needs for sustaining my sanity. Will I continue to search for other culinary delights? Most definitely but it has now expanded to other foods. For now, my life-sustaining needs are fulfilled and there is no longer a rush to try anything labeled “Mexican food”, unless I’m in a mood to explore the unknown. Who knows I might find a hidden gem somewhere else, but for now I can avoid disasters masquerading as Mexican food.