Let's Taco Bout It

            Taco joints come a dime a dozen in San Jose, and after moving here from the Philippines, my standards for them have sky rocketed. So believe me when I say that when it comes to tacos, I don't play around. On my many trips to look for the best kind, I never actually found one on my own and enjoyed. It wasn't up until I found myself in Downtown San Jose looking for a decent happy hour to pass the time that was nearest to my location. I fired up Yelp and went to the closest result in my proximity without even bothering to look at the rating; the need to wet my whistle was the main priority. 

            In comes Angelou's Mexican Grill, the home of the "Cali Burrito" (which just means a regular burrito with French fries in it), I ordered my drinks and didn't pay it any mind. About 3 beers into my stay I caved in and ordered the renowned Cali Burrito, which also comes with a free taco if you check-in to the place on Yelp. I redeemed my prize and cut my burrito in half, took a sip of my beer and indulged myself.

            While the burrito was delightful, it wasn’t anything special compared to other burrito’s I’ve tried within the area, Iguanas and La Victoria is literally around the corner. After hastily finishing the first half I set my sights on the free taco.

There are 3 things in life that are certain:

1.     Death

2.    Taxes

3.    Free food is always tastes better than if you bought it.

            The experience was sublime; I was actually shocked that it tasted like that good. I had to debunk that theory and buy some for myself. Turns out that 3^rd item didn’t apply here because for the second time my taste buds were ambushed by frenzy of delicious taco heaven. Angelou makes a mean taco, and I would recommend it 20 times over if given the chance to.  

Do it AGen

Are you a fan of Korean short rib BBQ? Does Beef Bulgogi, Hawaiian Steak, Galbi and Smoked Garlic Pork Belly leave your mouth drooling as much as mine? Wouldn't it be crazy if you can have all of that goodness in an all you can eat setting, in front of a grill where you seer and cook all of those meats right before your very eyes? Imagine a heaven like that on earth for a second.

That's right folks, this is not a drill, this isn't Atlantis or an image from the Bermuda Triangle, this right here is your one stop shop of all your ALL YOU CAN EAT Korean BBQ restaurant needs, right here in San Jose. I've had the pleasure of sitting in and devouring everything that was placed in front of me. Aside from the long wait that it respectfully deserves, Gen Korean BBQ House is the most popular restaurant of it's kind here in the Bay Area. Originating in Korea Town in Los Angeles, the owners tactically expanded their market up north to make an absolute killing with their innovative style of introducing us to Korean cuisine. Their menu is enormously vast and the possible combination of plates are endless, because you cook them all yourself and you can have as much as you want. I went with a group during dinner time and paid $45 to gorge their kitchen for almost 2 hours. If you ever find yourself in the area, and have a strong hankering for Korean BBQ, this should be your destination. 

Food and Liquor

Music has always been one of my big passions, more specifically hip-hop and r&b. there’s this hip-hop artist by the name of Action Bronson who before became a famous lyricist, was a well-respected fire-flame gourmet chef in New York City. I’ve seen him live once and between songs he would speak on his experiences while working in the kitchen. He described the parallels of cooking and making music as uncanny in a sense of creating something and worrying about how to feed it to the masses, literally and figuratively. I respect that because I can’t imagine the pressure in making a dish for someone and them having to send it back in the same way as making a song and no one liking it. His climb to fame in hip-hop allowed him to travel the world and not only plays his songs for the people there, but to cultivate all the culinary delicacies from unique places. Then Vice created a segment for him called “F**k, That’s Delicious,” a web series of him speaking on dishes he’s learned from around the way and his experiences while over there. The novelty of the series is both humorous and insightful if you know his character and what his history is. Here’s an episode from one of his segments from his trip in Hawaii.

You Got Beef?

            Meat has always been a consistent staple in my diet, and you know what they say about fixing things that aren’t broken. But that never deters me from trying new things! I’ve recently eaten at this vegan place called Mint and Basil in Milpitas, and going into it, I had zero expectations as to what was there.

Rock and Roll "Beef" Salad

Autmn Roll

After eating there, I am now a believer. And just like eating a dish comprised of entirely vegan ingredients, my appetite wasn’t completely fulfilled. I’ve began this mission to find other vegan places to itch this insatiable curiosity of what other places have to offer. One I found myself in downtown Oakland, at another popular vegan restaurant called “Souley Vegan.” This particular place peeked my interest, as their selling point was all of their foods were exact replicas of dishes of soul food, but vegan. I know what you’re thinking, “Hermie, how on God’s green earth is that even possible?” Trust me, I thought the same thing too. Breaded tofu fried “chicken” had a strangely familiar texture, but still tasted like chicken. All while it was savory and tasty, I still couldn’t get over the fact that all this wasn’t meat.

"Chicken" and waffles with biscuits and gravy with macaroni and cheese

"Chicken" and Waffles

I had to have more. Another weekend I drove all the way to out Berkley to try out a popular Mexican restaurant called “Flacos.” They are famous for their vegan tamales and tacos. Being an avid taco consumer myself I had to see if this was the real deal on my own terms. Again I came into it a skeptic, and left a believer.

Vegan Tamales

Vegan tacos with rice and pinto beans

One thing I've learned during all these excursions was that just because it's labeled as "vegan" doesn't necessarily  mean that it's healthy for you. It just means that it wasn't made with meat. That's one misconception that a lot of people seem to have. I don't think I'll be replacing meat in my diet with just vegan imitations, but I will be more open to trying it if they have it on their menu. 

**All images taken from Yelp

      hangry

/ˈhæŋgrɪ/

adjective -grier, -griest

1.         (jocular) irritable as a result of feeling hungry

Word Origin

blend of hungry and angry

            You know that feeling you get once you step outside of your last class of the day? The sense of accomplishment, the sheer joy of knowing that you’ve completed all your academic goals for the day, and now you have the whole day ahead of you! Then suddenly it hits you: You’re unfulfilled. All that hard work and grueling hours seem pointless and you can’t really explain why. For some reason you feel empty inside. You know what that feeling is? Hunger. You know why you feel empty? Probably because you haven’t eaten anything since breakfast, and your insatiable urge to dive face first into the first thing that looks remotely edible is beginning to overcome you.  But let’s control those urges. You may feel a little irritable; you might even get a little hangry, but now you’ve set your course on a one-way trip to complete and utter satisfaction.  

            You start to feel like you’ve wasted your time even considering walking to your car so you bump that pace up to a quick brisk. You’re almost to your car and without any sort of warning a 2016 C Class Mercedes Benz traveling at approximately 30mph, nearly side swipes you while making a blind right turn into your path. This does not deter you. As a matter a fact you don’t even blink an eye.  There’s a war going on inside of your stomach and you’re on the losing side. It’s time to make haste and settle the score.

            You’re finally inside your car and feverishly fumble your keys as you attempt to key into the ignition. You look into the rear view mirror to find a clear path as you simultaneously back out of your space.  You’ve managed to successfully reach the entrance of the parking structure with no obstacle preventing you to get to where you need to be. Then you realize something very unsettling. Amidst all the chaos there is a calm before the storm, and the eye of it is staring back at your empty glance. The infuriating age old question that any food connoisseurs hope to never find asking themselves:

“WHAT AND WHERE AM I GOING TO EAT?”