Seems like my partner has a talent to find random places with great food. Today after months of being away from OKC we drove to what I thought was a meat market (given the Market/Meat sign at the entrance) only to find a piñata clutter market with a food section to satisfy all taco lovers needs.
Since I was a bit confused by the million options I asked the friendly attendant if one of the huge containers was chorizo but it wasn't it, it actually was chopped meat al pastor, the other appealing meat in the next counter ended up being barbacoa...
I paused to consider my choices, my references for this style of food come from the places in Mexico where barbacoa is cooked underground and the meat looks slightly different, the meat here is different but probably tastes great, it looks greats... so I didn't dive into the unfamiliar and chose the meat next to meat al pastor: chorizo and scrambled eggs.
Two minutes later I ended with a massive platter in my hands filled with rice, beans (vegetarians please note the beans are full of meat in all modalities: sausage, chorizo, lard, etc.) and what looked like a kilo of meat on the side with a generous serving of fried onions and jalapeno peppers.
As soon as I notice the huge amount of food I asked the counter lady to reduce the meat serving to about half of what was in the plate.
The meal was delicious, affordable ($4.99 since I split the original size in half -seems like they don't do half orders but they accepted to do it at my request, you can always ask right?), the setting was interesting even though I was highly distracted by the neatly organized array of candy, colorful piñatas, rancheras and the banda loud tunes on the background; to be honest the only thing missing here were 3 sets of televisions, one with a soap opera another with a football game and a third with a talk show with a beautiful woman and a clown...then I would have felt complete and back in some Fonda deep south from the border.
The place is quite generous and very convenient if you are on a budget and seeking a tasty meal (did I mention my meal came with a generous side of steaming hot tortillas -corn or wheat depending on your choice-) The one container meal was 8.99 -and I saw two guys splitting one platter (while happily singing and showing homesick nostalgia to the tunes of Jose Alfredo Jimenez Paloma Querida)
As I left I saw the women on the back slicing some delicious mango that is retailed in a cup for 2.99 according to the signs on the wall. If they only stop using plastic the place would get a higher score (being eco-conscious counts!) Will stop back for sure and this time I will get the perfect small portion I need to satisfy my hunger: just 1 gordita al pastor. read more