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Le Rendez-vous Cafe 2701 W. Picacho Ave. Las Cruces, NM (575) 527-0098 Although Las Cruces is about one-eighth the size of El Paso, there are several cuisines and food experiences offered here that are not available in its much larger … Continue reading
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El Rancho Restaurant 101 S. Chicago Ave. Portales, NM (575) 359-0058 My review of El Rancho is from the early days of my web site when it was known as Steve’s Gastronomic Home Page. I do not have many details … Continue reading
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Caliche’s Frozen Custard 2251 N. White Sands Blvd. Alamogordo, NM (575) 439-1000 At the time when frozen yogurt places were very popular (and to some extent still are) I was largely wishing that frozen custard was as widely available as … Continue reading
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Amigos 1300 N. Main St. Roswell, NM (575) 623-3293 From reading various forum discussions about Roswell, one might think that it is a world class tourist trap that draws people in because of its UFO theme when actually there is “nothing … Continue reading
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Hong Kong Super Buffet 113 N. Chicago Ave. Portales, NM (575) 226-0017 When I discovered Hong Kong’s “Super Buffet” it was the epitome of all the stereotypes common to the southern Great Plains: unlimited quantities of Americanized fried and syrupy … Continue reading
Thai House
Thai House is a restaurant that has been around for a while, but it recently moved to a new location on Carlisle Blvd. just south of Interstate 40. Specifically, the strip shopping center in which it is located is at the southeast corner of Carlisle and Indian School, and a very visible neighbor is the I Scream Ice Cream Store.
Thai House sign in the window
At the moment there is no outside sign, and you pretty much have to know the restaurant is here in order to see it. There is a hand made sign in the window shown in this photo, but even with this you almost have to be looking for it in order to notice it. I would say go to the I Scream place and then go one or two spaces to the north for Thai House.
Dining room
The interior is very comfortable and “homey.” You almost feel as if you are in a Thai home because it has an open kitchen where you can watch your food being cooked as you sit at the table. The owner makes you feel very comfortable here and takes care of your needs, but she also is busy cooking and performing all restaurant duties in a one-woman operation. She did have some help when I went on a Saturday evening, but the actual cooking is a one person operation.
I have looked at the Yelp reviews and I think they do a good job of describing the restaurant, providing photos, and making recommendations. I can only add my two cents and say that the food tastes exactly as it looks–like it comes from a home kitchen in Thailand.
It was not actually the Yelp review that guided me here, but an invitation by my friend and Albuquerque restaurant expert Gil Garduño who himself had just tried the new location for the first time and was anxious to make another visit (and also included a review on his web site). I had the same desire to make a return visit, and did so on my way back from Colorado to El Paso. One tip I will give travelers is that this restaurant is very convenient from both Interstate 25 and Interstate 40 (but for now just do not expect to see a sign in front of the restaurant).
Pad Khing
Pad khing
When I was in Seattle and went to Thai restaurants frequently, ginger tofu was usually my first choice from the menu. I soon learned that the Thai name was Pad Khing, which was also frequently listed on the menu as ginger stir fry. The flavors of this dish are such that I do not think ordering it with meat causes noticeable enhancement, but the somewhat neutral nature of tofu allows me to enjoy the other flavors even more. I also did not worry about being full after eating a meatless meal because the amount of tofu and vegetables is usually substantial (as it is at Thai House).
Chinese medicine stipulates that ginger should be eaten early in the day when you need the energy it provides. I was never really aware of the principles of Chinese medicine when I was getting into the habit of ordering ginger tofu, but somehow I knew instinctively that it was a very good dish to order at lunch. This carried over to my instinct to order it for my first visit to Thai House at lunch time, although I think the flavor of this dish is good any time you order it. I would say the ginger flavor is somewhat subtle and is blended with the other ingredients in the dish as it should be. The tofu is just my preference and others will want to have meat, but I think it will be good either way.
Pad khing is not a spicy dish because the ginger itself has a very strong taste. The menu states that you can order your own spice level with any dish, but with restaurants like this one where they prepare the food in a home cooking style I usually figure that the chef knows how to add the appropriate spice level for the best flavor. I think I would have liked a higher spice level on this dish, but regardless of this the ginger flavor was very good and I was able to enjoy one of my favorite Thai dishes.
Curry
Massamun curry
When I sampled my friend Steve’s dish I initially thought it was red curry but I later found out it was Massamun Curry (which I think is derived from Indian style curry combined with Thai flavors). Wikipedia states that Massaman curry typically contains cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cumin, bay leaves, nutmeg, and mace (spices that are not typically used in Thai curries) combined with more local flavors such as chili peppers, cilantro seeds, lemongrass, galangal, white pepper, shrimp paste, etc. I do not know if this is Thai House’s recipe, and I am not sure why their name for the dish is a little different, but nevertheless the dish was very good. Wikipedia also points out that this is a mild curry, so perhaps this is why I did not think it had any lack of flavor even though it had a low spice level.
This dish also had a good amount of potatoes, another feature that I think separates it from the typical Thai dishes that are found in most restaurants.
Soup
Thom khar gai
The menu had a couple of soups listed under the “Chef’s Specials” on the menu, one of which was the Thom Khar Gai. This was my favorite dish that I have tried at Thai House so far, and it made me think that the chef’s specials designation has some real substance behind it and is not one made just for marketing purposes. This is a coconut soup flavored with galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and lime juice (several decidedly Thai flavors). It was specifically the lime leaves that enticed me to order the soup, based on dishes I have had in other restaurants with the same ingredient. The others add an important flavor component as well. I think several dishes at Thai House have some combination of these ingredients, but they are more pronounced in ones where the ingredients are part of the name (the khar in this dish means galangal).
For substance in this dish was mainly provided by chicken (gai) and mushrooms. In terms of flavor I would not try to substitute anything in this dish, including the spice level (it was not spicy but I do not think it is supposed to be a spicy dish).
After having eaten coconut flavored rice in Colorado Springs, I thought this was a fitting finale to this trip where I could indulge to an even greater extent with the coconut theme that seemed to be developing. This was a delicious soup, and one of the best I have had anywhere. It is not something that I normally order, because I usually prefer the curries or the stir fried dishes (such as pad khing). At Thai House, though, I think this is definitely a “must try” (even if others are like me and do not normally order this dish).
Other Observations
The Thai tea and the hot jasmine tea were both especially good.
It takes some time for the food to be served because each order is individually prepared. This is pretty standard for Thai restaurants, though, and it was nothing out of the ordinary.
The default for all the dishes I tried seemed to be at a low spice level, but the menu states that you can order the spice level you want for any dish. If I am able to return I think I would try a higher spice level on the ginger dish, but the others were ones I would not change from the default.
Prices are very reasonable, especially for this type of quality. The menu is posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page. I thought the selection of items was very good, and one of the good things here is that you can talk directly with the chef if you have any questions.
RATING: 24
Cuisine: Thai
Cost: $$
Hours: Closed Sun.
Accessible: Yes
Alcohol: No
Smoking: No smoking
Most Recent Visit: Aug. 10, 2019
Number of Visits: 2
Best Item: Thom Khar Gai
| Tea: | Jasmine (bags), Thai Tea |
| MSG: | No |
| Buffet: | No |
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Thom Khar Gai |
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Massamun Curry |
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Pad Khing |
Tomasita’s
Tomasita’s web site states that it has been a family run operation for over 40 years, which reveals at least two important facts. One is that it is family run, and this may be an explanation for the fact that (to my taste) it has such good food. I had recently visited El Bruno’s in Cuba, New Mexico (another popular family run restaurant), and I thought this and Tomasita’s had equally good food largely stemming from their nature of being local small scale restaurants. The only thing that really matters is that they have good recipes that are prepared well, but family owned restaurants tend to be particularly adept at this.
The fact that it has been operating for over 40 years is another important piece of information for me. This would mean that they opened sometime in the late 1970’s, and this would be the correct timeline for the memory I have of another restaurant which I believe was in the same building (an old railroad depot). It was actually the depot for the narrow gauge railroad which went north through northern New Mexico. The restaurant previous to Tomasita’s, though, had a name something along the order of Santa Fe Station, making me think that this was the old station for the Santa Fe Railroad (the real Santa Fe Railroad station was north of this location a couple of blocks, and is now the terminus for the commuter train from Albuquerque). The restaurant I remember was upscale and served steaks. I have tried to look it up on the Internet and I cannot find any information about the former restaurant. The real point to me, though, is that I think the conversion of the building from an upscale restaurant to a traditional New Mexican one is a sign of progress in a city where the real estate prices seem to dictate that it have more and more upscale restaurants, but fewer of the affordable ones.
My first visit to Tomasita’s was on a busy day, but it was the off-peak period of the afternoon. There was a wait for a table, and I imagine that the waiting time gets much worse during peak period. Otherwise things went smoothly, and I was pleased with the service as well as the food. The price was in a range that I once thought was high, but compared to similar restaurants (even in cities not as expensive as Santa Fe), the prices here seemed very reasonable.
The menu has a large number of choices (so many that I think some of them would not be considered traditional New Mexican cuisine). They also have daily specials but I did not check the prices on these, and they are not listed on their on-line menu. For me, though, my usual choice at restaurants serving northern New Mexican food for the first visit (as well as most subsequent visits) is blue corn enchiladas. Sometimes I try other things, with the stuffed sopapilla being at the top of the list. I do believe that if you have other dishes that are your favorite this will influence your list of favorite restaurants, but I do want to explain that my rating of this restaurant is based primarily on the enchiladas.
Chips and Salsa
Chips and salsa
The Chips and Salsa were very good, but I did not think they were notably better than at other restaurants. I was happy that they had different colored chips (some blue and some red). The problem with these was that the waiter did not bring them out until I asked for them. This usually means that you have to pay extra for the chips, but in this case it was just that the waiter forgot (not a problem for me as long as they do not spring me with any surprises on the bill).
Enchiladas
Red enchiladas with blue corn tortillas
The Blue Corn Red Enchiladas had all the required elements that I think make them good: flavorful and traditional tasting red chile, a spice level that goes just to the perfect point without being overly spicy, high quality cheese, and the blue corn tortillas that are almost totally missing in southern New Mexico restaurants but which are almost universally available in the northern part of the state (usually for an extra charge, though, as they are here).
There are quite a few choices involved when ordering enchiladas, such as red or green (the green is almost always the spicier of the two), blue corn or regular (I think the blue gives it a better flavor), stacked or rolled (usually the northern NM restaurants make stacked their default), choice of meat (I go with the plain cheese version at least until I find out which others are especially good), and onions or no onions (normally I omit the onions but in northern NM I find that they put in less onion than in other areas and it has less of a strong onion taste, so here I go with the onions).
One thing I really liked about the dinner is that they brought out the Sopaipillas with the meal without me even asking for them so that I could eat them with the red chile which was spicy enough that I really appreciated a sopaipilla to help tone down the heat.
Another thing that toned down the heat was the serving of Pinto Beans that, along with the cheese that topped it, had an excellent flavor and was another reason I love northern New Mexican cuisine.
The green chile is said to be good here as well, but I did not try it on this particular visit.
The Dining Room
Tomasita’s main dining room
The dining room is in a converted railroad station where much of the original architecture is on display, and the high ceiling and large windows perhaps make it appear more spacious than it actually is.
There is also an outdoor patio, and the web site says there is a private room that can accommodate parties of up to 20 people.
Other Notes
This was definitely among my best experiences with northern New Mexican cuisine in recent years, and I cannot think of past experiences where the enchiladas were really any better than here.
Some reviews say The Shed has better New Mexican food than Tomasita’s, but it was a very popular day with visitors and the parking situation made it so that going to The Shed was not feasible (The Shed is located just off of the Plaza so the traffic was for many destinations other than The Shed itself).
I have to say, though, that the food at Tomasita’s was as good I expected that The Shed would be, so I was not the least bit disappointed with coming here instead. I do not know if the food (especially the enchiladas) are actually better at The Shed, but I would probably not recommend going there on a Saturday during the summer tourist season as I tried to do.
Tomasita’s has another location in Albuquerque which is said to be good as well. Personally I am glad I chose this location because of the higher elevation, crisper air, scenic landscape, and historic setting of Santa Fe. If you cannot make it to Santa Fe, though, I am sure the Albuquerque restaurant would be fine (not to say that Albuquerque does not have its share of crisp air, scenic landscape, etc.).
RATING: 26
Cuisine: Mexican New Mexican
Cost: $$
Hours: Closed Sun.
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: N/A
Most Recent Visit: Aug. 10, 2019
Number of Visits: 1
Best Items: Blue Corn Red Enchiladas, Pinto Beans, Salsa, Sopaipilla
| Chile Index: |  |
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Red Enchiladas (Blue Corn) |
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Pinto Beans |
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Chips |
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Salsa |
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Sopaipilla |
Porter’s
First of all, I want to clear up some confusion about what Porter’s is. The official name of the restaurant is “Porter’s Restaurant & Smokehouse.” When looking at different web sites I saw that it was everything from a steakhouse to an American restaurant to a barbecue restaurant. The answer is that it is all of these things under one roof, and I think they must be awfully busy preparing all these different types of food. After examining the menu, though, I asked one of the employees if this was a steakhouse that had barbecue or a BBQ restaurant that had steaks, inquiring about the restaurant’s true specialty and what is popular with local people. Her reply was that it was a barbecue restaurant that had steaks, keeping this in context that she was only saying what was most popular and not necessarily what was the best food.
A second question some may have may be “why was I in Farmington in the first place?” All right, this is probably not a question anyone has, but I will give an answer anyway. It is quite notable that Farmington has one of the last remaining K-Marts in New Mexico, and in fact in the entire country. Last year I visited the K-Mart in Roswell which has since closed, and it is very uncertain what will be the fate of the remaining stores. It seems that the K-Marts have items that you cannot find anywhere else because of the fact that they do not jettison items as quickly which are not the top sellers, while the typical big box stores do not have as much patience for anything which is not earning them the top profit margins. K-Mart has good items, but just ones that are harder to find.
Also pretty hard to find, though, is good barbecue. New Mexico has become one of the top barbecue states in recent years, but of course not all restaurants in any state are of equal quality.
I told the staff that I was from Oklahoma and that I had high standards for barbecue, and after the meal I let them know that this restaurant passes the test. I would classify it as Texas style barbecue rather than Oklahoma–two of their best items are beef ribs and brisket which are known as being Texas specialties. I could not pin down the origin of the sauce but it was more spicy than in most Oklahoma restaurants (and more spicy than most I have tasted in Austin).
Moreover, I found out that their most popular item was the beef ribs, and that people literally make trips from all four of the Four Corners states to eat it. This is not a reflection of there being very little competition, but the fact that these ribs are so good that really anyone would come here who had a reasonable means of doing so. I did not know any of this before coming to the restaurant, but I am glad I found out.
The staff also let me know that the beef is locally sourced, and I think that not only the beef BBQ but also the steaks are known to be of very high quality.
BBQ Plate
BBQ plate with beef rib, sausage, and brisket
First of all, I should disclose that this was not my meal for the evening. Having previously eaten at El Bruno’s in Cuba, I had only samples of the meat while my friend and traveling companion (also named Steve) ate most of the meal. The BBQ plate includes three meats which are your choice, and you can choose side dishes as well. I do not remember whether Steve asked for recommendations or not, but I believe the rib and brisket are always his first choices at barbecue restaurants. I did not eat very much of any of them, but I thought all three meats were very good.
Of course I discovered that the Beef Rib is the restaurant’s specialty. This item is almost non-existent in Oklahoma, although I have had some recently in El Paso (which largely serves central Texas style BBQ). The beef rib at Porter’s included a very large portion of fat, but there was enough meat for both of us to cut off a reasonable serving and to be very satisfied (although I had a smaller appetite as was satisfied more easily). This was honestly the tenderest and most flavorful beef rib that I think I have ever eaten, and it was through asking the staff how they did this that I found out about the local sourcing of the meat.
The Brisket had a very good quality that I almost never get in Oklahoma, and which is not universal in the Texas barbecue world which includes El Paso. This was also a very good barbecued meat, which I would get as a supplement to the ribs (also in contrast to the rib’s high fat content, the brisket is very lean).
The Sausage was also very good, and I would say it was one of the best I have had anywhere. However, I am not that big a fan of BBQ sausage, so for me this was another item which took second place to the rib.
The sauce had a very good bite and in Oklahoma I would classify it as “spicy,” although it is not really at the level that New Mexicans think of as being extra spicy. The sauce went very well with the rib and sausage. For anyone who happens to see this blog before going to Porter’s, though, I would say to order the brisket plain with the sauce on the side. This brisket most likely would have been very good plain without any sauce, but I did not get to taste it this way.
The restaurant does give you a choice of whether you want sauce on the meat, on the side, or not included. I did like the sauce on the rib and the sausage.
Other Items
There is a popular buffet which I think includes all the BBQ items but not the steaks. I believe they also have regular meats which are not smoked on the menu and the buffet. The buffet is supposedly a bargain if you are fairly hungry. When I went the buffet was already closed (shortly before the restaurant’s closing time) but they did have the same type of soft serve ice cream machine I find at many barbecue restaurants in Oklahoma.
Summary
I did not have a large sample of this restaurant’s food, but I did try the beef rib which is what people “drive from Durango” in order to eat. This was an exceptional rib, and even more so because it had enough meat to satisfy what I would judge to be a normal meat portion when I consider the size of an average meal.
My other general recommendation is that prices here are extremely good for the amount and quality of food that you get.
There are other barbecue restaurants in Farmington that come up higher on the Yelp ranked list of restaurants, so I cannot say which one is actually the best. For beef ribs, though, it seems to be Porter’s.
RATING: 24
Cuisine: BBQ, Steaks
Cost: $$
Hours: Open Daily
Accessible: Yes
Smoking: No smoking
Alcohol: Beer & Wine
Most Recent Visit: Aug. 6, 2019
Number of Visits: 1
Best Item: Beef Ribs
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Beef Ribs |
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Brisket |
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Sausage |