After my day in Chapel Hill, I headed back towards Knightdale to meet up with my friends and have dinner. They chose a local place, to give me a taste of what their weeks are like and what it’s like being, you know, normal… something I’ve never been.
As we sat down, a basket of house made tortilla chips arrived with small dishes and a miniature carafe of salsa. Love having our own individual dishes – I suppose so if we wanted to add hot sauce, we could, or if we were sick, we could still dip with abandon. Love.
I got really excited when I noticed horchata on the menu, under the drinks section. I love horchata – and after quickly checking to make sure there was no coconut in it – I ordered it. The waiter seemed surprised. Regardless, even better? The drink was no more than $3 (might have been $2) and it was refilled every time I drank half or more. Crazytown! That would never happen in NYC. I don’t think anyone else orders that down there…
For a few dollars ($3-4?) we ordered a cheese dip and happily dipped the chips in this. Oh my gosh, this is the liquid cheese I strive to make. Creamy, tangy but not too sharp, just perfection. Smooth… lovely… wonderful. I wanted to drink this. I am not even entirely sure what kind of cheese that was…
My dish came with an ‘avocado salad’ – basically lettuce, tomatoes, some shredded cheeses, and a scoop of guacamole. I ate this happily because I love avocados, and it tasted pretty good.
As for my dish – apparently one of the most expensive items at $10! – the steak ranchero, described as “grilled rib eye steak topped with sauteed vegetables, served with rice, beans, tortillas” – I saw this land in front of me and thought okay, that makes sense.
I thought there was just a small piece of steak, which would have been fine given the price, but…
I pushed aside the veggies to reveal an entire flat piece of steak! Whoa. There was no way I was going to finish that.
Though I wasn’t asked how I wanted the steak to be cooked, it was just that shade of medium (closer to well) where it retained its tenderness, thankfully. It was very flavorful, and I had no problems eating what I could… and then packing up a lot of it to go (that was a LOT of food!). It also came with tortillas but I’m not inclined towards tortillas much so I didn’t eat those… but they made a great burrito/taco the next night!
Yvo says: Yum! Unlimited horchata for the price of a soda, reasonably priced apps and entrees… I would love a local Mexican place like this to open near me! (And this place was run by actual Hispanic people; I don’t know if they were Mexican for sure, but they were definitely Hispanic.) Who knew I’d fall in love with a Mexican restaurant in a suburb of Raleigh? (Not me… I’m so NYC-centric.)
recommended
Aimee Self says
That steak was surprisingly tender too!
Jay says
Wow, that is crazy good value.
Connie says
Great deal you got there! All that carne asada plate needs is some salsa rojo and chopped onions and cilantro. Yum.
esther says
looove horchata! i would have been so happy if they kept refilling mine!
Feisty Foodie says
I was pretty surprised the first time he came over to refill, then I was just all smiles. $2!!!
Hungry says
Is horchata supposed to be made with coconut?
Feisty Foodie says
No. However, when I went to the Red Hook Ball Fields a few years back, I noticed a sign that said “Horchata – agua de coco” or something that told me it was coconut water. So I am under the impression that in some Latino cultures, horchata can or does have coconut in it, so it is ALWAYS safer for me to check than to assume and have a reaction.
Feisty Foodie says
https://www.google.com/search?q=horchata+coconut&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Apparently it is sometimes made with coconut.
T.C. says
All they need now is Cam Newton to drink their stuff and spot the ‘stache. GOT HORCHATA?
Nice steak for ten bucks.