Mexican in Japan

A while back, during one of my wanderings, I noticed a Mexican restaurant. I noted it within my mind.

Tonight I returned, curious to see what the Japanese version of Mexican food was. Apparently, at some point during my stay in Texas I became a bit of a Mexican food snob. As such, I generally dislike the Mexican food available in Boston. Or, it could just be that Boston Mexican food sucks because they haven't figured out that that burritos and quesadillas shouldn't have the same shape.

Anyway, I went to the restaurant. They had no English menu, but since Mexian food is foreign, it's all in Katakana so I could read the menu and feel totally smart for distinguishing taco from enchilada.

The biggest issue I have with Japanese restaurants is that going in I have no idea how much it will cost. You can't really tell the price by looking at the place b/c shady basement restaurants can be as fancy as any other place. And even if they have a menu w/ prices outside, it doesn't really indicate how much food you will get. Earlier, Leo and I went to a contemporary Japanese place and after ordering entrees were disappointed to learn that to get your fill, you apparently had to order the one of the full course meals rather than the individual menu items. But this isn't always the case. Not speaking Japanese makes this hard to discover until it's too late.

This was the problem w/ the Mexican place. When I was shown my seat, the lady apologized about the lack of English menus and rambled something about nachos. I tried to agree, assuming this would result in tortilla chips. It did not. Apparently it was meaningless small talk. So, strike 1 for not provided free tortillas. Totally lame.

I order the beef enchiladas. Unfortunately, this apparently translates to 1/2 of an enchilada, as I was brought a plate w/ a single, tiny enchilada cut in half w/ 2 tortilla chips and a bit of refried beans in the middle. However, it was delicious. I don't know if it was b/c I've been so removed from Mexican food or what, but it was about the best 1/2 enchilada I've ever had.

Still hungry, I specifically order some tortilla chips, a chicken taco (the other option was pork) and a tecate. This all begins to get a bit pricey, but I figure, how often will I eat Mexican in Japan anyway?

Again, the chips come is annoyingly short supply (apparently the Japanese don't know that I should be allowed to completely gorge on tortilla chips), but they are quite tasty. The taco, however, turns out to be a small tortilla w/a bunch of chicken and some onions piled on it. You cannot pick it up as a taco. I'm not really sure how you're supposed to eat it. I forgo the chopsticks and just eat it like pieces of chicked w/ a fork.

Anyway, the meal, while a bit expensive, was delicious. Again, maybe I've just been deprived, but I'd say it was on par w/ the most Mexican food in Austin. I suppose Tokyo should have good food, so maybe that's not a big surprise, but it totatlly blows Boston out of the water.