Inspiration can come in the most unlikeliest of places. Most days I don't eat with the intention of blogging, I just eat because well, I'm hungry. As I mature, yes I said mature as I've been told I'm not old, I find the need to eat fresher foods. My body no longer appreciates the high preservative foods I used to indulge in. I seem to gravitate towards the three S's, simple soups, sandwiches and salads and with there being such a large variety of dressings and soup combinations my palate rarely gets bored. Occasionally, I also get the desire to have an authentic taco, I mean they are basically little salads with meat wrapped in a corn or flour tortilla. Most people who know me know I love to eat, so the quickest way to create an experience for me is to accompany me on a food adventure. This was the case on another episode of "What should I eat for lunch?" On this day, while I worked, I was invited to lunch by a friend who appreciated fresh foods probably more than I do. When we decide on tacos he ask, "Have you ever had tongue tacos?" and as adventurous as am, I've never tried them. We visit La Riviera Maya located at 8104 National Turnpike, Lou KY 40214.
With my new "diet" I knew I wanted fresh foods and since tacos were usually pretty basic I wasn't overly excited about my lunch. The location is between a Kelly's temp service building and I believe an empty space. If you move to fast you will miss it however it was quite busy for a Thursday afternoon. As we pull up I take mental note of all the truck drivers and government workers who were coming in or going out, they usually knew about good fast food. The restaurant isn't very fancy, its pretty small with a few tables and a countertop for to go orders. We take a seat and a waitress brings us two menus, immediately I realize everything is in Spanish, which excites me because one- that meant this was going to be good authentic food and two- I've been trying to learn Spanish for years so I was able to see what I could remember. I couldn't remember much, and asked for some assistance, each menu item had a picture which made ordering much easier, I point to an item labeled "Lengua Taco" and the server smiles and says "beef tongue tacos." Well, with our prior conversation I'm pretty sold, now I am excited, this lunch instantly turns into a food experience. We order two beef tongue tacos and I decide to share some of his large platter, which consist of chicken, shrimp, steak, chorizo, Fresca cheese and cactus. Our tongue tacos come out first with diced raw onion and cilantro on corn tortilla, they also bring us two sauces, one red and one green, I pour the red sauce on my taco and took a big bite.
So, delicious is an understatement, the taco is very fresh and the meat is tender like pot roast but not savory. The red sauce is light but spicy and is a needed addition to the taco as it was dry but still amazing with or without the sauce. The tongue isn't mushy meat, its firm and seemed to be cooked on a flat top before being served in the taco and the lime on the side provided the acidity the taco needed. The experience is near perfect. It was mouth watering. LOL. After my taco I try some of my friends food, his chicken is seasoned well and I enjoy the onions and chorizo, I even taste the cactus which is not my favorite, it has a sliminess, like okra. So, now this place is part of my routine, being that I live fairly close I see myself going for lunch on a consistent basis. I will have to try more because as I have stated before I get stuck in food routines, and I just happened to luck up on this place. I hope you slide the chicken to the side and try some tongue. Happy eating!
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