Friday, February 5, 2010

Rositas

OUT AND ABOUT

Rosita’s
2401 Napoleon St
Sulphur, LA
337-533-9077
Monday to Saturday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM $1 to $16
Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

Across from the Sausage Link this venue on Hwy 90 has been several establishments in the past few years. Now it is a family run Mexican. The interior has been thoroughly remodeled from the floor up. It is spick and span. I must comment on the menu here before I go on. The first page is obviously for Gringos (fajitas and salads). The second is full of seafood options from soup to whole fried fish. The third page reads like the side of a taco truck. They list the dishes and you ask your server what proteins are available. The bottom has menudo. The last page is breakfast that is available all day. The menu appears quite unusual but delicious.

First thing to hit the table is salsa and chips. But not your garden variety red one, this consists of a spicy and tasty green salsa. I suspect tomatillos as the base. To cool your palate they also offer Aqua Fresca including Horchata along with Mexican soft drinks. Horchata is a rice or almond milk drink flavored with cinnamon. Really hits the spot

First time in I went the taco truck route. I started with a Gordita with tongue. A thick corn tortilla grilled, split and then filled with super beefy and tasty chunks of cow tongue with lettuce and tomatoes. I then got a corn tortilla soft taco with chicharrons. Except these people don’t just braise the skin but the whole pork belly with skin, fat and meat. It was in a mild tomato sauce and hit my pork button. Last was pastor. This is pork marinated in seasonings and pineapple juice then roasted. These two were very simple. A couple of griddled corn tortillas with the meat on them topped with chopped onions and a lime wedge. True Mexican street food. They offer regular proteins like chicken, beef, etc along with the unusual ones in other dishes like burritos, tostadas, tortas (sandwiches) as well.

I hit the breakfast menu next. They have a dish I have wanted to try for awhile but never had the opportunity. Manchaca con Huevos consists of scrambled eggs with dried beef and in this version onion, tomatoes and Serrano peppers are added. It came with refried beans and rice neither of which I cared for. The pepper was raw and too spicy for me. I picked most of them out and ate every last bit of the eggs and beef. I think if they had been sauteed it would have been better for me. Still hungry I glommed onto an unusual item on the menu. Tostada Camarone en Limon starts with a fried flat corn tortilla that has mayonnaise spread on it. Then comes a lime juice, tomato, cilantro and boiled small shrimp mixture. They top it with a dollop of Mexican Crema (sour cream product). It turned out to be some of the best ceviche I have ever tasted. Fresh, clean and acidic with the mayonnaise adding a richness to it, definitely a keeper.

Caldo Marisco came next. The name implies seafood soup. They offer both shrimp and fish soup so I figured this was a combo of those items. When it came to the table I nearly shouted hallelujah. In magnificent seafood broth resided green lip mussels in the shell, whole gumbo crabs, head on shrimp, squid rings, baby octopus, bay scallops, snapper and tilapia hunks. I sat eating and drinking every morsel and mouthful. A few items were a little chewy but had given the broth wonderful flavor. I suspect I emitted little moans as I ate. It was orgasmic to me
I consumed Camarone en Ajo next. Griddled medium shrimp tossed with bell pepper and onions in a garlic sauce. The combo makes excellent wraps with the flour tortilla provided. Very deep garlic flavor but no bitterness. Not very spicy either. The rice seemed better more of a pilaf. I actually ate all of it

Last but not least in my book, Menudo. I don’t mean the boy band. Their version has no posole (hominy) but made up for it with a two-inch pork shank and all three types of cow tripe (smooth, honeycomb and leaf). The usual accompaniments of diced raw onions and jalapenos along with lime wedges were there. The broth looked angry it was so red but turned out quite mild and full of porky flavor. I gave it a big shot of the salsa verde to perk it up. I do like a certain amount of spice. The shank gave it unctuousness and I sucked every bit of flesh off it making disgusting sounds.

Bottom line here is that if you want authentic Mexican come here. However bring cash as they do not do credit. They may be pulling back on the spice for Gringos but I look at it this way. There are enough condiments that I can make as spicy as I want it. Well worth the trip across the river.


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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Arthur,

Thank you for your review. I am happy that you and your friends where pleased. I do believe that are service is better then just about anywhere, but we can sometimes over wait on a table. I like your review on Rositas. I have been wanting to give it a try.

Chef Ben Herrera