2+2=Awesome

So I felt bad leaving tonight's blog posting on a sour note, especially after my Kansas State Wildcats pulled off a pretty exciting victory over those silly cows from Austin.  So naturally, I decided to double up this evening and leave you with some pleasant thoughts.  The title is in reference to combining two of my favorite things, brunch and Tex-Mex, so yes it is awesome.

Cyclone Anaya was a wrestler, evidently a pretty good wrestler, although I highly doubt he was ever quite so good as this man.

Unfortunately, the Macho Man never hawked anything better than Slim Jim (granted those can be dangerously addictive), ergo he loses to Cyclone in the context of this blog.  Cyclone also beat out another former wrestler turned restaurant owner... Basically, most wrestlers should stay out of the food industry but I for one am thankful Cyclone and his family did not, cue the entrance song, and brace yourself for Cyclone Anaya's.

Chips and salsa... Better than any pyrotechnics or stage music I ever witness on a wrestling show.

I came here for one reason and one reason only this day though, I came for the brunch.  For those of you that remember the rules about brunch from my previous blog postings, that means it is okay to drink in the morning.  Not that I ever need much rationalization in the first place for it, but this makes it a little more socially acceptable.

For those of you out there who are amateurs, you should start with this, a good Spicy Bloody Mary.  Unless of course you have an unnatural fear of vodka or are simply a fan of beer the Michelada may be more your style.

For you astute readers out there you may have noticed a change of venue, we decided that the weather was too nice to sit inside at a bar so we took to the patio.  Please disregard all shadows, the sun was not kind and I was drinking, so it basically makes me a less than amateur photographer.  I do weddings.  Now that the shameless plug is out of the way, let's continue on with some grubbage.

Once again ignore the shadow, but here we have what I like to consider a staple of my Tex-Mex/Mexican/Anything breakfast, Chorizo and Eggs.  Scrambled eggs mixed in with the spicy Mexican sausage (yes there are differences in chorizo based on its country of origin, and I will be frank with you, from what I have tasted I think the Mexicans do it best), served of course with a side of frijoles and rice.  This is quite possibly one of the best hangover breakfasts out there, even better if you can find it wrapped in a tortilla to avoid spilling all over yourself as you lay in a puddle of humiliation.  Or you can be a real winner and go drink while you eat it off a fancy plate.  Your call, I am just the blogger getting carpal tunnel here for your own amusement.  Now onto the kinkier brunch item.

Look it comes on an elongated fancy plate so it must be good right?  Yes in fact that is correct, these my cheeky little friend are Crab Cakes Florentine.  Two jumbo lump crab cakes, topped with spinach, poached eggs, and wait for it... jalapeno hollandaise sauce.  I am going to give you a moment to let that all soak in and collect your thoughts.........................................

So I may not be the biggest fan of crabs, but I am a huge fan of Eggs Benedict, so I decided to go over the top here and give this one a go.  Look at those gigantic pieces of crab! Seriously, this thing is amazing, I mean the sauce and crab is so good that you almost forget that there is a huge pile of healthy stuff wedged in between it.  That is until you spend the rest of your day picking out pieces from your teeth, me personally, I like to leave them in as a badge of honor, rubbing it in everyone's faces that "Yes, I did just eat spinach want to fight about it?"

Thanks for tolerating tonight's crazy double blog post, I would think that those buggers would have been worth your time and patience.

The Real Deal

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I am a big fan of Robb Walsh.  In fact for Christmas I even received his Tex-Mex Grill Cookbook and Tex-Mex Cookbook, and highly recommend them for anyone who is looking to make some autentico Tex-Mex or just have some different recipes to spice it up.  Robb's favorite project of mine does not come on paper though, it is a collaboration with the always awesome Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd (the team behind some of Houston's best places to eat), El Real Tex-Mex.

El Real is housed in the old Tower Theater on Westheimer near Montrose, and they have done a great job of maintaining not only the essence of the theater, but the essence of classic Tex-Mex and the pioneers behind it.

There is usually a classic black and white Western, or some John Wayne movie playing on the screen, and the room is filled with pictures of famous Tex-Mex figures like Mama Ninfa.  The menu does an even better job of paying homage to these people, and the history behind great foods like puffy tacos or stacked enchiladas.

My personal favorite dish is the Enchiladas #7, cheese enchiladas covered in a delicious chile con carne that is second to none I have ever tasted.  The real clincher here is the fried egg, our first trip here the waiter tried to convince us to try it, and we just stared at him like he was certifiably insane.  Needless to say, listening to that man was quite possibly one of the greatest decisions ever made, and sense then I do not know if I can ever truly go back to egg-less enchiladas.

That is one delicious mess my friends.

My other favorite dish, in a whole different flavor ballpark is known as the Chingo Bling Plate, named after a local Houston rapper.  I do not really know any of the man's music, but I can say he has his name on an awesome dish of a smoked chicken relleno, a chicken enchilada smothered in salsa verde, and quite possibly one of the best pork tamales I have ever had.  Even the rice and beans do these dishes justice, whereas usually I can resist the side dishes, the rice is moist and the beans are creamy making them absolutely amazing. All of this delicious food would mean nothing of course if you did not have something delicious to wash it down with,and this evening I was knocking back the Victorias.

Victoria is a darker lager from Grupo Modelo (the same company that brings us the Modelo line and always popular Corona, not to mention my favorite beer in Mexico known as Leon), that only began importing to the US in the last few years.  All I can say is better late than never.

So if you find yourself in Houston and craving a delicious, not to mention real, Tex-Mex experience wander on down to El Real and let your taste buds partake in this fiesta.