October 29, 2013 Banana Leaf Asian Grill and El Charritos Mexican Restaurant

October 29, 2013 Banana Leaf Asian Grill and El Charritos Mexican Restaurant

Rosemary and I went to Rio Rancho for court today and Rosemary took me to lunch at Banana Leaf Asian Grill because she said it was the best restaurant in Rio Rancho.  I had never been before and like so many places in Rio Rancho was a bit put off by the piles of blown dust in the parking lot.  But once inside I was impressed with the modern decor, steel and glass tables and modern blown glass and chrome halogen light fixtures.  I saw a special that looked interesting, Taiwanese beef and noodle stew for $9.99, so I ordered that.  We wanted one other dish so Rosemary ordered sizzling stir fried Udon noodles with chicken and an egg.    The waitress asked if we wanted her to serve the stew first and we said, “Yes”.

The Taiwanese stew was a clear dark beef consommé rich in meat flavor with pieces of beef stew meat, square cut Chinese wheat noodles and baby bock choy in it. We both loved it.

As we were finishing our stew, the Sizzling Udon came and it was really sizzling on a heated metal platter covered with a heavy metal lid.  When the waitress removed the lid, we saw a pile stir fried softened Udon noodles, thinly sliced onions, broccoli flowerets, sliced chicken, snow peas, mushrooms and a fried egg on the side that clearly had been placed on the side after the sizzling mass had been placed on the sizzling platter and had cooked inside the covered sizzling platter.  The sauce coating the ingredients was a sweetened soy sauce rich slightly thickened brown sauce seasoned with lots of black pepper.  It was pleasant tasting, but since I do not like black pepper, I found it to be excessive.  I find that there is a tendency to use black pepper as a cheap flavoring ingredient and the dish was not better for it.  I do think the concept of balancing the spiciness of the black pepper with the sweetness of the brown sauce on the Udon dish was interesting, but I would have used chili peppers.  But, we dug our way through the entire dish though, pepper and all.  

So I guess I would say that I found the food at Banana Leaf to be interesting and I would go back to try more dishes.  I am guessing that their Wonton soup would be killer.  I see that Banana Leaf is highly rated at from 4.2 to 4.5 stars, so others’ dining experiences have been positive also.

Banana Leaf

355 New Mexico 528, Rio Rancho, NM ‎

(505) 892-6119 () ‎ · bananaleafnm.com

4.217 reviews · $$

house fried rice · drunken chicken · won ton soup · curry udon · yellow curry

"Good food. Nice and fresh. My husband takes me here quite often and I love it!" -

 

After Court we stopped at Total Wine, we both bought Eguren rosé and Rosemary bought a bottle of Vouvray.   

When I arrived home at around 6:30 Suzette did not want to cook and wanted New Mexican food, so I suggested that we try the newly opened El Charritos Restaurant on Central in the old Village Inn restaurant location next to the Botanic Gardens.  I am not sure if the old location at 4703 Central is closed or not, but ½ of the new restaurant was pretty full when we arrived around 7:00.  We took a booth and almost immediately a waiter came by to take our drink order.  Soon our waitress came by to take our order.   I ordered my usual Mexican restaurant testing item, an enchilada plate with ground beef and double beans ($7.50).  Suzette was much more creative.  She ordered one carne adovado enchilada ($1.85) and one beef taco ($1.85).

We enjoyed our food and I think the enchilada plate was very attractively presented with three rolled enchiladas laid askew and diagonally across the platter.   The red chili sauce was pretty hot and very flavorful, so a big plus there.  The tortillas use in the enchiladas were softened, so a big plus there.  I enjoyed my meal and would return, especially for the daily specials at $5.99 each, which included cheese enchiladas, tamales and chili rellenos depending on the day of the week.

I liked El Charritos in its new digs with its Formica tables and bright hanging lights over each table better than the darker and more crowed old restaurant and others seemed to also.  By 7:45  though,  when we left, the restaurant was almost empty.  I guess the New Mexico New Mexican food crowd consists of mostly early eaters.    

Bon Appétit