Austin Lunch Review: Fajitas

After our last low TAVS rating visit, it was a little difficult to get back. However, here we were ALR was once again sitting at La Palapa. This was a little different since now were sited on the main restaurant area rather than the cantina.

The food was of the same quality, flavor and quantity which mean a middle of the table rating good. We had a pleasant lunch and all the food came promptly. If you had an opportunity to read last review, the main problem was the service at the end when we were waiting for our check. Unfortunately, this time we ran into something similar. At the end, we had to go to the cashier to pay in order to make things happened. It took several minutes for the check to be re-created since it was somehow no on the system.

In summary, for the second time on a row, La Palapa has been deficient with the check process. Their food is an average Tex-Mex food selection and their value is Ok. For these reasons, their TAVS has not change holding at 2.8.

Link to La Palapa web site

ALR went to lunch on a special circumstance to Morelia Mexican Grill. Morelia has a fantastic decoration that immerses you inside an “Hacienda” somewhere in Mexico. At the entrance, a wonderful water fountain with an angel receives you and from there you can admire two tall sculptures known as “Atlante de Tula”. Once you are sited, you are surrounded by murals, paints and decorations.

We were quickly sited on a table in the middle of the place. Chips and salsa were served immediately. I didn’t like the chips because they were oily, lacked crispiness and salty flavor. The red salsa was also bland and needed textured. Finally, the green salsa was simply Ok.

As always, the plate to order to measure how Mexican the cuisine is on a place is the “Enchiladas Verdes”. On this plate, you can taste the rice, beans, green sauce, tortilla and chicken. You can easily determine a Tex-Mex from a Mexican restaurant with this selection. In this case, the rice wasn’t good because it had more like a Tex-Mex flavor because of the spices added and dry consistency. The refried beans had good flavor. The enchilada had a great featured because the chicken was just grilled instead of cooked with tomato as many other places do. However, this requires having a lot more tomatillo sauce to avoid the enchilada to feel dry and with lack of flavor. I would expect a lot more sauce on the plate to allow the chicken to grab this flavor as well as a combination of cheese and sour cream.

Another friend asked for the Fajitas Texanas which they looked very good and were served with flour tortillas. I was intrigued by the different options on fajitas where different vegetables and sauces are offered to create very unique combinations. I would surely try again in the future but concentrating more on this selection rather than the more traditional Mexican plates.

The service was good and the server was always attentive with our drinks, plates, etc. Regarding the value, it was Ok since a plate and drink was a little over $10 (with tip) and considering the amount, quality and overall flavor, it deserves a middle of the table score.

In summary, Morelia has definitively a very unique ambiance that transports you to Mexico. However, their Enchiladas were not 100% Mexican Enchiladas as were expected. We definitively will try on the future some of the fajitas options since they present interesting options and combinations.

You can see more photos of the decoration on our Pinterest page.