Archive Page 3
411 Central Ave. NW
Open: 11am - 5pm (Mon - Fri) ~MENU~
Other Locations:
8019 Menaul Blvd. N.E.
299-0001
Do you remember on the show “Friends” when Joey would say that his favorite food was a sandwich? He was stingy and never wanted to share, even saving it form a bullet. Where do they come up with this stuff! But what if there were sandwiches out there that were so good that you would consider saying, seriously, that your favorite food is a sandwich. After visiting Relish, the thought has crossed my mind. And I would say just “sandwich” because they have so many sandwiches here I like, it would be hard to pick just one as my favorite.
The Relish Sandwich Shop is located downtown in a small little area between two clubs. It’s easy to miss, I know because I overlooked it so many times and thought it was just some little bar. I didn’t give it a try until the name showed up on the “best salad” poll for this website. I found that Relish sandwiches and salads have some really unique and quality ingredients to their food as well as some delicious fresh breads.
The menu consists of five selections each for hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, or salads. Starting with hot sandwiches, my favorites are the Cubano (house speicalty) and Grinder. The Cubano is made from seasoned pork roast, honey ham, swiss cheese and a cilantro mayo, all placed within a long baguette and toasted. This sandwich is very rich and flavorful, it is soft on the inside, but crisp on the outside, and the combination of chipotle pork roast and cilantro mayo blend perfectly. The Housemade Mozzarella is another favorite with roasted red peppers, arugula, and tomatoes are combined with mozzarella made in-house, lightly topped with a balamic vinegarette and served in an alpinetta roll. On the cold side, I would definitely recommend the Honey Roast Turkey which is a generous portion of sliced turkey, tomato, jack cheese, mizuna greens (I don’t even know what this is, but its good), avocado, and wasabi mayo all in between sourdough bread. This sandwich is a perfect mixture of my favorites with some unique touches to make a sandwich that is top notch. All sandwiches are served with your choice of house-made potato salad (thinly whipped), pasta salad (tangy like a balsamic dressing), or slaw (sweet and fruity).
Like I said before, I discovered this place form a salad poll, so even their salads are done right. My favorite is the Chicken Salad which it just loaded with flavor, from sweet to salty, all mended together for a different flavor every bite. Basically, the menu covers fifteen selections and one dessert (chocolate sandwich), but what they lack in selection they gain in quality.
Relish is very much like a small deli you would find in New York, with the same three people packed into a small place and a lot of people outside waiting. The cashier is always very nice, weather they are slow or jam-packed, and I know that can’t be easy. Even when its busy they get the food out quick because two guys are non-stop making these sandwiches with their back to the restaurant, and a girl pleasantly collects the money, takes calls, and gets the orders together and out. It’s so efficient you wonder if they have some more people in the back. Bottom line, the menu isn’t big, the place isn’t big, but the sandwiches and salads you get out of Relish will surprise you.
UPDATE:
The Double Stacked Ruben is one of the best sandwiches I have every had. I read somewhere that the downtown location is lowering prices to make it more affordable. I haven’t been to the downtown location to verify.
Taste:
[rate 9]
Service:
[rate 9]
Ambiance:
[rate 6]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]
Eat Albuquerque was down for a couple of hours, due to a local neighborhood script kiddy hacker named Johnny taking advantage of an outdated user poll. The software had many security issues and needed an upgrade. I thank Johnny for letting me know.
Nothing from the attack was lost, but during the upgrade I deleted the latest poll. So If you voted please do so again, I was looking forward to the outcome of this close poll. Remember if you don’t see a choice you want, you can add an answer at the bottom of the poll. You will still see the previous polls on the Readers Top Five page.
Have an nice weekend
Eat! Albuquerque
Thanksgiving is only days away. I thought I would share a recipes we have tried and loved. The recipe is a pumpkin cheesecake. If you like cheesecake’s and you like pumpkin pies, it makes sense to combine it into one cake. The recipe comes from a website that has amazing recipes and pictures.
This dessert combines two American favorites; New York style cheesecake and pumpkin pie. When we use the term ‘New York’ we mean a cheesecake made with cream cheese, as opposed to ricotta, that is topped with a layer of lightly sweetened sour cream. This recipe takes your basic cheesecake batter and enhances it with pure pumpkin puree and its complementary spices. All of these wonderful ingredients make for a deliciously rich and smooth cheesecake that is given even more flavor by a bottom crust of crushed ginger snap cookies. This is definitely the perfect Fall dessert and would make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving feast.
Pumpkin Cheesecake
1715 Second Street SW
Albuquerque NM, 87102
505-242-1843
8am - 6:45pm
~MENU~
El Modelo Mexican Food has been around since the 30’s making homemade tortillas and tamales. Located on 2nd street right off of Bridge street, El Modelo’s catered to the railroad repair shop workers across the street until the shop closed down in the 70’s. Today El modelo’s is an Albuquerque institution, known for its fresh tamales and tortillas.
Continue reading ‘El Modelo Mexican Foods’
Chow’s Website
As you can see, there are quite a lot of Chinese restaurants to choose from in Albuquerque. It seems like everywhere I look a new Chinese buffet or restaurant is popping up. Instead of naming my favorites I think I would rather focus on one that I have just recently found that seems to have a lot to offer. Chow’s Chinese Bistro is a local chain with three restaurants (two in Albuquerque and one in Santa Fe). It continues the trend of Americanizing traditional Chinese dishes, or as they put it “East meets New West.”
Continue reading ‘Chow’s Chinese Bistro’
Happy Halloween everybody! Here are a few recipes you can make with your leftover pumpkins.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
- 1 (16-ounce) package pound cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice(cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove)
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 (14-ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
- 1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin (about 2 cups fresh pumpkin puree)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350. In large mixer bowl, on low speed, combine cake mix, 1 egg, margarine and 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice until crumbly. Press onto bottom of half sheet pan (16 x 10 inch).
In large mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in Sweetened Condensed Milk, then remaining 2 eggs, pumpkin, remaining 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice and salt; mix well.
Pour over crust; sprinkle with nuts. Bake 30-35 minutes or until set. Cool. Chill; cut into bars. Store covered in refrigerator.
Halloween Hard Pumpkin Punch
- 1 Pumpkin
- 1 part Apple cider
- Pumpkin Spices(optional)
- 2 parts Ginger ale
- 1 part Rum
Hollowed out pumpkin, use a Mellon baller on the inside the pumpkin to get floating pumpkin chunks. Fill pumpkin with the liquids.
Today the Frontier Restaurant’s management has decided to alter the traditional Open 24 hours because of increasing violence during the late night hours. The Frontier has seen in increase of fights form patrons after the local bars close. To try to curb the violence The Frontier decided to close between the hours of 1:30am-4am on Friday and Saturday. The hours on the other days should staying the same. This is unfortunate for some of the peaceful late night patrons.
View The Frontier Restaurant Review
3600 NM Hwy 528 (Alameda just West of Coors)
Albuquerque, NM 87114
(505) 899 - 6900
Lunch: 11:30am - 2:30pm
Dinner: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Looking for great Indian cuisine? I recommend the Bombay Grill. The taste, service, value and atmosphere quickly made this restaurant one of my favorite places to go to in this city. As an addition to the northwest area of Albuquerque, it is like a diamond in the rough of chain and mediocre restaurants.
The food here is very pronounced and flavorful as they prepare great dishes with a blend of exotic spices. 
While you look through your menu, they serve up some large bread wafers (a little hot) and three dipping sauces (look in the menu for Raita and Mango Chutney) that all have very unique flavors from sweet to spicy. To start with, you may want to try one of their appetizers. When I go I always get the Keema Samosa for $2.95, which are two crisp patties stuffed with spiced ground lamb and green peas, and tastes very good. They also have a diverse drink menu here with a good variety of imported wine and beer for India. I like to order the Mango Lassi which is a thick and traditional drink made of homemade yogurt and mango. Mango is a very common ingredient in Indian food, as you can probably tell from the menu.
On to the entrees, I think that you can’t go wrong with either the Chicken or Lamb Masala. This is such an addictive semi-sweet entrée that you wont want to put it down. I usually get this with a side of Peas Pallao (a saffron flavored Basmati rice with green peas) and Garlic Nan (a soft baked white bread patty with roasted garlic on top), both are great compliments any entree. Try this combination for yourself, I wouldn’t steer you wrong. If you don’t like it, let me have it on the comment section. If you want more of a traditional and common item, try the Curry, which is very rich sauce loaded with exotic spices to give a unique and pronounced flavor. Other entrées that are different, but also very good are the Karahi Prawns, Chicken Makhani, Saagwala. For all of you vegetarians out there, be sure to try the Mattar Paneer and Bhindi Masala. If you go with a group, its a good idea to order a few of the menu items, some rice and bread, then share and taste all of the sauces and meats together.
The service here is very disciplined, cooperative, and helpful. To start with, you may not know who your server is until halfway through your meal. This is because you are not just helped by one server, but by all of the servers as well as the manager. They all work as a team to get you drinks, answer questions and provide recommendations, and deliver your food. As you can see in the picture the glasses are not that big, but they worked as a team to make sure that my glass of water was never close to empty.
I have had good service and conversation every time I visited here, which is impressive. Also, unlike most restaurants, the servers act attentive and professional while they are in view of the customers. Now I don’t know, they could be wild and chatty in the back, but it doesn’t matter because anyone who knows how a restaurant works, knows that the importance is in the illusion of making each guest/table feel appreciated, like they are the most important one there.
The outside of the restaurant is not very impressive, a plain gray exterior with two neon signs, no view of the inside, and a two-door entrance that makes you do a double take to make sure its not the rear entrance to the building. Then you open the door (maybe into the twilight zone) and it is the opposite as you get first sight of the elegant and beautiful interior. The windows and walls are covered with drapes, there is a cascading and illuminated waterfall that divides the dining room, and a projector displays the culture and sights of India on the south wall. The tables are dressed in white linen and topped with fully prepared meal settings, a candle, and glasses filled with linen flowers. All of this is shown above, but the bottom line is that the atmosphere is very cozy and charming.
Weather you like Indian cuisine or just want to try something different (you know, step out of the box) then I would suggest you make your way to the northwest corner of Albuquerque and give the Bombay Grill a try. It has all of the elements of fine dining like great atmosphere, unique and flavorful food, great service, all for a very good price. Exactly what you would need to impress a date or business associate, especially when you pretend to know exactly what your ordering. This restaurant has made a lasting impression on me and maybe it can do the same for you too.
NOTE: This is an Entertainment Card Restaurant and they also offer a very good lunch buffet.
Taste:
[rate 9]
Service:
[rate 9]
Ambiance:
[rate 8]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]
1501 Mountain Rd NW
244-9105
Wed-Sat, 12-7
*****Closed, no knowledge of it’s return******
Last week, a friend, my eight-month old daughter, and I headed toward Old Town for dinner at La Siringitu, a vegetarian café at 15th and Mountain. First off, when you walk in the door, you feel at home. Literally. The floors are wood, there’s a fire place in the corner, animal-themed knick knacks fill the window sills and shelves, and the tables are arranged across hardwood floors as though for a holiday dinner at your favorite aunt’s house. Diners can also peak right into the cook and prep area, where a curtain is held back for those nosey enough to wander in (or actually, for those confused enough to wonder if there’s more seating beyond the curtain.)
The night we ate at the café, jazz piano was on the stereo, only one other table was occupied, and a shy-seeming, smiling young man was running the kitchen and the dining room. He was obviously short-handed, but didn’t come across as harried or hurried. And with the homey atmosphere, good music and clean décor, we were more than willing to wait for some home-cooked vegetarian fare.
I ate the jambalaya rice boat for $3.50. It was delish. Plain and simple and good. I also had a soft taco with black beans, garnished with lettuce, tomato, cheese and salsa ($3). Nothing to write home about – especially here in New Mexico – but it was tasty and fresh.
My companion had the Soul Food Mix-It-N-Match ($8.50). Diners can choose from BBQ tofu, mac and cheese, fresh veggies, yams, black eyed peas, jambalaya rice, mixed leaf salad or the soup de jour, and my friend choose the veggie mixture (decent, but “unsatisfactorily seasoned”), mac and cheese (“good, but not too heavily cheesed”) and the tofu BBQ (“great”). She’d hoped for some black eyed peas, but the kitchen was out of them that night.
Other items on the menu we’d both been tempted by: hummus with pita bread, seasoned curry tofu salad on a bed of lettuce and assorted veggies and the cucumber and tomato medley (The most expensive plate is $6.50). Sandwiches and wraps include BBQ burgers (vegan or vegetarian), BBQ tofu with veggie bacon and fruits and veggies, sea weed wraps, PB and J, grilled cheese and an African Burrito – none of these exceed $8 in price, by the way. The café also serves customized smoothies and desserts, including fried plantain.
Overall, the food is good to great, though the portions are probably too small for your average American diner who’s used to overflowing plates and leftovers. But that was a big part of the appeal for us. We left La Siringitu feeling satisfied, not stuffed, relaxed, not hurried, and ready to come back another day.
Taste:
[rate 6.5]
Service:
[rate 8]
Ambiance:
[rate 8]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]
400 Gold SW at the Simms Building
(505) 245 – 1711
I work in the downtown area and am always on the prowl for good places to go to during lunch. For most of us over here, finding good places to eat is a high priority because the majority of the day we sit in offices and cubicles for hours at a time. 
Lunchtime is a break for us to stretch out legs, get away for a while, and enjoy some good food before we work the second half of the day (what, you need energy to sit for hours on end). La Sierra is a restaurant that I passed by many times because it is tucked away in the Simms Building right next to the main entrance to Gold’s Gym. It also looks very plain from the outside, not like the fancy restaurants that are along Central.
When I first went here I took a look at the menu and didn’t have a good feeling because it had such a wide range of food including American, New Mexican, and Greek. I always think it is a bad sign when a restaurant mixes such different foods. However, this is one place that has really impressed me with taste, price, and portion. First of all, getting a plate in the 5 to 6 dollar range downtown is a steal. To start you are given some tortilla chips and salsa, which is good because most of the time you are starving when you get to a restaurant. Then with many of the entrees you are given a small salad or soup while waiting for your food. Nothing fancy so far right, very plain looking chips and salad, but they taste pretty good, or to the starving worker…like the best chips and salad you ever tasted!
I have had a few entrees here including the Turkey Avocado sandwich, Gyro, and Enchilada Plate. Actually, I have had the Turkey Avocado sandwich about 5 times already. Compared to most downtown restaurants it might seem plain…no imported honey turkey from Europe, no smoked provolone, no rye with poppy seeds or avocado from the nether regions of the world. So you might say that the description of turkey, avocado, and Swiss on a French roll might sound plain. You’re right it is plain…. plain good! This is not a restaurant that raises the cost with fancy ingredients, they make food simple with large portion, they make it good, and you don’t pay 10 dollars for a sandwich. They just started making Gyros and I tried one thinking it couldn’t be as good as some of the Greek restaurants, but it was also pretty good. In fact, I have yet to try something here that wasn’t good and it is shocking considering its humble atmosphere and mixed up menu.
The service is exactly what you would expect here, two ladies in aprons running around calling you “sweetie” and with about 7 other tables to talk to. They are nice and get you everything you need most of the time, so I have no complaints on that. Especially since I run into bad service at some of the more popular downtown restaurants. Like I said before, the atmosphere is very plain and looks like a small town diner, but as long as I have some good food in front of me, I really don’t care. So I definitely recommend this restaurant especially to the downtown employees on their lunch break.
Taste:
[rate 8]
Service:
[rate 6]
Ambiance:
[rate 5]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]
1815 Central, N.W.
247-4141
I have lived in the downtown area for the past three years. passing by Duran’s pharmacy on a daily basis, I had no clue that their was a restaurant in the back of the pharmacy. In a back corner of the Duran pharmacy is a charming little restaurant that has been serving New Mexican food since the 60’s. While not the ideal location for a restaurant, Duran’s pharmacy restaurant caters to the loyal neighborhood regulars and the daytime lunch pharmacy goers.
Nestled in the back of the pharmacy, are a few tables, a small covered patio, and a sit at counter. At a small grill the cooks is making fresh flour tortillas as they are ordered. I would have to say that their reputation for homemade buttered tortillas is true. The tortillas are undoubtedly the best tortillas served in town. These liberally buttered tortillas taste reminiscent of soft tortillas that your grandmother would make. Duran’s menu is small but offers daily special menu items that are only served on that day. On one occasion I had the blue corn enchiladas plate served with home-style beans and rice. The chile was very mild and the enchiladas were skimpy and unfulfilled. My wife had the combination plate which was also a disappointment. We left the restaurant unsatisfied. The prices are a little steep hovering more closer to $10 then $5 for a small plate. I would say that the trip is well worth it for the tortillas, but their is far better New Mexican food in the area.
Taste:
[rate 6]
Service:
[rate 8.5]
Ambiance:
[rate 7.5]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]
