Something happened for the first time during this particular meal. I am not proud of what happened. But it's tough for a guy to be able to bring his A-game appetite to each and every meal. Sometimes you just don't have it.
I ordered three more virgin items from the menu at the Border for this chow-down session. No groundbreaking news there. I powered down items 1 & 2 and I was...full. I couldn't eat any more. The side of Pintos & Cheese went into the fridge for lunch the following day. But then this innocuous little side dish got inadvertently pushed to the back of the fridge and was not rediscovered until the following weekend =( You will see at the bottom of this post that my receipt has been modified accordingly.
I should note here that I absolutely detest wasting food. Maybe something about how my parents always strove to support starving children in Africa was absorbed into my brain through my thick skull during the course of my childhood. I don't pretend to know the particular reason why it bothers me so much. But this incident kind of gnawed at me for a couple of days, as neurotic as that sounds. But I will have to re-purchase a side of Pintos & Cheese at some future point in my Live Mas adventure.
My apologies, dear reader.
Item #39: BLACK BEAN BURRITO
And so my seemingly never-ending through Taco Bell's least appetizing menu category (at least for me) continues -- The Burrito! Another goddamn burrito! Hip-Hip-Fucking-Hooray! Today's iteration was the Black Bean Burrito, which by my count makes it the third vegetarian burrito entry on my Live Mas sojourn. (First up was the Bean Burrito, then the 7-Layer Burrito. I have yet to conquer the Cheesy Bean & Rice Burrito.) Guess what? I had low expectations.
The official Border website description:
"Premium Latin rice, flavorful black beans, a savory three-cheese blend, topped with tangy red sauce, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla."
Price: $2.09
Taste: 7.5 (out of 10)
Value: 6.0 (out of 10)
Overall Score: 7.1 (out of 10)
Thus far in my Live Mas adventure I have not posted any website photos of what Taco Bell purports their food to look like. I think all of us are bright enough to understand that these "official" photos are taken by professionals in a controlled environment using carefully massaged "models" of Taco Bell menu items. But there was such a massive deviation here I felt compelled to post the official image here:
Perhaps disguised in this amusing exchange is the fact that the Black Bean Burrito tasted pretty damn good. (The somewhat mysterious tangy red sauce really shined in this burrito. And Fire Sauce came through like a champ for me as well.) Against all odds, that means that all 3 vegetarian burrito offerings thus far have managed a taste score of at least 7.0. All of the supremely disappointing burritos thus far have featured meat. This makes no goddamn sense! I like meat!
The Black Bean Burrito was also rather filling. It ending up being a bit more hefty than I had anticipated. While I still have a bit of a problem paying more than $2.00 for a burrito without meat AND without avocado in any form, there are certainly worse values to be found on Taco Bell's menu.
Item #40: BEEF GORDITA SUPREME
You may recall from very early on in my Live Mas adventure my experience with the Cheesy Gordita Crunch. (I believe this exquisite menu offering was sampled on just my 2nd installment -- 3rd blog post overall.) At the time I don't believe I fully realized how scarcely the Gordita was utilized throughout the Border's menu. It is only available in two contexts: 1. As half of the vehicle for the meat and other toppings in the excellent Cheesy Gordita Crunch, and 2. As the solo star in the Gordita Supreme, which is available filled with ground beef, grilled chicken, or steak.
The official Taco Bell website description:
"Warm, pillowy flatbread filled with seasoned beef, reduced-fat sour cream, crisp shredded lettuce, a three-cheese blend and diced ripe tomatoes."
Price: $2.49
Taste: 7.5 (out of 10)
Value: 7.0 (out of 10)
Overall Score: 7.4 (out of 10)
As with the previously mentioned Cheesy Gordita Crunch, I really like Taco Bell's pillowy Gordita bread here. It scrumptious and filling and tasty and different. The problem here (and I use the term "problem" somewhat loosely because I did enjoy the Gordita Supreme) is that the texture is relatively one-note compared to the Cheesy Gordita Crunch. And what choice do I really have but to compare the two since those are only two Gordita offerings on the entire menu?
Anyhow, there is just a bit of a lack of a crunch/chew factor here. Perhaps this was exacerbated by my choice of ground beef as the meat filler in this instance, but I worried that I might have been leaning too heavily towards the steak option in recent meals. Here's a possible thought: Instead of adding some weak tomatoes -- which accomplish absolutely nothing here -- why not throw some tortilla strips on top? It seems so simple, but it probably won't happen. But it's tough to have too many gripes with Taco Bell when there are so many menu items that they get right, especially in comparison to other American fast food chains.
All in all, the Gordita Supreme is still a solid and worthwhile entry in the Bell's menu lineup.
The receipt (filled with shame and also some Sharpie) from this afternoon's installment of my Live Mas adventure:
Hopefully I can pull my own weight next time!
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