I scream, You scream, We all scream for Gelato??

It’s that time of year again.  When its just too hot and you need an icy treat to cool your blood.  Head to Paciugo if you’re looking to feed your ice cream cravings.

Everyone will yell at me for saying that though.


It’s Gelato, not ice cream!

But really, who cares because it’s just darn delicious. 

This place boasts an enormous selection of gelato flavors including milk based, water based, soy based, and no-sugar-added options.  Every time I have been there, they have a new flavor(sometimes several new ones).

Not sure what to get?  No problem!  Taste as many flavors as you want before you make a decision. 

Still can’t decide?  That’s ok too.  In their small dish you can get a mix of up to 3 flavors.  Today, I had Cinnamon Coconut, Black Cherry Swirl, and Crème Caramel.  In a medium dish you can get up to 4 flavors, and up to 5 in a large.

To make it even better it’s served to you with a sample spoon, which is very small, and makes you take smaller bites and enjoy the gelato that much longer and that much more.

Located right on the corner of State St. and Gorham this is the perfect place to grab dessert after a dinner downtown.

Picture from here

Insider Tip: you think you can eat more than you really can ;)

Tacos Anyone? Tex Tubbs vs. Los Gemelos

Wow, Madison has some amazing taco joints.  Recently AJ and I brought home Tex Tubbs Tacos from Tex Tubbs on Atwood Ave.  A few days after that I ate lunch at Los Gemelos on State St.  I heard they had great tacos so I had to check it out; and I thought I could write a comparison post, so here it is.

Tex Tubbs

I didn't get the tacos -- AJ did and brought them home, so I didn't get to see the inside of this place.  However I do know someone that works there and I've heard their decor is pretty fun and I know they have good drink specials.

Their menu is really cool and includes tacos that you probably wouldn't see at a more authentic Mexican joint.  We ordered two each of the Carne Asada taco (on the left) and the Derby Bird (on the right).
    
On the Carne Asada there is: Carne asada, cabbage slaw, jack cheese, pico de gallo, and sour cream
On the Derby Bird you get: Honey-bourbon glazed chicken, fresh corn salsa, lettuce, and sour cream
Both of these tacos were tasty and I thought they used classic and delicious toppings.  Each taco was able to stand out on its own because of their different toppings though.  The Derby Bird had a sweet factor because of the honey-bourbon glaze and the corn salsa, whereas the carne asada was more classic in taste.  I will definitely go back to try more and find my favorite.

Los Gemelos

In contrast to Tex Tubbs, Los Gemelos is definitely more authentic.  However, their restaurant could use a little work on the inside.  Currently it is a weird mix of sit down and to-go style.  I wanted to take a break so I ate there and it felt like I was at Taco Bell or something, but with mariachi music playing and an oddly placed bar.

I also think they would benefit from switching their entrance and exit doors.  This sounds silly and trivial, but I expected to walk in and be at the counter to order, but instead the entrance is at the end of the serving counter and I had to backtrack in order to meet the hostess and get a table.  Moving the doors around would make for a better grab and go taco joint because you can walk in, order, pay and move down to the end to get your food.  (I'm picturing the Starbucks flow in my head).  Their location on State St. and their great prices are great for this too.  It's my new favorite for lunch.

The service was good, but just felt a little awkward because (like I mentioned) it didn't feel like a sit-down kind of place to begin with.  I got chips and salsa which was sweet, and though they do have a more elaborate menu containing the basics like enchiladas and such, I stuck to the tacos.  I ordered a pork taco and a chorizo taco.
 
These were both amazingly delicious.  However, I wasn't sure which was which at first as both had the same toppings of cilantro and lime.  It only took a bite of each to figure it out and I realized simple is simply delicious.  The cilantro and lime were all that was needed on these tacos.  The flavors in the meat exploded in my mouth and the pork was incredibly tender.  They give you some hot sauces too; one red, and one green.  I usually am a fan of hot sauce, but the tacos really didn't need anything else.  I tasted each of the sauces with a small bite of my taco, but didn't use them after that.

I will be going back here for sure, but definitely will get my tacos to-go.  The best part, second to the amazing food was the price.  Tacos are two dollars a pop bringing my lunch total to only $4.25 with tax.

Both of these taco joints offer delicious options.  I will go back to both, but recently I have been considering going a more vegetarian route with my diet.  I don’t remember seeing many if any vegetarian options at Los Gemelos.  However, Tex Tubbs offers 6 vegetarian options that sound very tasty.

Tex Tubbs also uses a lot of local ingredients which I try to support whenever possible. That, along with a more vegetarian menu will probably persuade me to go there more than Los Gemelos.  I only wish there was a Tex Tubbs on State…

Kabul Restaurant on State

Hey everyone!  I’m really excited to tell you about an awesome taco joint I ate at today for lunch, but I feel like I need to keep to some sort of order.  I’ve been holding out on you for too long and have a long list of foods and restaurants to talk about.  So, without further ado, I will get cracking on this list.
I may have mentioned in a previous post that I’ve been wanting to try a restaurant on State St. called the Mediterranean Café.  I have seen a line out the door to that place and have been curious about it since.
I confessed this curiosity to my loving husband who then proceeded to take me there.  Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and they were closed.  So, while we were there (on State St. I mean) we decided to work on broadening our palates by having lunch at a place called Kabul Restaurant.
Kabul serves Afghan cuisine and from what I had heard through the grapevine was that it was pretty good.  Neither of us had tasted Afghan food before which made the experience really fun and interesting. 
Let me start with the atmosphere of the place.  It’s pretty small on the inside, maybe 10 tables total.  I’m almost positive that the tables used to be really basic fast-food-type booth tables, but they have nicely covered them in a cushiony material and then put a very decorative textile over the top.  The rest of the place was decorated well with a middle eastern theme to it.  It was quiet, but not too quiet, an atmosphere suited to small groups for lunch or dinner.
Onto the food! 
Ok, I just have to say, this place made me fall in love with chutney!  I had never had chutney before, but it is a simple dip/topping for bread or even to have on your food.  At each table sits 2 bowls of chutney.  One red (pimento) and one green (cilantro).  They were completely different in taste, but both were equally delicious.  The flavors are very strong, so if you don’t like cilantro don’t eat the green one.  I happen to love cilantro though, so I found it amazing.  We ate the chutney with the Afghan bread we were given, which was pretty good too.  Really soft, flat, and moist, had a good chew to it (you can see it in the pics below). 
Each entrée comes with a side of their Mashawa (Soup) or their salad with curry cucumber dressing.  We ordered one of each and then shared.  The soup was great.  it contained:

Chick Peas
Kidney Beans
Split Peas
Rice
and I can’t remember what meat was in it. (Sorry we ate here quite a while ago)

It also had a yogurt mint sauce on top of it.  It reminded me a lot of chili with sour cream, but the yogurt mint sauce really gave it the flavor of the middle east and the chick peas gave it some crunch.  I usually don’t like chick peas, and I hate hummus, but I could handle them in this dish.  The salad wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing.  There isn’t much to expect from a side salad, but the dressing was a little overpowering and there was a lot of it.  That’s not to say it wasn’t good, but I think they used too much.
Ok, onto the Entrees.  I ordered the Beef Korma Chalow which consisted of medallions of beef cooked with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, green peppers, and spices.  It was served over white rice.  It came to me on a plate looking like this..(On the left)     
It was very brown.  It didn’t look as good as it tasted, which is great.  The beef was deliciously tender and everything was seasoned pretty well, but I soon found out that the flavor shot out the roof when you used a little of that chutney on the dish.  Wow!  Both worked well with the dish.  I just put a spoonful on the side of my plate and took a little with each bite.  That added so much more depth to the dish.  I wish someone would have told me sooner because I only realized it once I was almost full. 
The hubby ordered the Lamb Kabobs (On the right).  I only tasted them near the end of our meal, so I can’t say much about them, but I do think that the chunks of lamb were too big, and I’m pretty sure it was a little overcooked.  The sauce that came with it was again, a yogurt/mint sauce, and the kabobs were also served over saffron rice, which I remember him saying was pretty yummy.
We had a great time at Kabul and had a lot of fun experiencing a new cuisine.  That really was the best thing about Kabul.  It opened my mind and my taste buds to something new and provided a chance for me to understand a different culture and their food.  I love to try new things, and Kabul offered a delightful and delicious opportunity.


P.S.  Hopefully soon AJ will be here to guest blog about some of his eating experiences.  He recently ate at a place I’ve been wanting to try called Jamerica!