Guava Margaritas Get Me Everytime...

El Rey

2013 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19103

www.elreyrestaurant.com/ 

A few months ago, my girlfriend and I headed to a place that had been on both of our radars for quite some time. She had been told by many people in her office in Philly about it, and I knew of it because of my following of Stephen Starr and all of his places. We went to El Rey on a Friday evening and we were extremely excited to have dinner.

We waited a little bit, about 20 minutes or so before we were seated, because they do not take reservations. Also, it gets really packed for happy hour, so be aware if you are going to try and go there during the 4-7pm time frame. Once we were seated we ordered up our food and a pitcher of guava margaritas, and waited with anticipation for our meal. 

The guava margaritas were absolutely fantastic! They were incredibly fresh and vibrant, and the guava taste really came through. They were strong, but the tequila wasn’t overpowering. I could have had about 5 pitchers worth of them. 

For our meal we decided to order a couple of things we had never had, and one that we were very familiar with: zucchini blossom quesadillas, chilaquiles, and fish tacos.

I was very much intrigued to taste the zucchini blossom quesadillas because I have seen zucchini blossoms used many times in cooking shows. When they came out I wasn’t overly impressed. I thought the whole dish was overpowered by the taste of the corn tortillas. They were clearly freshly made, but the corn taste just overpowered everything in the dish. Plus I think the zucchini blossoms didn’t carry too much flavor. I think a touch more seasoning could have gone a long way.

The same could be said for the fish tacos. They weren’t bad by any means, but they definitely were overpowered with the taste of corn from the tortillas. Plus, I really don’t feel that there was enough fish in them. As you can see from the pictures there was only a small piece of fish on each taco.

The chilaquilas were the real star of the show. It was a dish of fried tortillas, salsa verde, a fried egg, and queso blanco on top. The fresh corn tortilla worked incredibly well in this dish because it meshed well with the tanginess of the salsa verde. The dish was rich and scrumptious. I could not get enough of the salsa verde. It probably would have tasted great on anything.

I would like to go back to El Rey and not have my options limited by the no eating meat on Fridays during Lent thing. I am sure the meat dishes that they offer are tasty as well. Make sure you get the guava margaritas and the chilaquiles if you go. They are not to be missed! Cheers!