contest VOTE! Combo de Mayo Throwdown

[SumOfMyBits]

That's kinda how I see it too, and it's two well-known dishes, between tacos and tamales.
SL rocked the house with the al pastor, though. That's the part of this TD I most want to re-create! That stuff looks awesome and perfectly executed.
The combo plate thing is what throws me.
Hell, it kind of throws me on my own dish a little bit (but I could argue that too...)

I'm between Sum (3 sauces, 2 preparations of tortillas, whole fish), booma (excellent ingredients, presentation, and variety of flavors), and JT (research is named after him, and it shows why. Well executed soup and sandwich, kind of a lunch combo with saucy gooeyness).

But holy crap, they were all so damn good I feel bad critiquing ANY of them.

I only have one preparation of a tortilla on my combo plate. The toasted ones on the other plate don't count.

 

[geeme]

We don't have dishes like this in my area (or even close) and I think I'm missing out on something great.

Yeah - Wilmington's kind of "out there".... but if you can make it out to Hamilton, there are some fairly decent places. El Mariachi is either so-so or really good, depending on the cook. But then, you have to consider I am originally from Houston, so my definition of really good Mex style is different from most mid-westerner's. Taqueria Paisano's is supposed to be pretty good, too, but I haven't been there.

 

[salsalady]

Thanks for the Vote, Boss! And I also understand geeme's thoughts about the dessert. I kinda went through that evolution while planning things out. I'd settled on street food, tacos al pastor...what other "little bites" could I come up with...tamales are a great street food...flashback to my friend Jamie's fruit tamales...but have to kick it up a notch..... wanted to keep the sweet as opposed to another savory, and make them bite sized.... something a person on the run would get.... taco, tamales and a Coke...-OR- something a person on the street would have...tacos, tamales and a ballena! I had a great time and we ate ALLLLL the leftovers!!!! AND--- I will be doing this again. It's all good, and I'm happy to present an entrée and dessert. If it inspires someone to try one or the other, then I'm happy. They will be happy if they try it!

 

[Booma]

Man oh man, this was a hard decision, everyones dishes looked great.

In the end it came down to SUM and FD, both had the Hard Crunchy dish and then a Soft Chewy dish. But if i was gonna order something i could easily see myself slammin down those little fried tortillas then sitting back and sipping on my drink while making some soft tacos with the chicken.

All in all though some great entries

 

[Deathtosnails]

Toss up betwenn JayT and Booma for me. Had to go with Booma. So many flavours going on! Fish, pork, scallops,spiced pineapple yum.

 

[salsalady]

Booma, if you're in the runnings, no shame in voting for yourself!!! [sub]sheesh! Noobies! xoxo just kidding, amigo~ [/sub]

 

[Booma]

Hahaha, couldnt do that...... FD it is, though yours was so very close also, very very close, just personally could have had another Taco or 3 on the plate, haha, i eat a lot!!!

 

[salsalady]

The street taco vendors usually serve the little 4" tortillas for their tacos, I had the 6" tortillas... dang... I did put 2 on the plate like they do with the tiny ones~~~ I suppose I could of cut them down to 4" and set up 2 or 3 tacos. Aw Well, it is what it was, and it was goooooood! And I'm totally eyeballing your dish for a vote! Liking KBK's dish but, kinda agree that the cabbage salsa was not a dish but a side. (But I LOVE that cabbage salsa stuff!!!!)

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Yeah need two lol, and not those mini ones, you did it right. SL, here's ones I got from a street vendor here. Yours are not far off (prob better ). TB yelled at me for adding guac. Screw TB. Free fresh guac and salsa, I'm using it, lol.

 

[Booma]

Yum yum yumm yumm yum

 

[JayT]

I don't vote for myself either Booma, but other than mine I couldn't decide which one I want to eat more. Finally, I went with Sum. Love the fish, and the sauces.

 

[WalkGood]

“Me encanta el pargo rojo,” that said I had to vote with Sum, good luck all ^_^

 

[RocketMan]

Holly Smoke, what a TD! I loved everyone of those dishes. Beautiful plating's for beautiful food. Great job by all who entered. My vote this time went to Sum. Brother, that fish looked like perfection on a plate and I'm going to have to fix some of that Tenderloin. That looked like a meal fit for Montezuma's table.

 

[Darthpepper]

I hate voting in TDs. I really do. It was a toss up between... all of them. I went with JayT. Great job by all, but JayT's is really calling my name right now.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Go Jay Go!

 

[texas blues]

I must be on drugs.

I voted for that stinkin' Aussie Booma in a Cinco de Mayo throwdown.

The pics were outstanding.

And the food...if that food don't look dang guuud to you, well then you should stick to eating stale cheetoh's out of a bag while trolling food porn on your mom's computer down in the basement.

He had me with that fish taco.

I'd share the pebil with mrs. blues.

But not the taco.

Pretty dang chingon if you ask me.

 

[The Hot Pepper]

This is close, and only 21 votes we usually get around 40, so it's anyone's game.

 

[sicman]

it was very hard for me between queen ann,and jester j. ill be honest both had stuff that i cant stand "onions,radish" no good baby! but almost every other dish had stuff that i like evn worse. so i di think everything looked great photo wise and just awesome food. i ended up going with the pic on the menu that i could order the easiest while asking my non english speaking waitress.

 

[frydad4]

Sum gets mine.
The whole snapper is what put him past Booma and J, for me. And the Horchata, my daughters favorite beverage (she hasn't had busch light yet)
Me and Sum catch those babies often off a little canoe launch a mile away from my house.
While I think his was store bought, it still harkened memories of cutting the guts out of a fresh catch!
The ones we get are the "mangrove" variety, and quite possibly my favorite fish, right off the line (possibly...there are a bunch to chose from).
Booma used snapper fillets too. That was a huge plus in my book.
I don't care about who wins this one, they were ALL worthy. IT was a clash of the titans!!!

Keybirdkid did an amazing job. Sorry KBK seems to be knocked for the slaw, I bet it was great, the whole dish looked awesome!!!!
Keep doin what youre doin, formidable opponent, you're gonna win a bunch of these!!!!

 

[The Hot Pepper]

I hear ya FD... loving al pastor tacos helped win me over... so we all go for comfort at times. I've had them on the streets of MX and here in NY. The sweet crunchy bite was bonus and didn't detract from the overall.

Sauces played a huge factor though. I so wanted booma's to have some fresh red and/or green salsas. I can't eat dry tacos like that (NOT saying the meat is dry but me likes condiments).

Those with fresh salsas... WIN!

Keep voting!