I went out of my way last week to go and have lunch with my boyfriend. He works at grocery stores all around town and last week on the day I wanted to see him for lunch, he just happened to be in far away Rancho San Diego land. Off I went to visit him and I wanted Mexican food for lunch. In the parking lot across Ralphs stood a little taco shop named Hiberto’s that I decided we should visit for lunch that day.
I decided on getting something I get a lot at taco shops – the carne asada chips. Carne asada fries seem to be a big hit with most people, but me, I prefer the crunchy variety with the warm tortilla chips tucked underneath my toppings. Living in Southern California allows you to be able to get such tasty treats as carne asada chips and fries. I don’t know how the rest of the country copes with their meager offerings of “Mexican food”… probably because they don’t know what they are missing.
Hiberto’s had the usual salsa bar as well for their patrons. My boyfriend got the hot sauce while I asked him to get me some mild sauce. Putting the two side by side shows a clear difference – the mild looks like slightly pink tomato water and tasted as such as well. It had little flavor and staying power and I quickly forewent it to dip my chips in the hot sauce instead, careful to not add to much so my mouth wouldn’t catch fire. I’m sensitive to these kinds of things. The hot sauce was excellent – it packed a lot of flavor and clung to my chips for dear life in a nice and saucy kind of way. For someone who doesn’t love spicy things, the hot sauce was tasty to my palate.
My carne asada chips themselves had guacamole, actual cheese (yay!) of the cheddar and cotija varities and a generous helping of carne asada. My boyfriend, who doesn’t like guacamole (!!) let me have his portion on the side in case I needed extra guac. The chips themselves were crispy, fresh, and warm. The carne asada I thought was just okay – slightly bland, not too tender – but my boy liked it more than I did. The guacamole was also kind of bland. It tasted like it had no seasonings added to it at all – not even a little salt. While I like my guacamole in its pure form (as in, mostly just avocado and not dumped with sour cream or salsa or anything), a little seasoning is still in order to bring out the flavor.
All in all not a terrible meal – I would probably opt for a different staple though, such as the rolled tacos. If the chips are any indication, I would hope that the rolled tacos would be served just as fresh and crispy. Non-crispy rolled tacos are a travesty that no one should endure.
Hiberto’s Mexican Food
2648 Jamacha Rd.
El Cajon, CA?
(619) 660-8465
