Today, I went to El Mirasol. First impressions were not so great in my opinion, it was loud, there was no way for the sound of everyone talking to escape. The only walls that were in the restaurant were the ones on the outside of the building. So, think about a smaller version of a dining hall and that is what El Mirasol is. If it were me I would have built separate sections so the noise level would not be so loud. Of course there were free chips and salsa, my favorite. Honestly, Las Palapas has better salsa than this place, it just tasted too much like vinegar in a way. Did I still eat it? Yes I did, but I've had way better chips and salsa somewhere else. I am a sucker for some queso so I ordered some for the table. The first red flag was after I ordered the queso about ten seconds later it was already at our table. I already knew by the color of the queso that it was going to taste like Velveta. And to my surprise it did. I finally ordered my food, which was the La Mexicana enchiladas. I took the first bite and loved it. The flavor profile, the texture, the spice, and amount of sauce; everything was perfect. That did not last that long, the after taste was so bad I could barely finish my food. The rice and beans that came with it were so dry I didn't even attempt to finish that part. The rice was WAY over cooked, the beans were so dry and flavorless it was so bad. If my meal wasn't almost $20 I would have not eaten anymore, but I finished my meal, because I was not about to waste my money.
I recently went to Bonzai, an Asian restaurant in New Braunfels. I heard about it from a friend so we decided to give it a try. Now first impressions, are not what I was expecting. The server's outfits were not family-friendly in my opinion. It was giving Hooters vibes which I'm not a fan of. So, right off the back; not a good sign. My friends raved about the food and how good it was, so the outfits sort of got a pass depending on how the food was. I ordered the chicken teriyaki with dumpling soup, and double rice instead of veggies. The soup is normally a clear soup, but I'm not a big clear soup guy so I upgraded my soup for $1.50 more. To my surprise the ‘ Dumpling soup “ was quite literally clear soup with two dumplings in it. I wasn't too thrilled about that, but I'm not going to complain over $1.50. Now my food comes out, It looks so good. My first bite of my chicken took me like, 5 minutes to chew. It was so dry even with the sauce they put on there. It felt like either they overcooked it or it had been sitting out for a good minute. The rice? It was just as bad, I eat rice a lot so I know when it's overcooked or it has been sitting out. Yeah, it was absolutely overcooked and has been sitting under some sort of heating element. It was not fresh. Two of my friends said the same thing about their food too so it wasn't just me. Now, I’m not a person to complain, only in certain circumstances. This was one of those times. It wasn't that busy, so there definitely was some laziness going on somewhere. I would have given some leniency if it was busy and the food took a while to come out, but it was the opposite. I was paying $22 for my meal, and that was the cheapest option. While I was talking to the manager the table next to us overheard me and after he left, she told me her food came out the same way. That told me everything I needed to know. Needless to say, I will definitely not be returning in the near future. Save yourself money and eat somewhere else.
