Failed BBQ and a Nacho Hippo

Superking and I just came back from a week's vacation in our beloved Myrtle Beach. We've been to that area so many times its like a second home to us. But one thing about Myrtle Beach that I must find fault in is that its virtually a foodie wasteland.  It reeks of boring chain restaurants and cheap buffets all of which produce mediocre food at best.  However there are a few gems in the area to be had if you're willing to search for them and take a little risk to try something new.  These next several blog posts will take you through our journey to locate some of these rare Myrtle Beach restaurant gems. A few of them I've blogged about before but they were written in retrospect as I hadn't started my food blog yet when we visited them last. Now you'll get to see a few of those in their full glory.

The Nacho Hippo...he is very hungry hungry.

We begin with our arrival to Myrtle Beach Saturday September 3rd. We got settled into our hotel room shortly after 3:00pm and headed straight out to the Market Common, a newer shopping area there reminiscent of our own Reston Town Center or the Village at Leesburg. We heard rumors that the weekend we were arriving there was to be a big BBQ festival there with over 60 BBQ vendors and you could purchase a wristband ticket for only $10 to sample any or all of these 60 vendors.  However when we arrived at the festival we quickly learned that it was not very organized as we had to walk all the way to the back of the event area before we reached the ticket table.  There were no signs with directions at all.  When we finally reached the ticket table we were told they had sold out of the tickets and the sample BBQ just about 2:45pm.

We were beyond disappointed and irritated at the poor planning of this event to run out of BBQ only three hours into a nine hour BBQ event. And even though the festival continued to the next day, the sampling was only for Saturday and on Sunday there were only about 4 of the said 60 vendors that were supposed to be there.  It was the BBQ festival that was not.

lots of people...

and lots of cars...no bbq.

However our disappointment quickly turned to hope as we looked for other dinner options for our first night in Myrtle Beach. Also located at the Market Common was a new restaurant we were already looking forward to trying called Nacho Hippo.

all the chairs were different and painted many bright colors

Nacho Hippo is a Mexican bar/restaurant with an open air eclectic them.  While they do serve burritos and tacos and quesadillas, nachos are their claim to fame.  So of course we both had different kinds of nachos. There are eight varieties of nacho plates (some with titles rated PG) plus the option to create your own.

very clever menu

I chose the Day After nachos.A huge pile of chips layered with chili, seasoned taco beef, black beans, jalapenos (though I opted to skip those), melted cheese, crema (which is a fresh cream similar to creme fraiche), queso fresco (similar to a white farmers cheese), lettuce, and pico de gallo. It was super tasty and super filling!

Superking chose the Fire in the Hole nachos. Crispy chips covered with chili, pepperjack cheese, jalapenos, mango habanero salsa, lettuce and pico de gallo. Talk about spicy! Though we all know by now how much Superking likes the hot stuff so it didn't even phase him.  Both of these nachos plates could've easily been shared they were so huge!

Rosa Mexicano: National Harbor

Rosa Mexicano is an upscale modern Mexican restaurant located at the National Harbor outside of DC.  The decor inside includes blue tile fountains, majestic flags, and Dia de los Muertos masks.  One wall was entirely windows looking out onto the harbor itself.  As we ate our dinner we watched the sun set over the water.

Our meal began with freshly made guacamole made tableside. A simple recipe of tomato, onion, jalepeno, and cilantro served with a cute little straw basket of mini corn tortillas, crunchy tortilla chips, and 2 kinds of thin salsas in varying degrees of heat to your liking. So fresh and chunky.  Perfect mixture of heat and avocado with the veggies and the warmth of the tortillas and the crunch of the chips.

Fresh guac and chips

My entree was a butterflied snapper served whole (minus the head) and pan sauteed, served with a chile garlic sauce and a tomatillo cilantro sauce, as well as habanero marinated red onions and a slice avocado. The fish was perfectly cooked, still with the bones mind you, which probably added some flavor.  The cilantro sauce bright green and fresh and the chile sauce with just a bit of a bite.

Edgar ordered a couple appetizers for his meal.  One being Berkshire Pork Belly Tacos.  These mini corn tortilla tacos were topped with tomato and cilantro.  Berkshire pork is about as good as it gets and pork belly is sweet and fatty, so full of savory flavor.

The other appetizer being duck tortilla pie.  Layers of roasted pulled duck (nice and smokey) and mini corn tortillas topped with yellow pepper habanero cream sauce (nice and spicy).

Now you might be asking how does pork belly and duck fit into the diet of someone who's all pesca-vegetarian and organic and whatnot.  Well, sometimes, you see things on a menu that you can't get just anywhere and you know they're going to be tasty and you think, "I've gotta try those cuz who knows when I'll get the chance to again?"  So that's how it fits.

Ok.  Ahem...Moving on...

Along with our entrees we were served a bowl of rice and a bowl of refried black beans with Chihuahua cheese.  We also had a lovely little pitcher of a raspberry sangria with diced apples.

For dessert (by this time we were so stuffed but we couldn't pass it up) we had churros which are basically elongated donuts...crispy on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside, smothered with cinnamon and sugar and served with 3 sauces, a raspberry puree, a creamy caramel, and a spicy Mexican chocolate.

                                              Oh,  so heavenly!!!  To the moon and back!

 

I'd definitely give Rosa Mexicano a 5 star (or 5 Yumma) rating!  Can't wait to go back and try more stuff on their menu!