Dos Pescados located in Friedenau managed to answer a question for me, one that I didn't even know needed be asked. What happens if you add salsa to your Nacho's before you bake them? The answer should be obvious, in fact it should be so obvious that you shouldn't even need to ask... sorry, think of asking the question.
But let me rewind a bit. I love Mexican food. It's more a statement of romantic yearning than simple fact, I really love this style of food. Burritos, Tacos and Nacho's, were my life blood when I was in school. Taco's were my cheap meal when the money was running low, Burritos was the fancy date night food and of course, Nacho's were paired with beer, friends and a great time that always lasted longer than it should have. But this careful combination of beans, rice and earthy spices became engraved into the very deepest parts of my happiness.
So when ever I need a little pep, a little sparkle that helps get one over the humps of life, I turn to those dishes that became so dear to me. On this day, (a few days ago) I needed a little pep, mostly small issues but some grated on my well being, so I turned to my wife and suggested with go for Mexican food. We picked Dos Pescados, mostly cause we were lazy that day and it's not far from where we live. And what normally would have lifted my spirits a bit, only seemed to darken them even further.
I am not a Mexican food snob, in fact I only really look for four things in a Burrito, rice, beans, sauce and a nice tortilla. How you put those together and the spices that you might use, does make a difference but generally speaking it's hard to mess up those four items. I mean, all four.... but even one out of four would have been okay, but not even one out of four?
And maybe it was my fault, ordering without really reading the entire menu; however, there were no beans. Not one.
The rice was cooked. That was it.
The sauce was red and in fact it was there, inside of the burrito. Other than this, not much I can say. It lacked any depth or flavor and I had a hard time figuring out what it was doing inside of the burrito other than adding moisture, since it carried no flavor, (my wife says it has a little cumin flavor, this is a case of agreeing to disagree)
The vegetables consisted of courgettes (zucchini), red pepper and maybe onion? And the courgettes in particular added a crunchiness that I appreciated, though I would have rather had beans. But again, the vegetables were so unremarkable that I couldn't even be sure that there wasn't other veggies in the mix.
The best part was the tortilla. Though it was too soggy to pick up and eat with my hands, I did notice that there was more flavor on the tortilla than in it.
And the salad? Yep, it had lettuce and a sauce. Neither of which had any redeeming qualities.
But sadly in this meal, the burrito wasn't the worst of it.
Like i said with the burrito, maybe I should have read the menu a bit closer but, in my defense tomato würfel (tomato cubes) isn't crushed or sauce. It's fresh tomato that happens to be in the shape of tomatoes.
The chips themselves were (before they became amazingly soggy) flavorful and quite nice. However, there was just enough of the tomato sauce (refusing at this point to call it salsa) to cover every single chip, resulting in a very soggy and sad plate of nachos.
The guacamole as well was terrifically uninspiring. Tasting more like it came from a large tin of restaurant grade, pre made guacamole than a fresh tasting and refreshing sauce that one can dip your nacho's in. Complete with one or two perfectly square pieces of red pepper (though it could have been almost any vegetable that is red in color), that seemed to only break up the color and not add anything flavor.
But I will admit that not everything we experienced on our trip to Dos-Pescados was bad. The service was fast and friendly, the portions were rather large for the price point that you paid and my wives cocktail that she had was really tasty.
Normally I look for the positives in each dish that I eat and I usually can find them. But other then quick; which isn't usually a redeeming quality as fresh food takes time, there is nothing positive that I can say about the food end of Dos Pescados. The best advice that I have is go for the cocktails or just but the ingredients and make the cocktails at home while your husband (or you) make the nachos properly.