El Rincon Jarocho

Well a really, really long time ago, back when I first started my blog, a reader suggested this place to me.  I am not sure why it has taken so long for me to go, because I have had a couple other people mention it since.  My son, who loves quesadillas and beans, was also along for lunch, so I figured this would be a good one to hit with him as well.

First of all, this place is pretty much of a dive on the inside.  That doesn’t bother me, but it is kind of weird because there is a large restaurant attached, but it looks like for lunch, they just open the little front room up.  The whole time we were there, there was only one other paying table (although the staff ate their lunch with us in front of the tv showing Mexican soap operas), so I guess this makes sense.  It looks like they have a more social atmosphere in the evenings, with music and such, judging by the flyers on the walls.

They served chips and salsa.  The salsa was pretty watery and didn’t have a lot of flavor to it.  The chips weren’t bad—they were the thick type. Very crispy, but not warm.  I would say they were made awhile before we ate them. 

So I had read somewhere that the chicken they used in their dishes was really good.  And I have yet to find a really good chicken enchilada in Indy.  So I ordered the chicken enchilada lunch with red sauce (you can get red, green, or mole).  It came with rice and beans and was drizzled with sour cream and sprinkled with cheese.  So, I found the chicken to be pretty lacking in any real flavor, and while the red sauce was very rich and dark in color (and took out my shirt when I got some on myself—seriously that stuff did NOT come out), it was seriously lackluster in flavor.  The chicken was quite dry (ugh, you know I hate dry chicken) and seriously, I can’t come up with many descriptors of this meal.  Well, maybe “nondescript.”  There was nothing about any of it that stood out. 

Hubby had flautas, which he thought were okay (and I agreed after my bite), but there wasn’t much to them except a teeny bit of chicken inside.  They were fried crispy and drizzled with more of the sour cream.  My son had his quesadilla, which he didn’t like because the cheese wasn’t even warm.  He had also ordered guacamole because he prefers it over salsa for his chips.  The guacamole here was made to order, but unfortunately was pretty much as flat as everything else.  Chunks of nice avocado, but mixed only with some onion and cilantro. No acid from lime or even salt appeared to be added. 

I don’t know, maybe this place isn’t really known for the food.  Maybe it’s the nightlife.  But this is a restaurant I will not be repeating.   But keep the Mexican suggestions coming, and I would love to know what specifically you like to eat.  It seems like a lot of Mexican places just sort of use the same ingredients in different wrappers, and sometimes I get burnt out on them all.  So is there some unique dish that you love from someplace around here?  Please, I could use a change of pace.

El Rincon Jarocho

7985 Plummer  Street

Indy 46226

317/545-5300