Two Texans Go For Fajitas at Haydee's

Haydee's Restaurant

3102 Mount Pleasant St NW

Washington, DC 20010

Half A Nom (.5)

Cost: $10-20 per person

In all fairness, Matt and I are both from Texas. We grew up eating tacos and fajitas all the time. As you've read earlier in this blog, we have found a few places with delicious Mexican tacos, but Mexican tacos and Tex-Mex tacos are very different things. Mexican tacos always come on a corn tortilla, never include lettuce or cheese and are often served with a lime and salsa. Tex-Mex tacos on the other hand are what you think of when you think fast food Americanized Mexican: slow tortillas or hard shell corn tortilla with meat, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes. Don't be fooled by Taco Bell, the Tex-Mex taco CAN be a beautiful thing.

Another dish that is mostly a Tex-Mex creation is the fajita. They straddle the line literally and figuratively being born mainly out of Rio Grande border valley. Traditionally grilled skirt steak (carne asada) served with tortilla, grilled onions and peppers. As the dish spread chicken, additional vegetables, shrimp and even other seafood have been added to the mix.

So as two Texans the time had some to try and find quality Tex-Mex in our nation's capital. We heard rumors of such eats at Haydee's in our very own neighborhood. Armed with a near expired Living Social for $40 dollars and mucho hambre (much hunger), we went.

Like many places in DC and specifically Mount Pleasant, Haydee's serves a mix of cuisines, specifically Tex-Mex and Salvadorian. They're definitely going for the hole in the wall, bar, live music venue mix with their atmosphere (we sat next to a framed photo of the Taj Mahal side by side with Aztec looking art and Christmas lights). Therefore in addition to the tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, burritos and chimichangas on the Tex-Mex side and fried plantains and pupusas on the Salvadorian side, there are also some bar classics: wings, burgers and chicken sandwiches. For this visit we stuck to the Latin American inspired fare.


What We Ordered:

Before ordering we received the common complimentary chips and salsa. As appetizers we choose the fried plantains and shared a cheese pupusa.

While Tex-Mex tacos are great, I think the ultimate Tex-Mex item are fajitas so that was high on the priority list. We got the chicken and steak since I'm not much of a shrimp eater and salmon fajitas is both nontraditional and an unappealing use of salmon in my opinion.

We did need to sample some of their tacos, so after reading Yelp reviews I decided to get the tilapia tacos.  Finally we went for the chicken chimi, because what better item finishes up a gluttonous feast like a burrito fried and smothered in cheese?

Extra watery Salsa

The chips and salsa should be evaluated separately. The chips seemed fresh and had a nice level of salt to them, but the salsa was extremely watery. My roommate commented that even in Texas it's often like that: "restaurant style", but this was probably majority water.

Golden brown and delicious Fried Plantains

The fried plantains were by far my favorite item on the table. They were golden, brown and delicious without excess grease. We ate a few, but saved the rest as a palate cleanser and dessert.






The pupusa was nothing special, but delivered what was expected: a thick tortilla filled with cheese. We didn't really taste much beyond the cheese (probably Monterrey jack), but as a queso fan I was pretty happy about that. I'd probably add the pork if I was to go back and order a pupusa again.

Fish Tacos: all you could see is the grilled onions
and cheddar cheese.

Onto our main course starting with the tilapia tacos. Fish tacos should be treated differently than meat especially since fish tacos are primarily a Baja California and south California dish. The flavors at best are often more tropical with citrus and some sort of slaw or fruity salsa. Haydee's tilapia was over salted without much else going for it flavor-wise. It was served with a lot of grilled onions which would've been great with meat, but seemed off to go with fish. I have to admit, the grilled onions ended up being my favorite part of this dish. Finally it was topped with cheddar cheese. Forget what you've seen at Taco Bell: cheddar cheese is not the right cheese for good Mexican food especially not a fish taco! I couldn't even finish this dish despite my best efforts.

Chicken and Steak Fajitas with some grilled onions hiding

Time to turn our attention to purpose of our quest: fajitas. Fajitas are always a show stopping dish when they come out on a skillet with grilled onions covered in a cloud of smoke and steam. You can hear them coming from the kitchen with their distinct sizzle. Hard to resist this tantalizing feast for the eyes, nose and ears! That said, even Chili's has managed to make decent fajitas with a beautiful presentation smell and even sizzle. Haydee's on the other hand only managed the lesser three senses and failed horribly on taste. The steak was tough and chewy and both meats were over seasoned to the point that all I could taste was salt and blandness. Again the saving grace was the grilled onions, but I would've liked most. The accompanying rice had grains that were overcooked and others that were undercooked. A few of the undercooked ones crunched as my roommate tried to eat them.

Chicken Chimi(changa). Look at all that cheese!

Finally the chicken chimi(changa). At this point we were both getting full, but we had ordered food and we weren't going to let it go to waste. After the heartbreaking tacos and fajitas, this was a pleasant surprise. The chicken was extremely moist and while still overly salty the flavor wasn't bad at all. While it's a bad stereotype of Tex-Mex, I really have a hard time not enjoying a fried chicken burrito covered in cheese. That's exactly what this was.

Horchata

An extra note: I also ordered some horchata, a Mexican version of a Spanish drink made by blending rice, cinnamon and water to create a sweet, milky drink with a cinnamon flavor. The horchata was gritty and watery. I would be pretty confident to guess they made this simple drink from a mix rather than doing it themselves. I've made horchata and it's ridiculously simple to do even in large volumes.




What We Thought:

Well as you can probably tell from my taco, fajita and horchata rants, we weren't impressed. As noted we're both born and bred Texans so we might be biased, but I'd say we're well traveled when it comes to the roads of fajitaland. I would honestly prefer to go get fajitas at a Chili's or go without then return to Haydee's for theirs.

They obviously have a few decent dishes and perhaps their bar food is decent. I also hear from friends and from Yelp that they have strong Margarita. If you're looking for a booze filled happy hour or to get trashed enjoying some live music, maybe Haydee's is for you?

Judgement:

Despite a few ok items, we were overall unhappy with our meal. Things were either watered down literally and figuratively (the salsa and horchata) or they were grossly over seasoned mainly with salt. The fish tacos were not what was expected which could've been a good thing, but in this case wasn't. And seasoning aside, the fajita meat was tough and chewy. For all that I have to give Haydee's only half a nom. If you're absolutely desperate for food, but mainly looking for drinks or live music Haydee's might be worth walking a few blocks. Otherwise stay away.