Mi Cocina

Here’s today’s prize techie Engineer quote: “I’d just as soon use an 18 or 19 gauge 3/conductor rather than an 18/4 which I have a little bit of in the garage,” he said to me, heading out to Home Depot or Menard’s or Ace Hardware. When I asked him to repeat that, so I could be sure to get it down correctly for you all, he put those slashes in, as in “three slash conductor”. Ooooh! Be still my beating heart!

I’ll bet there isn’t anything I could say that The Man With Numerous Functioning Brain Cells wouldn’t understand. Even though he doesn’t cook or plant in the garden, he’d probably get it if I said, “I sauted the lamb chops” (though I can’t imagine why I’d say that to The Man Who - to my knowledge - Has Never Turned On A Burner On The Stove). Or if I said, “I’ve planted an amelancheir behind the ligularia,” he’d be right on top of that too. Honestly, he understands everything he hears because he remembers everything he hears. (And heaven knows I DO tell him a lot of stuff.) If I cluttered my brain with gauges and conductors, that would be it. No plants, no meat sauces, not even your name. (Well, I actually don’t remember your name much of the time anyway, even without the conductors, etc., in there.)

I do remember the name of the Bluemound Road establishment at which we ate last night – Mi Cocina – “My Kitchen,” if I recall from my 2 years of high school Spanish (the long-term memory is the last to go). We are in another shopping center, close to Brookfield Road now. This somewhat cozy Mexican restaurant has a large bar area where you enter and a busy dining room. We were seated in the middle of the dining area, but moved to a booth near the windows to get a bit further from the speaker pumping loud music into the room. Not Mexican music; just loud elevator music. The Man looked out at the parking lot and commented that this was a Chevy Blazer crowd -- a young crowd with many with small children. By 6:30 on this Friday evening, the restaurant was nearly filled with families.

Mi Cocina’s menu has three red wines at about $7.25 a glass vs. 20 beers. I’m finding there are fewer restaurants on Bluemound where I’d drink a glass of wine than I expected. I ordered a Dos Equis lager for $4. The Diet Pepsi Man ordered a medium-sized margarita for $8.75, which turned out to be 27 ounces! The ubiquitous chips served with the drinks were slightly warmed but otherwise identical to any you can buy at Pick ‘N Save. There was only one salsa served with the chips, and its spice level was HOT! Many items on the menu seemed to include poblano chilies. I asked our waiter how spicy these chilies are. “Not very spicy -- medium,” he explained. “How would they compare in spiciness to your salsa?” I asked. “About the same amount,” said he. Well, that narrowed the menu down for me. I ordered Queretaro: a meal of two burritos, one chicken and one beef. The Man ordered beef chimichangas ($9.95). We had barely gotten the order out of our mouths when the food arrived. Nothing can be individually cooked that fast.

This food was totally without seasoning. It could have passed for my mother’s goulash. Hot chili peppers are not the only spice available to Mexican cooking. There was no sign of cumin or cilantro. My chicken burrito was filled with tough chicken and some cooked onions. The beef in the other burrito and in The Man’s chimichanga was ground beef, not shredded. The sparing red sauce on top of each was tasteless tomato sauce. My sauce had some tiny white squares in it, which may or may not have been cheese. The chimichanga, which contained as much potatoes as beef, came with similarly tasteless rice and very thin refried beans. Only chopped iceberg lettuce and a dob of sour cream shared my plate with the burritos. I ate less than half of my dinner and would not have bothered to take the rest home, even if I had a kitchen in which to reheat it.

The bathroom was worse than I have come to expect: chipped paint on the walls and overflowing, rusty containers of ALL kinds (YUK! You ladies get my picture).

I’ll have to say it again: if you want Mexican food in Brookfield, go to Fiesta Garabaldi at Ruby Isle. The food is delicious and less expensive. Our total bill at Mi Cocina was $33.75, including tax but not tip. In the future, if I’m looking for an inexpensive, quick meal and must eat on Bluemound for some reason, I’d prefer the food at Subway or George Webb’s for half that price.

Kitchenless in Brookfield