Somehow I’d never made it to Rocco’s before, so when I had the chance to go with my cousins to the restaurant in West Palm Beach, I jumped at the chance. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and we’d spent the day poolside so a couple of yummy tacos and a few margaritas were just what I was craving. Off to Clematis!
I think the location used to be the old Big City — it felt familiar and it brought back some (hazy) memories, so I know it was a place where I’ve had drinks before! They have a nice open area to sit on the sidewalk to people watch or you can sit inside for full table service or at the bar. The staff was attentive and definitely worked the upsell. Which brings me to the first round of chow to hit our table.
Ok, I know about the big trend now to get your custom guacamole made tableside and we went for it. We ordered it “spicy” and it was kinda blah. Now I’m not a huge fan of guac (except for what my neighbor makes but she is 1/2 Mexican), so I wasn’t wowed. And the $12 price tag for the amount we got seemed pretty high. Strike 1. But what really got me was the $3 for salsa and chips. Really? The salsa was ok, but the chips were rubbery (undercooked? stale? both?? ugh!) and covered with some kind of seasoning dust. Tasted like doritos. Strike 2.
Back to the upsell. They feature a taco appetizer made with tuna, so I thought that might be interesting, so we took the $13 plunge. Boy were they small! I was hoping they’d be big on taste to make up for their dinky appearance, but all I could really taste was the fruit topping. Too much pineapple and other sweetness, I wouldn’t have even known there was tuna on it except for the pricetag. I should have just had a starburst candy instead. Strike 3.
Three Little Tacos
If I hadn’t already ordered my taco meal, I would have called it a day. First out was the shredded pork. Finally something that had some zing and was tender, although it didn’t have much complexity to it. And without any garnishes, there was nothing I could do but add the hot sauce, which I did liberally. Next, the mushroom and steak tacos. I was very excited to try a mushroom taco, but it looks like they came out of a jar and were too slippery to stay inside the tortilla and the steak taco had so little steak on it, I barely tasted it, so I truly can’t comment on the flavor or texture.
Where's the carne asada?
All of the tacos were very measly in terms of the amount of ingredients — and were not served hot, lukewarm at best. They were also supposed to come with crema, but there was none to be seen. Very big disappointment.
Needless to say, I won’t be back to Rocco’s Tacos, especially when my portion of the bill was almost $50. And I only had 1 beer. Strike 4. I’m out.
The Taco Tamer 