Foodgasm

I went to the Chamber of Commerce 6th Annual International Food Festival tonight and boy, am I stuffed! For $15 at the door, it was all you could eat and drink (including beer, wine and alkapop) courtesy of 30 restaurants--both local and from across the border.

I called my friend, Peggy, to see if she wanted to go with me. Got her answering machine--but I ran into her there. Our stomachs think alike.

My first stop was Thai Red Chili's, the subject of last week's Valley Girl post. After that, I had A Taste of India (knee-knockingly good) and Cabrito's Nuevo Leon. I generally skipped the chain restaurants (Tony Roma's, Outback Steakhouse, Taco Palenque and Hooters) in favor of restaurants I hadn't tried.

Johnny Carinos had a spicy sausage bowtie pasta with sundried tomatoes. As I tried to find a place to stand and devour, I saw Tupinamba's booth. Score!

Tupinamba is a restaurant in Reynosa--one recommended highly by Scott of Dallasfood.org. We were going to go with the kids, but I got sick; they went to Reynosa without me but skipped Tupinamba. Serious mistake, the latter.

I tried all the dishes at their booth--delectable ribs, tender chicken in a green chile sauce, beef in a spicy red sauce and a dense meat in another savory sauce--maybe some kind of organ meat. Between bites I stood there telling myself out loud how great it was. I almost started evangelizing to passersby, it was that good.

Right then, I spotted Peggy and called her over. Finished my plate and steered her toward the Tupinamba booth and later to the Thai booth where she went all googly-eyed over the mussaman curry.

We hung around until they announced the contest winners; Tony Roma's and some gordita place were a hit with the judges. But the People's Choice award went to (drumroll...) Thai Red Chili's! I was ever so thrilled--and hoped my online review pointed a few more people in their direction.