Sunday, April 18, 2010

Mambo Oasis

6665 Hillcroft

At last, a drive-thru elotes en vasos stand!

I saw the sign driving down the road in a driving rain and the prospect of getting a bite to eat from the comfort of my car, plus the fact it'd been a couple of years since I'd enjoyed this treat, was too much.

It's a brightly painted former Rally's or Checker's burger stand, right next to the Mambo Grill on Hillcroft near Bellaire. The drive-thru is a little obscure, you have to carefully make your way through the parking lot of the sister restaurant to find it.

There are pictures on the menu board but the menu is all in Spanish. I couldn't remember the Spanish for '# 14' but I knew what I wanted.


What is that spoon doing in the middle of the picture??? The result of trying to be an artist while driving. I was rushing to try to get a shot while waiting for a light to change so I could take a bite. What I got was about a cup and a half of piping hot kernel corn topped with a generous glob of crema and about a 3/8" layer of queso. All you could see when you took the lid off the container was the cheese so I need to stir it up.

There wasn't enough chile but otherwise this is about as good as any I've ever had, and a much larger portion than most places serve I think, for $3.50 + tax. It made a whole meal for me - this is not diet food. I needed to keep stirring as I ate, but didn't. By the time I got to the bottom of the cup, it was only corn.

There are some more good looking pictures on the website but less than half the menu is pictured for some reason. I'll have to go back to try some of the fruit cups and other things. There's a walk-up window and outdoor tables but no indoor dining.

Very little English was spoken by the crew on duty when I was there.

Mambo Oasis

2 comments:

Ziggy Smogdust said...

Was the corn fresh or frozen?

Bruce said...

I did not see them cutting the kernels off a cob (wouldn't have had time to) but otherwise I don't know. I'd guess frozen.