after dinner sneeze

t says:  Over a disappointing $5 glass of zweigelt at the wine-room-formerly-known-as-Biba (it must have been a “special” for a reason: it sucked), cm lifted my spirits with news that Meritage was bringing back their Korean tacos for a single dinner – that very night!  Whoa!  g and I were psyched.  We’ve loved Meritage’s Korean tacos from their first release over a year ago.  Unfortunately, we just were too busy to drop by and enjoy some this past summer.  This was a second chance!  Woohoo!  We paid the bill at Biba and weathered the winds whipping across the Schuylkill as we crossed the bridge.

November 2011, Wednesday Dinner, Party of 3.  We reached our destination without incident and sat down in a surprisingly empty restaurant (we were the only diners).  This made me a little sad – I had always secretly hoped that Meritage was doing swimmingly despite not garnering any recent foobooz or PhillyMag love, and this was not a reassuring sign.  Then we didn’t find our favorite server.  Darn – that guy, whatever his name is, is so awesome.

While we did sample a few dishes while we were there, I think the whole point of this post revolves around these:

korean tacos!

They had some vegetarian Korean tacos and some shortrib ones.  I ordered two shortrib ones and looked forward to the happiness that would almost certainly ensue.  I was served these two tacos, and, with a smile creeping across my face, wrapped one up for the first bite.  I went for it.  I chewed and chewed.  But something was wrong.  It had the same ingredients as before: tortilla, sauce, kimchi, shortrib, shredded veggies … what was wrong?  The ratio of shredded veggies to shortrib was off, with a substantial amount of shredded greens filling up the taco.  The meat, itself, wasn’t as tender as I remember and, weirdly, it didn’t taste as succulent as before – it was drier and not booming with Korean flavors (the shortrib didn’t taste anything more than shortrib).  The kimchi and sesame seeds were nice and all, but only a small amount was included.  What happened to my beloved Korean taco?  I don’t know.  It was … mediocre!  Egad!  It wasn’t the stuff that’ll invade my daydreams and make me salivate as I type.  I guess it’ll have to live on in my memories …

The other food was ok – but at this point I have long forgotten what we ate (there may have been a dumpling dish that was delish!) as I was crushed at the tacos had changed.  I feel especially bad for cm as this was his first Meritage Korean taco, and now it’s likely his last.  Maybe Meritage is out of practice?  I really want to give them another chance next year – maybe this time was a fluke?  Regardless, I sincerely hope that their Korean Fried Chicken hasn’t changed, as that might actually bring a tear to my eye.