Category: Albuquerque

AlbuquerqueJapaneseRating: GoodSushi

Ichiban – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:43 AM

In an episode of Friends, Joey Tribbiani starred in a commercial released only in Japan for Ichiban men’s lipstick. His friend Chandler’s response upon viewing the commercial: “he really is a chameleon.” In Japanese, the word “ichiban” means “number one” or “the best” and can be used either as a superlative (as in the highest of quality or the very best choice) or to denote precedence or numerical order. The fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan, for example, called his eldest son “number one son.” Whether meaning to denote the highest quality or precedence (ranking) among other restaurants, any dining establishment calling itself “number one” is making a pretty audacious claim.  That may be especially true if that claim is made…

AlbuquerqueAmericanDog FriendlyFusionNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Fuego 505 Rotisserie & Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:01 PM

“I have become obsessed with cooking meat over fire. I get prepared for it. I make sure I’m hungry before I cook it. The smell of the smoke and the aroma of the crackling meat ignites some ancient genetic memories. It makes cooking and eating significantly better.” ~Joe Rogan, Podcast Host Those of us with a carnivorous bent can relate to Joe Rogan’s ode to cooking meat over fire.  There’s absolutely nothing as mouth-watering as the heady aroma and melodious sound of meat searing on the grill or sizzling in a pan.  An argument can easily be made that nothing evokes a wanton lust more than smoke perfumed by meat as it wafts toward our anxiously awaiting nostrils.  The sounds…

AlbuquerqueAsianNew MexicoRating: ExcellentThai

Hot Pink Thai Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:36 PM

Black socks and sandals, mixing plaids and polka dots, middle-aged men wearing trousers up to their nipples, T-shirts that accentuate the “spare tire” look, fat guys wearing culottes… If there’s a fashion faux-pas out there, you can bet some of us XY-chromosome-enabled fashion Luddites have committed it and then some. When it comes to fashion, many of us are as clueless as a pirate wearing two eye patches. There is, however, one fashion statement we won’t make. Among the six to seven shirts hanging (wrinkles and all) in our closets, none will be the color pink. Nor will they be salmon, carnation, rose, Amaranth or any other shade of pink fashionistas invented in an effort to get us to wear…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: GoodSouthwesternTruth or Consequences

Casa Taco – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:20 PM

Nowadays, hoy en día, with our world full of war and violence and lack of love, a world full of greed A world of domination, grasping power, venal stupidity, real evil. Don’t get me started. It’s good to know that a conversation about tacos will always engender a sense of comfort and happiness. If only we could sit down at a big round world table and eat tacos in a spirit of love we might begin to work on world peace!” ~Denise Chavez New Mexican Author Not even the beloved taco was excluded from the divisiveness of 2016’s contentious presidential campaign. Marco Gutierrez, founder of the group Latinos for Trump warned MSNBC that without tighter immigration policies…”you’re going to have…

AlbuquerqueAsianJapaneseNew MexicoRamenRating: Outstanding

Oni Noodles – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:06 PM

In retrospect, the monsters and bogeymen who frightened impressionable children of my generation were pretty lame. Perhaps the most lame of them all was Frankenstein, a lumbering behemoth who walked around with his arms outstretched like a sleepwalking Shaquille O’Neal. Frankenstein snarled and growled a lot, probably because Gene Hackman poured hot soup on his lap. Then there was that pasty-faced vampire Dracula who could be repelled with garlic (which explains his aversion for Italian food). Dracula couldn’t even enjoy New Mexico’s 310 days of sunshine without sizzling and hissing like a strip of bacon. In comparison Japan’s monsters are pretty badass. Godzilla, a foul-tempered prehistoric sea monster prone to  tantrums destroyed Tokyo several times and was pretty much impervious…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Fei’s Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:12 AM

Some say the map of China looks like a chicken.  The province of Sichuan in Southwest China would be right in the stomach of that chicken.  That’s fitting because the cuisine of Sichuan is internationally renowned for its liberal use of spice.  What characterizes Sichuan from the other regions of China is its use of Sichuan peppercorn, chilies, and the ability to take even the most mundane of ingredients to create fabulous dishes.  There’s a term for the flavor profile associated with Sichuan cuisine.  It’s the word “mala” which translates to “numbing spice.”  The “ma” portion of that term comes from the use of Sichuan Peppercorns (which are actually in the same botanical family as citrus, not chilies).  Sichuan peppercorns…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastBreakfast BurritosMexicanRating: Excellent

Delicias Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:59 PM

There’s no denying the ever-increasing popularity of Mexican food across America, but it may surprise you to learn that in the estimation of some sources, it has supplanted Italian food as the favorite ethnic cuisine in the land. Marketplace, a nationally syndicated business oriented radio program with more than nine-million listeners a week, says there’s no bones about it, calling Mexican food “the most popular ethnic food in the U.S., bigger than Italian or Chinese.” Askmen.com confirms only that “Mexican has become one of the three most popular cuisines in the U.S., with nearly 90% of the total population having tasted it.” According to Marketplace, there are some 90,000 or so Mexican restaurants across the fruited plain. The loose categorization…

AlbuquerqueAsianNew MexicoRating: OutstandingVietnamese

SAIGON CITY – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:02 AM

NOTE:  Saigon City shuttered its doors on 31 October 2025 to allow the owners to take a much-needed vacation.  It reopened on 12 January 2026.  During the time away, Shawn negotiated an extension to the lease which will keep Saigon City at its familiar location.  For that, regulars at this outstanding Vietnamese restaurant are elated. My brother in blogging Ryan Cook describes his first day in Vietnam: “So, my first stop in Vietnam was the capital, Hanoi. My honest first impressions… what the hell have I let myself in for. Seriously…The roads are chaos! The ride from the airport to the hostel was basically 40 minutes of holding my breath and cringing. How someone wasn’t killed in front of my…

AfricanAlbuquerqueEthiopianNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Clay Pot Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“This stuffing of food in your fellow diners’ face is called gursha, and that’s what you do to show your affection and respect. Try this at the Waffle House some time and prepare for awkwardness.” ~Anthony Bourdain, Season 6 of Parts Unknown Eating Ethiopian cuisine involves eating with your hands. That can also be said about eating pizza, sandwiches, tacos, gyros and a number of other foods common to the American palate. But what about being fed from someone else’s hand?  In Ethiopia, that practice is called gursha.  Gursha is a term for the Ethiopian tradition of hand-feeding a bite of food, wrapped in injera, to someone else as a gesture of love, friendship, and respect. It signifies hospitality, often extended to…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2026Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Sandwich

Kaufman’s New York – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“I’ll have what she’s having.”  Can it really be 35 years since Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal created their famous fake orgasm scene from When Harry Met Sally?  The scene was filmed at New York City’s Katz’s Delicatessen where sumptuous sandwiches are skyscraper tall and absolutely delicious (my sole visit was in 1978).  Unlike Meg’s character, most of us wouldn’t have to fake our “excitement” with one gander of the sheer size of Katz’s pastrami sandwich.  A Katz’s, the world-famous pastrami sandwich is enormous, featuring about one pound (12–16 ounces) of hand-carved meat stacked between rye bread. The sandwich stands roughly five-inches tall and is often considered large enough for two people to share.  Obviously that doesn’t include me; I wouldn’t…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastBreakfast BurritosNew MexicanRating: Good

Twisters Burgers & Burritos – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:00 AM

One of the sure signs of spring and summer in New Mexico is the presence of dust devils, those haphazardly whirling, dirty, dusty dervishes which seem to whip up out of nowhere to vacuum up all surface detritus on their unpredictable paths. Tumbleweeds, trash and soil spin skyward to heights of up to 100 feet only to be deposited–torn, tattered and worse for wear– sometimes great distances from their points of origin.  Normally lasting no longer than a few seconds, dust devils are nature’s hot wind temper tantrum, capable of wreaking havoc quickly and with tremendous force. At their worse, they can rip siding off buildings, snap power lines, overturn lawn furniture, send trash cans careening down the street and…