Los Amigos Jarochos is the Fresh Catch (1 of 3)

This restaurant is the first of three in an ooff the beaten path look at some of our finest and most authentic local mexican restaurants.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Fresh Catch with RJ and T Bones Jones. Don't forget to like and subscribe to us wherever you get our content. And remember, stay hungry. Hey, welcome to Fresh Catch. I'm T Bones Jones. I'm RJ. And we are here to celebrate the trifecta of culinary bliss. First, fresh ingredients. Second, the food we love. And third, the food we want to try.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yes, Glenn. Hoy in Fresh Cash we're going to celebrate the arte of the cocina, the teological, command fresh, comida that we're going to prove.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

See, tonight we're starting a series of three Mexican restaurants, all off the beaten path and all dripping with authenticity. You know, if you're willing to leave the Grand Strand just a little bit and explore, you're gonna find some hidden treasures.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

This will be a series of three restaurants mexicans in places very frequent, but with much authenticity. Tesouros escondidos, tonight on our first episode, we're visiting Los Amigos Harochos.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

And where is this restaurant come from? Like what's its what would it be its uh Mexican home base?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Well, uh the Harocho word it comes from Veracruz, Mexico. Okay. Veracruz, Mexico is a coast uh state of Mexico. It's close to the Gulf of Mexico. El Golfo de Mexico. Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

No America.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

No America.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

I don't have a dog in that fight.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

I'm fine. But anyway, so they are famous for their seafood. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

You know what you want to try first? Let's go with the ceviche because it's so fresh. See, and and it's shrimp. So does that mean that it's ceviche tostado cameroon?

SPEAKER_00 2:13

The camaron. The camera exacto glend. The way I do it, I just grab the whole thing, I put my plate close to me and I let it I let it just you know go inside my mouth and it sounds bad, but anyway. Crunchy. When you try the shrimp ceviche a los amigos arochos, I'm gonna tell you you're gonna you're gonna love it, you're gonna enjoy it, you're gonna enjoy a lot. This is gonna be a four out of five for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Four out of five. Well, I'm giving this a 4.5 because the flavors that I'm getting, like I we're all about healthy ingredients. I feel like I'm eating a protein salad. Onion, cilantro, tomato, I just and I love every bite. I'm gonna have one more bite against my better judgment. I'm gonna finish it later for it then. So the Grand Strand goes from maybe technically Little River and uh Atlantic City, North Myrtle Beach, all the way down to Surfside, Myrtle's Inlet. Some people will include Lichfield and Pauli's Island. Yeah. And it's a wonderful area. It's a one road, it's Highway 17.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

But that road has all these right or left turns that go away from the ocean into little towns like Loris or Longs or Conway or Sakasti. And on these journeys, you find places that we call off the beaten path.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Off the beaten path, yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

And and and that's what we're focused in.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

That's a big srirachos as well as this is what I think most people should or should at least want kind of like a venture, right? Because when you come to the Grand Strand and vacation to in the Grand Strand, you're thinking, oh, I'm gonna stay at the beach, right? I'm gonna stay by the bull bar, go to Broadway, and that's it. And then, you know, when people ask, where can I find good Mexican food, they get directed to just one place or two places. They don't get directed to this kind of the places because also not a lot of Grand Strand people know about it.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Right, and and look, there's nothing wrong with the big restaurants on the Grand Strand. Not at all. They're great, and we and I love them too. But you're not getting this at those restaurants. No. That's why we had to look a little deeper.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

You know, this is down in Socurity. Uh, we made sure we put the address here.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Yeah, we'll get we'll definitely get you directions and we'll get you there, but you need to try the uh ceviche cameraman testado for sure. Yes. Um, because you're not gonna get anywhere else. Alright, what's next?

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Ah so next, we got the empanadas, amigos arochos. Los amigos carochos are known as really known for the empanadas, their empanadas are really tasted. This is, like we said, chicken empanadas.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Okay, I'm gonna get it the only way I know how. I'm looking at you like tomato? Uh do you? No. Yeah, I'll eat the tomato then. Oh, I don't like lettuce and you don't like tomato.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

And and and yeah, exactly. It's perfect. Works out. This time I'm gonna try the green salsa on this.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

So are they both the same green salsas? Yes. Okay. Unless you want to try the red salsa. From my understanding, red salsa are more spicy than the green salsa. But this is the super hot this stuff. That's the super hot. You know I gotta try it. Yeah, but let's try it at the end.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

It's good. I'm gonna try red salsa. I got a feeling about red salsa. I know it's spicy, but this is good. It's really delicate. Like the pastry is really good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

And I like it how they're small, big enough. You buy yourself two or three, and it'd be perfect, you know? It's a perfect meal with two or three.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Oh yeah, there's I mean it's full of chicken, shredded chicken. I think the red sauce was really the right decision.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Really?

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Right. I'm not a spicy guy like that. And I'm Mexican.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

You heard it here. A non-spicy Mexican. So I give it a four out of five. It's comfortable, it's comfort foody.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

It's warm and and yummy. Um, I love their pastry. Um, it's delicate. The chickens cook perfect. It was a little bland for me, but they have sauces, right? So it's you got all the things you want to dip it. I'm a flavor guy. I really like the different flavors and the excitement of a flavors. I like this a lot, and I would order it again, but I wouldn't fill up on it.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

That's what I was gonna, but that's what I was saying. Like, it's like a snack or like an appetizer. I I'll also give it four out of five. Yeah, yeah. It's it's a comfort food for sure. So next is the tamales. Tamales.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

I've had tamales before. I bought them off of friends, I've uh got them in stores. They're usually in corn husks.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

Yeah, these are banana leaves. Banana leaves, so that's what makes them different. I like los amigos harochos. You know we have tamales season, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's not like you gotta you you you do tamales all year long all year long. If you see the difference between this tamales, this is kind of like the north uh east of Mexico style of tamales. A tamales where you're good coffee or chocolate or atole. And atole, you gotta try it.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Exactly. I'm gonna end up hooking up with some sauce eventually.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

This is meat. Meat, real nice meat.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

What do y'all call the um it's cornmeal? It's kind of like um polenta almost.

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Mmm. But it's so delicate and warm and and like it's like a a a blanket for this meat. Good lord. I think it's one of the best I've ever had. Did your mom make tamales? So how do these stack up against a homemade tamale? Well, my mom makes them with uh with a corn leaf.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

So it's completely different, you know? Comes out a little different. I say it's a three and a half. Oh, you give it a 4.5 out of five.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Dang, I give it because of my lack of experience with a tamale, yeah, I give this a 4.5 because it feels so authentic. It tastes exactly like what I think it should, and I'm I'm just happy with it. Good.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

But but we have a different the flavor of the meat is perfect for it. But the actual the thing that makes the taman, yeah, it's a little, it's not flavorier. It's it's uh it's a little bit more like either more salt on it or maybe a little more flavor.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Well that makes sense, like you would know, right? Because your mom makes some, so you have an expectation. What I'm blown away when I see something wrapped in a banana leaf. I'm like, that looks great. Yeah. So I think I give it a four because I think the presentation is great and it has all the potential. I can add sauce and kick it up.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

And you give it a 3.5 because you know it could be even better.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Yes. So to have a restaurant that makes them that you can just walk in and say, hey, let me try one of you tomorrow. It's great, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:02

I give a little respect to a restaurant that's willing to put the time in.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Of course.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

We're down to the main event.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Main event that quesavirrias.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Quesabirrias. Okay, so we got what looks like a quesadilla.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

It's a kid, it's a big quesadilla because it still has cheese in it. And a lot of shredded meat. Mmm, look at that. And cheese. And cheese. So now I'm gonna show you. Grab yourself a lime. So this is how you do it. Yeah, grab yourself a lime. Okay. Now I'm gonna put a little bit. Will you like cilantro?

SPEAKER_01 11:40

I love cilantro. And onion on it. People some people don't like cilantro. Um, and some people don't like peanut butter. More that's good. That's good. But I love it.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Okay. Now you do your lime on it. Inside, outside, whatever you feel like. Okay. Now you can either pull yourself a little bit with salsa, whatever you feel like, right? This is what I'm gonna do with mine.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Um my mat is worrying, like it's it's with you're getting ready, getting jazzed. Yeah, and now the main thing, I think this is what makes the the quesavirria special, is the consomme or the juice, right? So I'm gonna throw a little bit of juice on it. Dang. You just pour it on. Pour on it. Usually you dip it, but you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Okay, you dip it like a like like that a roast beef sandwich. This is crazy. This is out I haven't tried this. This is off the chain. I'm going super hot.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Enjoy. I can wait to see you red.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

You know what that is? Was that Chipotle? I don't know. I don't think it's Chipotle. That'll set you back a few years. I could eat that in the winter and stay warm. It's not. We were talking about quesabirias. Yeah. And how yummy they are and how big they are.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

It has a lot of meat in it, you know, it's it's it's juicy. It's juicy. Juicy meat, you know, it's it's I say it it's a really good option for you to order when you go to Los Amigos Harochos.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

And look, if you're like me too, and you like a lot of protein, a quesadilla seems like it's cheese heavy with other things in it. Quesabiros seems like it's meat heavy with some cheese. So it's very it feels very protein rich. And uh it's really a meat uh dish more than a super cheese dish. And then it has the um au jus, or you call it the consomme.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

Consomme. So it's it's used. And you know this use where it comes from, by the way? I imagine it's what it was cooked in. Yeah, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 14:29

It's Antilite meat use, the drippings from the meat. I mean, that's fabulous. That you know, and people, people who like their meat like the roast beef community, they dip theirs in juice that comes also from the same stuff. That's you know, that's just the goodness. Yep. That's the homemade, the goodness. So all this, um, we had quite a meal.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Yeah, and uh I can say it, I'm gonna put this a 4.5 out of five. The quesabir or the restaurant? The quesabir, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Okay, and I'm gonna give it a four because it's not exactly my favorite dish. Claro. But it's a style thing. Yeah. Like it's not because the meat wasn't good, or I just probably wouldn't order it again or I would split it with someone. It's a lot.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah. And if you can provide comida authentic, I can say it's actually a hundred percent authentic. 100% homemade, he's a worth the drive to go down to Socasty, it's actually Socasty Boulevard. That's the that's the actual name of the highway. The road in front of where they are. If you vienn to other state, and provide comida authentic, Los Amigos Aroche is gonna be one of them.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

I agree with you. And if you're someone who stays in Myrtle Beach and maybe travels to like Myrtle's Inlet for some seafood because uh maybe you want to just try something different, this Saga City Boulevard is no farther away from Myrtle Beach than Myrtle's Inlet. Exactly. Authentic Mexican food from a restaurant like Los Amigos Horachas. Yeah. So, overall, what do you think? Overall, I'm gonna give it a 4-2. So it's better than a four.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

And it's an off-the-beaten path kind of, I want to call it a dive, but the restaurant's beautiful. It's not a dive, it is just one of these places that if you don't turn off a 17, you just don't know it exists. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Yeah, it's a it's you know, the actual restaurant um and the overall experience, I put it 4.3. 4.3. And I feel like if you are up to a great adventure and you're that type of person that loves to try something different, other than typical Tex Mex or Mexican-American dishes or restaurants, I will 100% recommend it. And and and I will tell you the drive and the venture is worth it. Be brave and eat fresh.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

We'll see you next time in episode two of our Mexican restaurant episode series Fresh Catch.