Recent eats: El Aguila Real, Bordenaro's.

Of late I've been reacquainting myself with El Aguila Real. I used to be a frequent patron of El Aguila Real's location at the corner 22nd & University in West Des Moines. When that restaurant closed its doors a number of years ago, I fell out of the 'nachos to ease the pain' habit.

Now visiting El Aguila Real in its relatively new digs in the old Mandarin Chinese space on Beaver, I and dining companion have both been ordering up our favorites: Chicken Fajita Nachos and Nachos Supreme. Nothing special, fancy, or particularly spicy. Just plain comfort food, like mashed potatoes and gravy or mac and cheese.

El Aguila Real's table salsa is fairly decent: loose and tomatoey with enough zest to make it interesting. I like to top off my nachos with the table salsa and generous splashes of Tapatío hot sauce, mash it all up with a fork, and dig right in.

Another place I've revisited recently is Bordenaro's on S.W. Ninth. Normally my focus is on their thin, crispy pizza [see blog post], but I had long forgotten about Bordenaro's rigatoni.

A side salad with lettuce greens, sliced peperoncini, shredded mozzarella and croutons, ladled with house creamy garlic dressing whetted my appetite for the main course. Double-dipped onion rings were crunchier than I cared for. I'd much prefer a single batter dip.

Having ordered my rigatoni in a red sauce with meatballs and a side of garlic bread, its straight-on delicious.