The inimitably web-stalkable k7lim and I agreed to have tacos for lunch last week. Instead of dragging him to Tacubaya, as promised, I sprung a surprise on him and took him on a miniature taco-crawl!
Method
At each restaurant we ordered one carne asada and one pollo taco (traditional style — no beans, rice, or extra filler). We shared both, either by alternating-bite or divide-toppings-onto-single-tortilla method. Coincideintally, we also shared horchata at each place, a decent palate cleanser by any means. We sampled chips and salsa when presented with them. All tacos were in the $1.50 range except at Casa Latina, where they were $2 apiece.
Results
Round 1: Los Cantaros Taqueria, San Pablo Ave., Emeryville, CA.
We ordered two “Mexico City tacos” — they also have the blasphemously embellished taco-surrogates, so you have to specify. The tortillas were small, soft, and pliable. The carne asada was flavorful and sufficiently juicy; the chicken, however, was nothing special, lacking flavor until being doused with the (saucy) red salsa provided for the chips. The green sauce on both tacos was ample and slightly spicy. The radish and jalapeno were appreciated even though neither of us touched them.
(G says this restaurant is unrelated to the Los Cantaros restaurant on Grand Ave. in Oakland, but I’ve been unable to confirm.)
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Round 2: Gallegos, San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA.
The chicken on the pollo taco was nicely shredded: a good sign, given our mutual dissatisfaction with the previous. It was moist and flavorful. The carne asada was tasty and had a good texture. We were pleased with both tacos, even though the quality of the individual ingredients (the steak, in particular) was generally less than that at Los Cantaros. Quite appropriately, everything was dripping grease: “This is the equivalent of a fairly good taco truck distilled into a shack,” I commented. (k7 agreed.) We finished our chips and (chunky) salsa in satisfied silence, occasionally quenching the fire with Gallego’s weak horchata-water.
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Round 3: Mi Tierra Foods, San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA.
Mi Tierra is a well-stocked Mexican supermarket with a hot food counter in the back. The eating area consists of a couple of stools placed unceremoniously against a wall. Good enough for us. We noted an odd characteristic of both tacos: something about the flavor profile of both meats was reminiscent of Chinese food. The diced meat must have been diligently marinaded, possibly overnight, until the marinade permeated the entirety of the steak and chicken bits. While this sounds good in theory, in practice both were cooked slightly too long for their marination to save them. The carne asada taco was decent — overcooked marinated steak tends to crisp due to its fat content. The lean, tough chicken bits suffered from the practice, inspiring comparison to a bad ground chicken and soy sauce stir-fry.
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Round 4: Casa Latina, San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA.
“We only use olive oil,” declared the chalkboard which listed the menu. We should have known — Casa Latina was easily the worst, yet most expensive, contestant of Part One. The tortillas were the size of my face. Both meats were rather flavorless and overdone, the chicken dry to the point where I couldn’t finish my portion of the taco. The hot sauce ladled over each taco didn’t help as it attempted to mask the meat’s blandness with its burnt and rabid spiciness. There were no chips and salsa offered to redeem the experience. At least the horchata had a good, cinnamon-y flavor that made up for its slight grittiness.
Summary of Part One
Best carne asada taco: Los Cantaros
Best pollo taco: Gallegos
Best overall experience: Los Cantaros
(I invite k7 to challenge any of the above if he is so inclined.)
Los Cantaros wins, just barely, due to the actual presence of atmosphere, the quality of their carne asada, and their ample selection of agua frescas. While both tacos at Gallegos were stellar (and greasy), seats at the shack’s counter did little to elevate it above more conveniently located taco trucks. I’d return to both, deciding which to patronize by means of how fat I’m feeling that day.
Unfortunately, we did not have the stomach capacity to include any tacos of the deliciously porky variety in this survey. We will be conducting more taco crawls in the future, so please contact me if you’d like to participate. The more, the merrier!
BONUS ROUND: Pan dulce challenge
My favorite pan dulce, from Casa Latina. Does anyone know what these damned things are called? They look confused whenever I ask when they will have the “cookies that look like croissants.” If you can provide the answer, I’ll give you… mad props. Or, better yet, I’ll buy you a taco.
