Restaurante Doña Tomás, Temescal, Oakland, CA.

Carnitas (with tortillas, salsa fresca, refritos, and green rice)
Sangrita y Tequila
Pay de Chocolate

Can a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Can a band from France (and marginally, Spain) substitute for music actually by Latin American artists in a Mexican restaurant (and does it matter)? Can phenomenal Mexican cuisine come from people named Schnetz and Savitsky? All questions that I don’t necessarily have the answers for as I contemplate the rest of my enormous carnitas platter over the mildly insipid Gipsy Kings.

At 5:15, I paced Temescal, grumbling at my own misfortune for the day, searching for culinary redemption. Noting that Pizzaiolo was closed for remodeling (they have since reopened), and not wanting Lanesplitters as consolation, I decided that a heaping plate of carnitas was the only solution.

Since they opened at 5:30, the restaurant was empty and I was swiftly placed at a table facing the kitchen, though obscured by the wall upon which they place steaming plates of food for delivery to the tables. I ordered food and drink at once. The food arrived almost instantly, before the tequila even appeared. Strange, but I suppose pork that has been stewing in its own, deliciously unkosher fat for hours doesn’t need much time before serving. Undeterred, I proceeded, expecting luscious melty-crisp gluttony.

The carnitas were browned to a perfect crisp. The meaty insides… were DRY! How is that possible? I’ve had Doña Tomás’ carnitas before, and they were heavenly! I could lessen the dryness by complementing it with refritos and salsa on a tortilla, but carnitas should be able to stand its own. I only finished half. That says much, regardless of massive serving size. And though I’d finished all the tortillas, couldn’t they have thrown a couple into my takeout box, or at least asked?

I drowned my frustration in alternating swallows of sangrita and tequila. Thankfully, the tequila selection for this combination at Doña Tomás is far better than the default at Fonda, and the sangrita is refreshing rather than cloying. I ordered chocolate pie, and it too was not as good as remembered. The graham cracker crust was more crumbly than tender, for which I had previously lauded them; the chocolate was more firm and cold than creamy with an odd medicinal flavor. The enormous dollop of whipped cream detracted more than it complemented. It tasted like it had been sliced yesterday and abruptly pulled out of the refrigerator before serving.

I left, utterly disappointed and $46 poorer. For that much, I’d rather have a hamburger dinner at Wood Tavern. To be fair, I reheated the leftover carnitas in a microwave later that night and they melted into a much moister, much greasier, much less crisp but far more delicious mess. I’ve had some delicious and well-presented meals at Doña Tomás; perhaps this was an anomaly.

–

And once more, with feeling!

Restaurante Doña Tomás, Temescal, Oakland, CA.

Tostadas de Coliflor
Ensalada César
Sopa de Pescado (spicy soup with halibut cheeks, chard, fennel, potato, and avocado, accompanied by green rice)
Sangrita y Tequila

I returned with company less than a week later. The restaurant was only about two-thirds full at 8pm, a far cry from my expectations. Is there something about the post-holidays that slows down restaurant business? On the other hand, Pizzaiolo was overflowing, but they’d also just reopened. Is this indicative of a decline in the quality of food, as suggested by my previous meal?

This time, instead of placing my bets on one dish, I decided on a different tactic and ordered a number of “small” things. Do note the quotations; despite my best dietary intentions, nothing here is small.

My companion and I shared the tostadas, crispy tortillas topped with roasted cauliflower tossed with raisins, and pine nuts in a very spicy crema-based sauce. While it was fairly tasty, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was eating a strangely creamy cauliflower trail mix — nothing quite pulled all of the elements together. The Mexican rendition of Caesar salad was a large plate of fresh, crisp romaine, well-dressed and topped with delicious croutons. (So far as I can tell, the only difference is that the dressing probably contains lime juice instead of lemon, and the cheese is cotija instead of parmesan.) The soup was excellent: large, tender-firm, flavorful halibut cheeks, sliced fennel bulb, potatoes and greens in a rich and wickedly spicy broth. I also stole a few bites of his carne asada with chimichurri — an excellent choice.

Redemption, for now. This time I was okay with forking over another $45.

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.)

–

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.

–

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.

–

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.