La Burrita took over the spot near Christie station that used to house an Ethiopian restaurant. While it is only a block a way from our beloved Tacos El Asador, La Burrita does a more Mexican style of taco. There is even a huger variety of meat fillings you can choose from and at $2.90 the price is low enough to keep coming back to try them all.
I had a Shrimp Taco and a Fish Taco. Both were battered really nicely with avocado and salsa fresca. It was moist and full of flavour that you didn’t need to ask for any additional salsa or hot sauce. Unlike some other places, there wasn’t any offered.
Nash had the Chorizo and Chipotle Pork tacos. Both had rice, cheese, green sauce, sour cream and salsa. The chorizo was better than Al Asador’s because it was really moist.
For some reason we couldn’t resist trying the nachos. They were a lot lighter than the usual nachos, mostly because we didn’t expect to finish them but we did. I enjoyed the freshness of the salsa verde with the fresca.
Tag: tacos
Burgers and Tacos @ Tallboys
Before yesterday’s installment of The Big Smoke Music Festival, we grabbed food inside the venue, Tallboys Craft Beer House.
I ordered the Pan Seared Fish Tacos ($12). The fish sat in a soft corn tortilla with guacamole salsa fresca, lettuce and sour cream. They were served with fries. They’re very similar in style to the fish tacos at Tacos El Asador with just the right amount of coriander. The fries made it a decent amount of food, and I swear they had a little bit of sour cream in them because of their interesting taste.
Nash had the Tallboys Signature Bacon Chili Burger ($13). The chili was mixed in with melted cheese and onions resulting in awesomness between two buns. They also have a burger with kimchi in it which we will definitely come back to try.
Since we were at Tallboys, it was only appropriate that we did get some tallboys. I had the Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner. It was a good amount of sweetness in a beer. Nash had some kind of cider, I forgot.
We’ll definitely come back again since the food is decently priced. Also, we learnt that the menu is half price on Sundays with a drink!
Tacos at La Tortilleria
When you walk in La Tortilleria at Bloor and Dufferin, it looks like a mini Mexican supermarket. People who just happen to wander by the market might even miss the fact they serve food in a little corner. We were on an adventure to try a new taco place and found this place on Yelp by searching “tacos”. In terms of atmosphere, it couldn’t get more Mexican. We were surrounded by a market of authentic Mexican treats, food and spices. There were only 3 small tables for people to eat in. Mexican music played in the background.
I ordered 3 tacos for $6.99. One beef, one pulled pork and one chicken. They each had a black bean sauce at the bottom. I totally forgot to put salsa on mine so it was a tiny bit dry, but still flavourful and delicious. Plus at $6.99 I was sufficiently full after eating them.
Nash ordered two “big quesadillas” for $8. They were like a cheese-steak sandwich in a pita. It was packed full of meat and creamy mozzarella and honestly one of the best quesadillas I have ever tasted.
To wash things down, we both bought some Jarrito, a Mexican soda made with natural granulated sugar. I had lime and Nash had orange. They were sweet but not too much.
For what we paid for, the food was a lot better than we thought and we will definitely be back.
Meh Tacos.. At Mexitacos
Situated at 828 Bloor Street West, Mexitaco is much closer to Nash’s place and Exclaim! than Tacos El Asador so we thought I thought I might as well try it at least once. I was actually told their food is mediocre by people at work, but I’m the kind of person who will give everything a chance. Yelp reviewers also had very mixed feelings about the place.
We were in a taco mood. The chorizo taco was recommended by people on Yelp so we ordered them. For $8.99 there were four tacos. They were topped with coriander and onion. The chorizo meet was a bit better than at El Asador but other than that, there wasn’t really much to the taco.
A ring of toppings was brought to us with the tacos. There was two salsas, a green and a red as well as onions and limes. We weren’t exactly sure what the green one was. Our estimation was green tomato and jalapenos. Both salsas were a bit bland and runny.
We also ordered Tinga tacos which were described as chicken in chipotle sauce. There wasn’t really any other special toppings with it, just chickens in a taco. They were just okay, but either we don’t know what chipotle sauce is supposed to taste like or it tasted like burnt shoes.
Anyways, the tacos weren’t bad, just ok. Edible, but not anything special. The portions were also really small. Even though we had 4 tacos each, it wasn’t totally filling. Whereas at El Asador I could order 2 or 3 things for the same price and be sufficiently full. I will probably just make the extra walk to Tacos El Asador for now on when I have a taco craving.
Delicious Things at Tacos El Asador
One day the Exclaim! office all ordered tacos, and they looked delicious so I asked them where they were from and immediately went right after. Tacos El Asador fit in perfectly for my continuous journey of eating all things adventurous and ethnic.
The atmosphere was friendly and the staff helped me interpret what some of the things on the menu were. An interesting thing to note about the Annex establishment is that it’s not entirely Mexican food, but a Salvadorian interpretation of Mexican food as the name of the place suggests. This is why there are all those silly reviews on yelp or urbanspoon complain about it being different! I first walked into this place a month ago, and I’ve already been back 4 or 5 times.
If you eat in, your table automatically gets a giant bowl of jalapeno, coriander, onion and yellow pepper mix as well as a spicy salsa. It’s really hard not to pick at the mix when waiting for food, even if the seeds can get you heated!
Nash likes to get the $10 combo that includes a burrito and an enchillada or quesadilla and a drink. The burrito by itself, is already enough to fill a person!
My favourite are the fish tacos. The fish combined with avocado, salsa and carmelized onions have a lovely creamy texture that melts in the mouth.
Tacos come in crunchy or soft and in a variety of meats including chicken, pork, beef and chorizo. I tried chorizo which is like a spicy pork sausage, but I wasn’t completely a fan. It was a little dry. They tasted better with chicken (or fish!). I love that they double wrap both kinds of tacos to prevent any sauce leakage or have back up for accidental breakage.
Their take on the enchiladas was interesting. They were done in a kind of Honduran style with the black bean almost like a spread on the tacos which were served open face, instead of wrapped in rolls with sauce on top.
Pupusas were one thing I learned about for the first time when coming here. They are a truly Salvadorian dish and was almost like their take on a fried crepe of some sort! I had one filled with pork and it was served with sauce that reminded me of marinara.
Lastly, I also tried the chicken tamales. They reminded me of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf that my grandmother used to make, except this was with corn and chicken. It may appear small, but one of these things definitely fills you up.
What I love most about this place is the price. All menu items are around $3, so you can mix it up and have multiple items. For the price, the food is fresh and delicious. When I have time (and the budget) I’ll hit up Grand Electric to compare, but I think I may end up favouring Tacos El Asador. I don’t care about pretension, only how things fare on the taste meter and if it doesn’t hurt the wallet, it’s a double win.
Tiana Feng 