Posts tagged as:

Mexican

Chicas Latin Heritage Foods

by KimHo on December 20, 2010 · 4 comments under: British Columbia,Food,Restaurant

Chicas Latin Heritage Foods
8722 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC
Chicas on Urbanspoon

It has been a while that I have visited a Latin restaurant, which is somewhat funny considering that, while in San Francisco, I had way better chances to get some Latin food love but, instead, I went for more North American fare. Prior to that, my most recent Latin related food was Arturo’s Mexico to Go and, if I go even before (*)… That would be Pambiche and El Brasero (a food cart), both located in Portland. Actually, there is one other place; however, that is not something that can be deemed blogable. Anyway, I thought it was due so I was looking for some restaurants in Vancouver. Option #1 was Mochikas, which Sherman jumped the ahead and visited it some time ago (his blog post here). Considering other options, I ended up going for Chicas (**), located in South Granville.

(*) I am skipping The Reef for other reasons.
(**) Chicas can be transliterated as small; however, it usually means as “young girl” or “miss”

Chicas, Latin, Heritage, Food, Latina, Mexico, Mexican, tacos, enchiladas, sopa, soup, salsa, tortilla, guacamole, pastor, nopales, chicken, gallina, beef, pork, empanada, aztec, Vancouver, Granville, South

Read more…!

Tagged as: Latin America, Mexican, Vancouver

Arturo’s Mexico to Go

by KimHo on October 29, 2010 · 15 comments under: British Columbia,Food,Restaurant

Arturo’s Mexico to Go
775 West Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC
Arturo's Mexico To Go on Urbanspoon

Last week, in my Fresh Local Wild post, I made a comment saying Arturo’s Mexico to Go, specifically they should create a Twitter account to notify when they are open/closed. While that hasn’t been address as of the day of this post, I was advised Arturo’s is now back in business so, finally, I was able to drop by!

Arturo's Mexico to Go, Mexican, Vancouver, street, food, cart, truck, tacos, burritos, salad, bowl, chicken, pork, beef, rice, beans, salsa, lettuce, corn, bell, pepper, cilantro, mozzarella, sour cream, lime, guacamole, grilled, quesadilla, tacotino, tortilla, soup, spicy, mild, chipotle, verde, roja, hot

Read more…!

Tagged as: Downtown, Food Cart, Mexican, Street Food, Vancouver

Chronic Tacos

by KimHo on October 26, 2010 · 15 comments under: British Columbia,Food,Restaurant

Chronic Tacos
382 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC
Chronic Tacos on Urbanspoon

Here I go again, to another taco shop. Somehow it has become such a popular dish there is a need to open yet-another-location. OK, OK, Chronic Tacos an American import is not necessarily new(est) kid on the block, not to mention they sell other tex-mex fare (like burrito) but, lately, I think I have seen one too many places selling tacos popping here and there (namely, Cartel Taco and Arturo’s Mexican To Go). Of course, while some taco shop are “traditional” (as in La Taqueria and Doña Cata) others add that dread “fusion” twist, like Roaming Dragon and Cartel Taco, Chronic Tacos does not hide one fact: it is not necessarily meant to be authentic Mexican fare, rather the Californian iteration, based on the original version. With that in mind…

Chronic Tacos, America, Canada, California, Vancouver, Cambie, Broadway, Taco, tacos, Mexico, Mexican, al pastor, carnitas, chicken, shrimp, fish, burritos, rice, fried, battered, gaucamole, avocado, chips, baja, cabbage, onion, tomato, salsa, sports, bar

Read more…!

Tagged as: Fish, Mexican, Pork, Seafood, Vancouver

Cartel Taco

by KimHo on October 12, 2010 · 15 comments under: British Columbia,Food,Restaurant

Cartel Taco
1006 Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC
Cartel Taco on Urbanspoon

So, here we go again, another week, more food carts… So far, out of all the places I have visited, the reactions have been mixed but I will have to give some credit: some of the stands have cranked out food better than what I have expected; though, alas, of them suffer from one flaw (though, I will give them additional credit and say it is not necessarily their own): cost. One of my pet peeves is that the price point of some of these places hit an odd spot and boils down to whether it is worth venturing out rather than go to an already establish brick-n-mortar type shop. Anyway, for the places I have blogged so far, here is my current ranking:

Today, my visit to Cartel Tacos, a food cart that certain “known” local writer would have love to have all over instead of the current offerings. Their goods sold? Tacos. And just tacos… Though with a “Korean twist” according to them. Given that Roaming Dragon’s offering was an epic fail to me, how better they would fare? And considering the current popularity of this Mexican dish, the question is how it would fare against the established ones…

Food Cart, Cartel Tacos, Mexican, Georgia, Burrard, tacos, pork, should, beef, short rib, salsa, lemon

Read more…!

Tagged as: Downtown, Food Cart, Mexican, Vancouver

Portland Food Carts @ SE 12th and Hawthorne

by KimHo on September 1, 2010 · 9 comments under: Food,Restaurant,Travel

Portland Food Carts @ SE 12th and Hawthorne
Various stands
SE 12th and Hawthorne
Portland, OR

Potato Champion Potato Champion (Food Cart) on Urbanspoon
El Brasero El Brasero (Food Cart) on Urbanspoon
Perierra Crêperie Perierra Crêperie (Food Cart) on Urbanspoon

With me being in Portland for some time (again, for work, not necessarily pleasure), it was certain I had to visit one or two food carts. I mean, after all the noise that has occurred in Vancouver, I had to go to set myself a baseline. After all, my concept and understanding is quite skewed compared to the ones available in North America. See, to me street food is not necessarily food sold on the street; it is beyond that. On one side, it was a matter for some families to earn extra income; in other, as a mean of living. More often than not, these were based on the concept of cheap, mysterious, risky (you never know what you are actually served) and, for the most part, tasty.

The problem I have encountered in North America is that, while some of that concept has carried over, truth is there is too much of that cover-your-ass mentality. Hence, some really wacky requirements, from location, type of food being sold, sanitary conditions (did I say “risky”?), et al have taken away some of it. While that is something that seems to be for good (in general), what is not is the attempt of some food cart operators here to make things “fancy”, as in making things “fusion” or making things complicated or, worst of all, fancy in an attempt to create an edge. Granted, it is all business at the end of the day; however, I believe that that takes away from the spirit of street food.

I know I am digressing here but, please keep in mind, it is something people ought to be aware of, as it might skew things a little bit… So, that brings us back to the corner of Hawthorne and 12th in Portland, a sort of empty lot that has been occupied by some food carts. And, in that spirit of adventure, I went there for dinner and tried to visit as many such carts as possible (based on time, $$$ and stomach volume). So, without further ado…

Portland, street, food, food, truck, Belgian, Mexican, French, Greek, Cajun, Greole, fries, cheese, custard, poutine, taco

Read more…!

Tagged as: Belgian, French, Mexican, Portland, potato, Street Food

Salsa & Agave

by KimHo on July 7, 2010 · 5 comments under: British Columbia,Food,Restaurant

Salsa & Agave
1223 Pacific Blvd
Vancouver, BC
Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill on Urbanspoon

I know this might sound really belated but… Congratulations to fellow blogger Mijune, who organized Vancouver’s 1st Cupcake Challenge (winners here). Organizing such event almost out of nowhere is no easy task and the fact the event attracted over 1000 visitors is something to be admire, specially considering that all publicity was in the form of social media (oh, I hate that phrase!!!!).

Of course, that brings two questions… How it is related to Salsa & Agave and, more importantly, how come I didn’t blog that event? Well, let’s just say I was there but, due to other circumstances, I wasn’t able to taste the cupcakes (I won’t have been able to taste that many anyways) nor I was able to take any pictures. I have already talked to Mijune about this so, if you were expecting to read about it here, I apologize for that… As for the other question, I was looking for something to eat nearby and, aside from the usual Yaletown suspects, I decided to confront my daemons and go to a Mexican restaurant across the site of the event: Salsa & Agave.

salsa, agave, restaurant, Yaletown, Vancouver, Mexican

Read more…!

Tagged as: Chicken, Downtown, Mexican

Calli Restaurante Mexicano

by KimHo on December 14, 2009 · 11 comments under: British Columbia,Food,Restaurant

Calli Restaurante Mexicano
1102 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC
CALLI Restaurante Mexicano on Urbanspoon

Sometimes I have to wonder myself… If I have a bias against a “cuisine”, why do I choose to go to such restaurant type over and over? I guess I do have a hope that I will hit jackpot and find something I would like and change my mind. But, in the case of Mexican, given that most of the restaurants here offer basically the same dishes, my expectation for that has been really low. With that in mind, I went to Calli Restaurante Mexicano, a new restaurant in Davie Street.

Read more…!

Tagged as: Downtown, Latin America, Lunch, Mexican, Vancouver

← Previous Entries