Chicas Latin Heritage Foods
8722 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

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”

I chose to go on a Friday specifically for one reason. According to their site, there is live free music on that day of the week. However, when I arrived, I was disappointed I was the only person there. Where is the music??? Where are other customers? The were other customers as the night went but it lacked some vibrancy, alas… But, I was there already and wasn’t planning on turning back. Table for one it would be!

While perusing at the menu (which I already had an initial look from their site), I got these. From the looks of it, the tortilla chip wasn’t the mass produced one and, indeed, it felt different. But, then again, I am not fan of tortilla chips so that might only go that far. As for the salsa, it was interesting in the sense it wasn’t the usual watery ones you see in other places; instead, it was chunks of tomatoes, onions, cilantro and other components. The lack of that watery feeling by itself made it worth it.

But, back to the menu, despite the name does not imply a specific geographical location in Latin America, that “issue” I have had with Latin food in Vancouver kicked in. To quote it’s site: Fresh, best quality tasting Mexican and Latin food at a great price. The “key” word is the one I have in bold: Why Mexico first? Alas, since people don’t necessarily know better and that seems to be the most popular around (heck, just see how many places selling tacos!), I guess that is a need more than a preference. Anyway, back to the menu, the first couple of items and they were your usual tacos. However, going down is where things started to get interesting. You had arepas, empanadas (all around, sometimes depending on the dough used), tamal Colombiano and ceviche, among others. Despite I really wanted to try the tamal, I was by myself and, ordering it would have limited other dishes I would have been able to order. In the end, I started off with…

Ancient Azteca Soup – A warm chipotle and roasted tomatoes spicy, ancient grandmother’s Aztec recipe, topped with tortilla strips, sour cream and feta. I had some mixed feelings about the soup, which can be considered basically a Mexican taco soup. I didn’t taste the feta in the usual sense of the word but, then again, for a Mexican-type soup, should I? From there one, things started to take turns for the weird. On one side, there was something “mushy” which could have been the soaked tortilla strips. If that was the case, I wished it was on the side and I added it myself as there was no crispiness/crunchiness at all. As for the soup, it was quite savoury so I won’t complain about it. But one thing kept bothering me: there was cilantro in the soup. OK, that’s not the problem, as I have no issues with that herb. Rather, there was a bit of brown/wilted cilantro and then there were some fresher bits as I stirred around. Translation: This might have been cooked way ahead and reheated. Now, depending on the ingredients used, I have no problems with this, as soups can be kept for some time and some soups turns better as they “age”. The problem is that I would have skipped the herbs initially and add it before serving. Even if it called, make it in a bunch and take it out before cooling down. Just that that resulting wilted herbs was a bit of a let down.

OK, you are making reference to Mexican stuff first, I bit and ended up ordering two tacos. At first, I wanted to order nopales, aka, prickly pear, a type of cactus. Alas, they ran out of it. Ouch. And then there was the “weird” one in the form of potatoes and feta. Geez, these guys seems to like feta cheese! In the end, I went for some “safe”/better known options, namely, carne asada (top) and chorizo (bottom).

The carne asada was borderline minced/ground beef, which, actually, wasn’t that bad but, if we compare it to offerings from La Taqueria, it would be short of an epic fail. The chorizo was a bit of hit and miss: The chorizo itself was not that similar to cut pieces of Italian sausage and then fried. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with this approach but the frying jump made the meat a bit too crispy for my liking. Oh, well.

If that wasn’t the major deterrent from me disliking it, then look at the topings as well as the tortilla. Those who have been to almost any taqueria (La Taqueria mentioned above, Doña Cata or, heck, even Chronic Tacos) will notice they come with two tortilla. Not here: there was a single tortilla per taco. And something the authenticity policy would cry foul over, look at the lettuce plus that sour cream like sauce drizzled on top!

Finally, something outside from that “Mexican” influence: empanadas. In this case, beef empanadas. I mentioned above that, depending on the dough, it can go any way. Had it been a flour type dough, it could be quite similar to the Jamaican patty or a savoury turnover or a pasty. But, in this case, a corn based dough was used. And, guess what? This was the best part of the meal. Though slightly oily to the touch, it was piping hot and the (beef) meat feeling gave some spicy savoury hints to it. The sour cream or dressing wasn’t really necessary but the salsa added some acidity. Not perfect but it brought some memories.

After settling the bill, I had to think a little bit: Would Chicas be a place I would be coming back? In a way, it is a bit of mixed thoughts. Probably I will come back; however, if I do, I will skip the Mexican stuff and, instead, focus on the non-Mexican stuff, as in the arepas, empanadas or tamales. That is mainly because of my experience with the tacos and the other options were way better. But, until then, still have to visit Mochikas first.

Arturo’s Mexico to Go
775 West Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC

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!

What I mentioned previously about Dim Sum Express‘ location applies to Arturo’s as well: it could have a lot of foot trafic which could result in potential business opportunities. Of course, what’s good about it, if the product is not good? Well, the only way to find out is to try it yourself!

In a way, it is relatively easy to say how the operation is setup is would indicate it should be efficient; however, similar to a chain, it is as strong as its weakest link: on the day I went, the last person, i.e., the person who would take my cash to pay for the order was daydreaming a little bit. I ordered a can of pop separately and, after giving me my change, it took him a while to realize he didn’t give me the can. Oh, well…

As for the picture above, to the left, there is whom seems to be the boss as well as a woman who might be the main cook (as was checking the quality of some beans in the back). Could it be Arturo (whom this is named?) I can’t say. However, I can vouch for one thing: they were speaking Spanish…

Moving to the food, I ordered tortilla soup to start. It had a light broth with some tortilla chips, some cheese and a piece of avocado. The soup was good and not so good at the same time. The “not so good” side was that they added the cheese and tortilla before they served it. In my case, since I asked it to go, that presented a problem: If it took a while to open and serve it, the crispiness of the tortilla chips would have been long gone and be instead a mess. Fortunately, I just took the stairs upstairs and opened it almost right away so was still able to enjoy a little bit of that tortilla crispy texture. As for the good, the broth was actually quite good. Think of it as a flavourful, not too salty vegetable soup. For $3, it was actually well priced, I would have to say.

For the other options, I had burrito, salad bowl, quesadilla or tacotino. I dismissed the tacotino as I would have ordered them in multiples and, at $4, I wasn’t sure how many would be enough to fill me up. And, normally, I don’t do salad so that left me with the quesadilla and the burrito. I ended up going for the burrito, though I will have to admit I am curious whether the quesadilla is the American version or the Mexican version… I guess a re-visit is necessary regardless?

As for this burrito, according to their menu has “your choice of meat or veggie. Rice, beans, fresh salsa, lettuce, corn, bell peppers, cilantro, mozzarella cheese, sour cream, lime“. For meats, in the menu sandwich board lists rotisserie pork, sirloin beef and tinga chicken. However, out of these three, they only had chicken and beef. I asked for their favourite and beef it was.

Based on the description of the dish, well, it delivered what was supposed to be there so from that perspective, I won’t complain. As for the burrito as a whole, unfortunately, I have to use a really strange comparison point: Steamrollers. Yeah, I know, how can I compare Arturo’s with a chain? Well, I had to use something as a reference so it couldn’t be helped! (Or no matter how bad it can be!)

Having said that, all the components were more flavourful than Steamrollers. For instance, the rice, which normally would be bland, managed to soak some of the sauces and other flavours rather than staying bland. However, that created an odd problem for the rest: it felt too individual. For example, the corn was there but didn’t really mingle well with the beans or lettuce or the bell peppers. In other words, it was a wacky mix. But, the “main” item, namely the beef was actually quite good. It was slightly stringy, which reminds me of ropa vieja, aka, stewed flank beef. Now, this is not a negative (the meat is really soft and flavourful); rather, it brings some memories.

Now, at a $7 for the burrito, it hits an odd spot. It is not “cheap” (compared to, say, CSK) but, pricewise, close enough to Re-Up sandwich, yet, at the same time, the end product is not as good. However, I have mixed feelings of the end result as it wasn’t bad, as it felt slightly short (but this might be due to my Mexican bias). Still, I do find some incentive to come back as I still want to try their quesadilla or tacotino.

Chronic Tacos
382 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC

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…

Ambiance is not something that I mention often but, in the case of Chronic Tacos, I have to do so: It is not a restaurant in the same veins as, again, Doña Cata or La Taqueria. Instead, think a sports bar, with an actual bar. Something like this:

On my first visit (yes, I went there more than once), it was pretty quiet mainly because there was nothing sport-y going on. However, on my second visit, it was a Sunday around noon and the place was over half full by sport jocks (read: NFL Sunday). With over six big screen TVs showing different games, I am not sure how they were keeping track of which game or what but, every couple of minutes, I could hear them yell and shout. As a note, I used to watch NFL as well as NBA but there are reasons I no longer do so… Anyway, I am not here to watch games but something more important: the food.

In a quasi-built your own combo scheme, you can add a drink and chips (with salsa) for an additional charge. Just for kicks, I ordered it with my order and… Well, I have had worst. While this can be considered free in Doña Cata (but not in La Taqueria), I felt that additional charge wasn’t worth it. The bag of chips was so large for the amount of salsa that, well, I wasn’t sure what I would have done had I finished the salsa. Otherwise, it is something you could get from the supermarket. As for the salsa… Well, it was chopped finely and has too much liquid but, otherwise, your regular salsa.

Taco #1 (or as they call it “Fatty tacos”) was the carnitas. I will go straight to the point is that I ordered them with *everything* but the kitchen sink. After they reheat the tortillas and add the appropriate meat, in a Subway-like assembly line, you can add cheese, salsa, guacamole, onion, cilantro and cabbage. OK, purist, don’t bother bashing either me or them, it is what it is. Cheese??? Cabbage? The cabbage was bitter so, by the time I was having my second taco, I was removing it. Now, I have had raw cabbage but this one didn’t work for me. And cheese… I won’t have mind something on the line of queso fresco just that cheddar here… No…

But, as for the taco itself – or the pork meat here – actually, the meat was quite “juicy”, in the sense there was still a lot of liquid, though the fact it was submerged in it before scooping and putting on top of the taco had a lot to do. Overall, it was messy but will have to admit the pork wasn’t that bad (as in have had worst, not that it is necessarily good).

Taco #2 is al pastor; however, the meat resembled more ground meat than meat sliced from a spit. As for the taste… Nah, it was lightly spiced but nothing special. Sorry, the description is a bit lacking because the carnitas was better than this that I just didn’t care much.

Normally, I would have stomach to eat at least three if it wasn’t for one interesting detail: At $3.29, these can be considered expensive out of the gate; however, it is also slightly larger than the one of the other taco shops. So, because I could only taste that many, I went back for a second visit to try more tacos (yeah, shame on me…)

Taco #3 is a fried taco, with the filling being a potato. OK, what happens here is that they wrapped the cooked potato with the tortilla, chill it and, when requested, throw it to the fryer. After it is out, it is “opened” and dressed with the fillings mentioned above. Now, I learned from my initial visit so I skipped some toppings, namely the cheese and the cabbage, as I thought they didn’t add much, if anything at all.

As for this one… Well, it was crispy but was a mess to eat. That’s because, after it was “opened” to fill it up, it sort of “broke” the taco at the bottom. Given it is not flexible, it “felt” down when I tried to lift it. The potato filling was interesting in the sense it was soft to contrast the crispy texture of the outside. But, past that, nah.

Taco #4 is fish, grilled version. They also have fried but I chose this one instead for one reason: It goes on the lines of the Baja California taco de pescado (literally fish taco). In addition to the same toppings as mentioned previously, they added some “Baja sauce”, which was slightly tangy and sweet sour-cream-like sauce. It was a good thing they added it because, while you could see the fish was there, you couldn’t really taste it or even “feel” it and the Baja sauce is what made the taco. Now, it isn’t that the fish was bad; rather because of the soft flesh of the fish used, it couldn’t stand to the texture of the rest of the components.

Finally, taco #5 which is the shrimp, battered version. A comparison point would be the one I had at El Centro. So, how do these compare? On one side, there were several small shrimps here but the batter wasn’t as seasoned compared to the one in at El Centro. Unfortunately, because it wasn’t too seasoned, it didn’t translate too well in the final product and, similar to the fish taco, it had to rely a bit too much in the Baja sauce again.

Overall, I initially thought it was sub par, in some cases, par at best, compared to those mentioned above. However, it hit me: probably I am not making a fair comparison. Given this is an American chain, why should I try to compare it to more “traditional” Mexican establishments? If I use that fact as a starting point instead, plus the fact it is a sports bar, I will give them some credit: you could just go there to have some tacos, burritos, burritos bowl or similar fare and hang out to watch a game. However, I am not that market and I have had better food so, to me, it is a pass.

Cartel Taco
1006 Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC

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:

• Good: Re-Up, Chinese Skewer King, Satay King
• So-so: Kimono Koi Crepes, Ragazzi
• Nah: Roaming Dragon Truck

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…

As for that “certain local writer”, people can guess who I am referring to. Part of my disagreement, if not pet peeve, was the commentary about the selection process: rather than the lottery, he would have preferred a meritocracy type selection, based on local established restaurants. Of course, I called shenanigans, as he is involved in the industry itself, which means there is some bias. To further these suspicions of mine, his blog/magazine has barely covered those not related to restaurants/sponsors. If he is impartial, why he chose specifically those particular ones and, instead, give a full perspective and visit *all* of them? Anyway, I am digressing…

The drink I got along with my tacos. It was OK.

Back to today’s post, Cartel Tacos. I visited them a couple of days after they opened (back at the start of October) and, from a looks perspective, it seems a well oiled machine. It is currently occupying the spot where Mexidog, a Mexican “me-too” version of Japadog, opened in the southwest corner of Burrard and Georgia. However, there is one fatal flaw with the location: Unlike other location, there is no place for you to sit down and eat? Wait, isn’t street food supposed to be portable? Well, you could do that with a hot dog; however, in the case of tacos served here in Vancouver, not necessarily so. I mean, since it is served on a plate, a gust of wind can blow the food away (specially now that it is fall). However, since I sort of know the area relatively well, I knew of an alternative/work around: Take it to the nearby bus stop, which has a bench. Of course, you are not taking transit but, at least, I have a transit pass!

On the day I went, they only had two options: beef or pork. I was told that, in the opening days, they also had a vegetarian, aka tofu, option. I wonder why that one was taken out. As for prices, they went from $3 for one, $5.75 for 2, $8 for three and $10 for four. In the end, it is sort of a the-more-you-buy. Given the case, sure, I will play along and got four tacos: two beef and two pork. Now, one detail that some people might care: they mentioned the beef is from short rib and the pork is pork shoulder. I am not sure about you but having these “fancy” meat types take away the spirit of street food and, namely, its mystery. I guess the average Vancouverite is still to chicken about things like this.

After I paid for my order, in a quasi restaurant type operation, where all the orders are clipped, the “cook” started to prepare the meats by cooking them on the hot sheet and then some flour tacos were tossed along to reheat them. Not sure if it was because I bought four but I was given a free pack of gum. Anyway, after the tacos were ready, some toppings were added, including what seems to be the Korean ingredient: mild kimchi. Now, they might argue the meat can also be considered Korean style, i.e., bulgogi but, given that Mexican street food cooks it that way as well, I am not sure how much of a departure that would be.

But, back to my order. Once prepared, I had two options for salsas: one orange-y and a green one. While I thought the greener one would be more fiery/hot, in the end, neither one crossed my spiciness threshold, i.e., I didn’t sweat at all (my built-in yardstick to measure spiciness).

As for the tacos, the pork one was OK. I don’t think there was anything outstanding. I mean, I like pork, like any good Cantonese person, just that, I didn’t “taste” anything worthy out of it. The best way to explain it would be that of expectations when meat goes through the hot grill: some caramelizing which didn’t occur here because the meat was originally in a broth/fat/own juices before it hit the hot surface.

The beef version fared slightly better but also worst at the same time: While it had a bit more juices on top, it didn’t translate into more flavour. Unfortunately, the flour (?) tortilla was a slightly dry and crumbled while I was eating it. It was not necessarily a nice experience.

As for the other component of the Korean “twist”, i.e., kimchi, it was a complete fail. It didn’t add anything to the tacos, in fact, I thought it detracted from it. That was because there was no crunchiness or spiciness in it. In fact, I thought it was mostly a filler that took away more than what it could have brought in.

Overall, despite the pedigree behind the owners of this place, it ended up being over-hyped to me. Just because you know how to operate a restaurant, where there are some wacky expectations, it does not mean you can operate a food cart, where the settings are completely different to that of a sit down restaurant. At the same price, I would rather go to La Taqueria if in Downtown or Doña Cata if in the suburbs, though, with HST added, it might be slightly pricier; however, it offers shelter to the weather and a larger tacos variety. So, this one ended up being a bust for me.

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

Potato Champion
El Brasero
Perierra Crêperie

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…

In this area, there are a total of six carts:

Potato Champion, known for their fries
Pyro Pizza, for pizza and similar dishes
Bubba Bernies, for cajun/creole
El Brasero, a Mexican food cart
Whiffies Fried Pies, for their sweet or savoury pies
Perierra Crêperie, which sells, well, crepes.

Out of these, the only one I knew I had to get something from was Potato Champion (more of that in a moment). From the remaining ones, I had to drop Pyro Pizza and and Bubba Bernies out of the gate. It wasn’t an easy decision but, based on practicality, I knew I had to do it. How so? Well, let’s just say that what they serve, while not necessarily “expensive” (a pizza ~ US$8; a plate of food ~$10), I wanted to try several things. One of their dishes would have been quite filling. In the end, I went for El Brasero to get tacos for comparison purposes and, in a coin toss, ended up getting crepes. Again, not an easy decision but my stomach only had that much space (after all, I am not Mijune! )

Starting with Potato Champion, as their name implies, they serve potatoes, specifically, fries. They seem to make emphasis on it being Belgian (particularly true with some form of sauces) but the interesting part was that of making honour to a Canadian dish. Yes, you can guess it: they have poutine in their menu!

Now, before I start, a quick recap of how I like my poutine: My fries should have a starchy texture with a slight crispy exterior; while the cheese curs ought to be squeaky. The gravy… Well, I am not that demanding, as long as it is not too salty. Basically, what I look for is contrasting texture. In the case of Potato Champion the fries were slightly crunchier than what I expected but, otherwise, it worked well (though, I would have preferred them cut slightly thicker). However, from there, things went south: the cheese curds were almost rubbery not squeaky and, worst of all, it didn’t melt! I mean, I know how most people like it, specifically, either squeaky like I or gooey but it failed to go either side. As for the gravy, it didn’t have a meat-y gravy taste; in fact, it tasted on the herby/acidic side. If I had to guess, I would have to say it was on purpose, given they make it vegan as well. So, while the fries on its own were good, for poutine, skip that and drive ~650 Km north and come to Canada instead. >_<

While I was waiting for the poutine, I walked around and ordered tacos from El Brasero. I ordered two of them: Chorizo and El Pastor. In the end, I was playing a waiting game, which order would come first? Eventually, the poutine came first and decided to sit closer to the El Brasero stand. Oddly, as soon as I sat down, my tacos order was ready:

I think uninspiring would be the best phrase here. They weren’t bad, just that it wasn’t good either. I mean, considering the Mexican population, I would have expected them to be, at least, sizzling hot or have *something* that make them special. I guess my expectations were beyond what they were about to offer. Why I didn’t think they were good. I think mainly because it felt dry, as in no fat/juices overflowing them; otherwise, the construction was fine.

After done with the poutine and taco, I wanted something to close off for the day. Again, it was between Whiffies and Perierra Crêperie. In the end, I went for the later and, after observing for quite a while, it seemed it was the correct decision at the time. Whiffies was mostly empty while there were several customers ordering crepes. Oh, well, here I go then!

I was quite surprised the one single person was attending the customer and preparing crepes at the same time. One really remarkable thing was the pace in which the crepes were prepared. He never seem hurried and the amount of customers waiting seemed to maintained in check. After a 5 or so minutes wait (though it seemed it took forever), I got my order of peanut butter, banana, honey and cinnamon crepe.

This type of crepes is not one of those things that can be made visually looking good. I mean, it is just a folded circumference! (Though, by then, the angle by which the sun was at made taking pictures somewhat challenging). The first couple of bites were meh but that was because I didn’t hit the filling yet. However, once I hit it… Think of a peanut butter and banana sandwich with a hint of cinnamon. The honey wasn’t too pronounced but otherwise, if you like that treat, you will love this one. As for me, well, what can I say, I like peanut butter and banana sandwich so that should answer the question!

Overall, as I was sort of expecting, street food can be sort of hit or miss. However, if you go to these places, your expectations ought to be low to begin with. After all, it is the experience itself, not necessarily the food the main entincement to come here. The fact the food is good is just a bonus. As for me, well, it was interesting in its own ways but not necessarily in a hurry to come back. In fact, there were a lot of other food carts to visit…

Salsa & Agave
1223 Pacific Blvd
Vancouver, BC

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.

OK, a quick recap of why Mexican food is one of my daemons:

• Mexican food served here in Vancouver is a bit stereotypical, usually confused with Tex-Mex.
• To paraphrase Mijune, it is usually the same set of ingredients but mixed in a different way.
• People believe that Mexican food is representative of Latin American food. As an odd reason, people expect things like corn chips to be served “free”.

This is, of course, a generic list, there are some particular ones which I won’t delve into. However, the fact that most “Mexican” restaurants here have barely been able to meet expectations (with the exceptions of Las Tortas, if it wasn’t that expensive, and, to a lesser degree, La Taqueria and Doña Cata) does not help a lot. So, with all that in mind, I asked for a table – outside for better lighting conditions.

Stereotype #1, is this *really* necessary or it is something people are so used to that it is served by default? In my case, I just took one to taste it. It is pretty much something you can get in your local supermarket. Since it is “free”, I won’t hold it against them nor make any judgement about it. So, to those expecting this, well, yes, it is served…

Let me ask you a question to all of you. Whenever you hear Mexican food, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Rather than a dish, two ingredients came to my mind: corn and peppers (not necessarily hot peppers but also sweet/stuffing peppers). Given that a lot of people (at times, me included) confuse actual Mexican with Tex Mex, I have stopped trying to order anything authentic but rather “unusual” things. This means no wrap or burritos… Actually, just check this link provided originally by Chris. Sure, tacos fit (or does not) that description; however, I also believe that there a lot of other Mexican dishes out there to be “discovered” by people not as familiar with Mexican cuisine. One of the happens to be mole. My first time I had it was at El Calli, which left me a bit perplexed. Still, I admitted I liked it and have been looking forward to try it again somewhere else. The fact Salsa & Agave had it, meant ordering it was a no brainer (plus the fact we have already feedback of tacos and burritos from Sherman and Mijune)

In this case, the mole was served with rice and beans – the beans being, of course, the mashed/refried variety rather than cooked like baked beans. I prefer my beans semi-whole but this one worked fine. The rice… Well, it is not white rice and did what it was supposed to do.

Now, big caveat to people allergic to peanuts: Salsa & Agave’s mole use peanuts so you might not want to apply… As for the sauce, it was quite complex; however, similar to Montgomery Burns, all these flavours ended up fighting against each other. How so? There was some sweetness in it; there was some bitterness in it; there were some other flavours/taste but had to concentrate really hard trying to “isolate” it. However, unlike, say Chinese five spices, rather than complementing each other, it wasn’t so and none was pronounced enough to overcome the others. So, as a result, I wasn’t sure what I should be tasting… I know that sounds a bit confusing; but, in the end, I must admit I am willing to give it a try again… If it wasn’t for the chicken. Sorry, I wished they used dark meat similar to what El Calli did. It is because the breast/white meat chicken was, well, bland and tasteless.

I think the fact I didn’t try some stereotypical/well known dishes, like Sherman and Mijune did, resulted in my having a different perspective. It wasn’t perfect by any means nor I loved it but, at least, it didn’t close the doors and have me throw in the towel for Mexican food. As for me coming back, I think I might do so to try some of the other offerings, which can be helped if somebody with more experience in this type of food guided me.

Calli Restaurante Mexicano
1102 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

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.

While the location is prime in terms of Davie Street, somehow, a lot of restaurants have opened – and closed – something that does not bode that well, if you ask me. But, still, I was there for the food and was about to find out what these new place had to offer.

The restaurant itself isn’t that big; at least they were able to accommodate about 10 tables. Provided there was a fast turnaround or a lot of take out customers, that shouldn’t be a problem. Since I arrived first, I could choose any table. Since it was a sunny day (as a reminder, the time between my restaurant visit and blog post is about a week or so; this week the weather will be… crappy), I obviously chose the window one.

After getting the menu, the first couple of dishes were… Stereotypical at best. However, going through the list, I noticed one that would have worked. So, I made my order and waited…

I received things a little out of order. In this case, here is the drink I ordered, “Jamaica” or “agua de Jamaica”. If you recall my post on El Centro, Jamaica does not refer to the country, it refers to the drink made with Hibiscus/Roselle/sorrel. Not much to comment in this case. As for the basket with the blue cloth, it had flour tortillas. Not much to mention; it was pretty much the same flour tortillas you can find anywhere.

Here is what I ordered, pollo con mole. As mentioned above, most of the dishes were the stereotypical ones, here is the one that you usually won’t find/order. True, I did have it in La Taqueria but it was in a taco. I was ordering this in a dish. Along with the pollo con mole, the same order had some rice and beans.

The rice was almost your basic rice; except it wasn’t the parboiled rice you usually see in Greek restaurants. The beans wasn’t that much different from the beans you can find in other Mexican restaurants, with one minor exception: See the cheese on top? It looks like mozzarella but isn’t; instead, it is Oaxaca cheese, which is quite similar but different at the same time. It didn’t add much in terms of taste but texture. Still, I found it was interesting to eat.

Because I haven’t had mole that many times in the past, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I have heard it contains chili peppers and chocolate, among other ingredients. While that would have indicated something bitter and spicy, the end result didn’t really tasted like that. Instead, it was a thick slightly sweet sauce. This might sound like the teriyaki sauce found in Japanese restaurants but it wasn’t. Along with the shredded chicken, which gave some savouriness, it was a different experience to the usual Mexican fare. I know this does not really explain what mole is. It is a you must try it by yourself type dish so you can find out. Even then, depending on where you get it, it might still be different as everybody has their own recipe (based on the chili used).

Now, the meal wasn’t a perfect one. As you can see, the portion size leans towards the small size. Granted, though, the meal was ~$9. Also, service was somewhat slow despite there were only that many customers in the restaurant. I will give it some allowance as it was manned by an elder couple during lunch. Would I come back? For the mole only, I might. However, I might end up ordering two servings rather than one.

La Taqueria Taco Shop
322 West Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Whenever a new restaurant is about to open or it opens, there is always that rush to try it. I won’t blame anybody, after all, there is that sense of “something new”. Of course, the bigger the restaurant, the better known the restaurateurs behind it, the most publicity, et al, makes that expectation higher. To a certain extent, there was such expectation in La Taqueria, a new taco shop in Vancouver – and that is despite the shop is a really small one. After all, the restaurateurs behind La Taqueria has some background with well known eateries like Nuba and Le Faux Bourgeois. But, to me, the question is: what is the end result? The only way to find out was to visit them…

Sorry about this dark picture – I went there after work and, since it is late fall, sun set relatively early…

It was a Thursday night when I went there and it was partially packed – Always a good sign, though I was also wary of what I mentioned above. The menu is quite straight forward: except for the quesadilla (which is almost the same as a taco) and drinks, everything is just tacos. In my books, that is a good thing – that means you are a specialist of what you are making. The question, however, would be: what about my bias against Mexican food? Yup, you got that right: I have no particular love for Mexican. Sure, I will eat them but they have to overcome a big hurdle for me to like them the same way a lot of people express their like for this cuisine. Blame it partially to the fact people mix it with Tex-Mex; blame it also because people think Mexican is representative of Latin American food. With that in mind, waited patiently in line…

Given their small size, an open kitchen ought to be the best way to go…

While I looked at the menu, they had their usual suspects, i.e., carnitas and al pastor. However, past those two, and things start to look more interesting. Beef tongue? Pork cheek? Pollo con mole? The question was instead: how many tacos was my stomach willing to accommodate! So, when it was my turn, I made my order… In Spanish…. In the end, I went for 5 (!) tacos (they have 4 tacos for $9.50; otherwise, $2.50 each; vegetarian tacos are slightly cheaper). Seated, it was a matter of waiting for them to appear in front of me. Which ones I ordered? Lengua (beef tongue), cachete (pork cheek), pollo con mole, pescado and the special of the day which happened to be ropa vieja, aka, shredded brisket.

I received all the tacos on the same plate and was told which one was which. Reality is neglected to take notes; instead, I was focusing on taking a good shot of each. While some were obvious, I am not 100% of two of them. So, let’s start sequentially. If I had to guess, that would be the ropa vieja, given the meat looks shredded. It was followed by the tongue and pollo con mole. The fourth one is, again, a question mark, most likely the fish taco and the last one is cachete. However, I could be wrong in the sequence…

While I got the tacos mixed up, I do recall some particular note of individual tacos. Particularly the tongue, as the meats were almost melt in your mouth tender and the pollo con mole which had some “interesting” sweetness to it. As for the rest, I won’t say there was anything that overly excited me. Knowing that Sherman and Kevin will accuse me of being over-critical, heck, I might as well say this: there were two major flaws in the tacos. First one was the unevenness of the “filling”. In some cases, I couldn’t fold it completely without making a small mess; in other cases, I could almost make a wrap out of it. The other issue I had was the temperature of the taco: it was lukewarm. I personally prefer my food hot (as in temperature), unless it was designed to be eaten room temperature or cold.

So, how does La Taqueria fare? Unfortunately, it did not sway me. Sure, it was good but not to the extreme people seem to point it to be. Would I come back? May be but, then again, is the question of if I am in the area. That brings the other major question: How does it compare to Doña Cata? I will say they are about the same. Doña Cata offers more options (specially if you are interested in salsas, as La Taqueria’s salsa options are really limited); but, La Taqueria offers other options Doña Cata does not. In the end, both complement each other. As for me, can I have some hojaldra now?

El Centro Mexican Restaurant
Robson Street
Vancouver, BC

Right now, one of the most “talked about” restaurants in Vancouver is La Taqueria. Personally, I am not in a hurry to visit them, as other fellow bloggers already have that covered, not to mention my bias against Mexican food and because it is a bit too far to be considered walking distance from my workplace. But, in some really odd twists, while walking in Robson Street, looking for a spot for lunch, I noticed a just-opened restaurant: El Centro Mexican Restaurant. I won’t go to La Taqueria yet but here is this other Mexican restaurant I can check. Oh, well… There it goes!

El Centro occupies a space were previously was an Indian restaurant. I never managed to go there and, given it closed, I am not sure if it is a bad thing or not. And, next to each other, we have a sushi restaurant, a Flaming Wok, Donair Spot and Minna no Konbiniya (where Bon Crepe is located). Restaurants abound, whether it is good is another question… When I walked in, I had to option to sit pretty much anywhere in the restaurant; however, that day was cold but sunny. As a result, I chose to sit right next to the window. Hey, anything for a good picture!

After seated, I was given the menu, which, to a certain extent, it wasn’t necessary. I already checked their menu outside before walking in, as I wasn’t sure of what to expect. In a way, the usual suspects are there, i.e., quesadilla, enchilada, alambre, et al. Still, I took a look around as there was still the issue of drinks. In previous visits to other Mexican restaurants, it would have been horchata but, this time, I took a small detour from the usual and went for a drink called Agua de Jamaica.

Yes, that is the drink, a transparent, ruby red beverage. According to the menu it is a “fresh hibiscus flower water”. I will admit, at first, I thought they were playing a prank. I mean, it looks just like a glass of Kool-Aid! However, when I took a sip, some wacky memories hit me and mumbled one word: saril. While hibiscus is more in line of the scientific name, in the Caribbean, it is usually called sorrel (which, as you can guess, got “corrupted” in Panama to saril). Its other “better known as name”? Roselle. To those who haven’t drank this, I will not necessarily recommend it. It does not have that much in the sense of flavour (think steeped tea without the tea dryness) but it is refreshing. That is, more suitable if you were living in the tropics were you are usually feeling a scorching heat.

What seems to be usual in a lot of Mexican places, some tortilla chips with salsa. I will have to admit, these were quite tasty, though, after looking closely (probably not that noticeable in the pictures above), it might be due to the oil still lingering on top of them. Could it be they make their own flour tortilla on site and then fry them? Regardless, the accompanying salsa was quite good. Sure, I was only given two types but it was tasty. As usual, do not let the colours fool you – the spicy one happened to be the green one! Best of all? Unlike most other places where the salsa tends to be on the watery side, these were almost to the point of being chunky.

I mentioned above that El Centro has your usual suspects. Given the popularity of Doña Cata and La Taqueria, they have to have tacos, right? Well, that is exactly what I ordered, starting with the pork (top one) and beef (bottom one). Size-wise, they are comparable to the ones from Doña Cata; however, that was almost the end of the comparison. While the ones from Doña Cata were juicy to an extent (from what they say, it seems the meat is steamed), the ones here were not as juicy. Now, they weren’t dry but did not provide much either. I have the odd feeling they might have lightly fried the meat…

The third taco I had was the shrimp taco. Yes, seafood! When it came on the plate, its size was larger than the other two which stroke me odd. Shouldn’t seafood be more expensive than beef or pork? Well, probably because they dipped it in a batter and fried it… So, I took a bite and, hmmm…, shrimp! But, after I ate half of it, that shrimp texture disappeared. I was wondering what happened. It was until I noticed this “dropped out” from the taco…

Yes, that is a piece of fried batter. What seem had happened was that the taco had only shrimp and the rest was “filled” with something else. The batter itself wasn’t bad, though just that it was not shrimp!

Overall, El Centro did not change my opinion of Mexican food. As a result, I personally do not see a reason to come back. But putting that aside, if I had to choose Don Guacamole’s and El Centro, that would be a difficult one. OK, actually, I would rather go somewhere else..

Cancun Grill
14395 Miramar Parkway
Miramar, FL

Another lunch, another dilemma. Where to go for lunch? Come to think about it, that’s a problem I am even having here in Vancouver, as I have visited most of the places near my workplace! Of course, while travelling, the problem is rather what are the places you can find nearby. Anyway, similar to what happened in my prior post, I looked for a place “nearby” – this time, I ended up in Cancun Grill. Now, frequent readers of this blog might remember my bias against Mexican food; however, on this trip, I was more open. Could it be because I was a hungry and needed something fast?

The day I went to Cancun Grill was not a sunny day; instead, it reminded me of the weather in Panama. While driving there, I could see the pouring rain about 500 metres away; yet it was just starting to drizzle where I was. If it wasn’t because I was in the car driving, I would have taken a picture of that. It is something really bizarre, let me tell you! Anyway, when I arrived at Cancun Grill they rain caught up and I try to walk through the side entrance just to find out it was locked. Darn! Fortunately, they noticed I was there and open the side door for me.

Unlike La Carreta, the seating arrangement was a lot better. Sure, it had a lot of open space; however, you had a rail next to you or some ornament/decoration. In other words, I did not feel I could end up being under the spotlight. Anyway, despite I was hungry, I wasn’t sure what to order! There you go years of me not caring that much for Mexican food. So, I asked the waiter for his suggestion. I will admit service was quite good and rather than trying to up sell me any dish, he asked for my preferences, i.e., chicken, pork, vegetarian, et al. My answer: “pork”. As a result, he suggested a dish which I just said “sure!”. Before I go there, the meal started with…

Remember I mentioned yesterday the extra pieces of bread I would certainly not eat? Well, how about this? How the #!$%!@#$ they expect me to finish it? I mean, if they had given me 1/3 of it and told I could ask for more, I would have been more than happy. Let’s get real people, this is simply wasting food… Now, probably the picture does not do justice to it: it was a big bowl! And, yes, it can with one salsa. I just ate a token one or two chips and that was about it.

As for my meal, I ordered carnitas, braised pork and then lightly roasted. It was served with rice, beans and flour tortillas. I will repeat myself here: it was darn bloody big serving!!! The rice in an unsurprising way did not contribute much in terms of flavour. It felt flat. The beans, or rather the cheese on top of the beans, likewise did not add much. However, me being a sucker for bean dishes, I ate all of it. Finally, the pork… I will admit, it was quite juicy and fatty (it had a small layer of fat at the bottom). When I got my dish, in a just in case scenario, I asked for some hot sauce but it wasn’t needed. When it was placed on a tortilla and “wrapped”, the juices started to leak out of the meat creating a small mess. Despite I know a lot of people avoid it, the pieces of onion did add a bit slight distinct flavour to the dish so thumbs up from that perspective.

I will have to openly admit that I really enjoy this meal. The pork was really good and exceeded my expectations. Or could it because simply I am a sucker for pork? I was full and happy when I went back to work. Fortunately, I did not overeat and did not start to doze off afterwards, hehehe. (Actually, I just managed to finish about 1/2 of the serving of pork). Now, as for the restaurant itself, I am sure it has some highs and lows and, in my case, I think I hit a high. Would I come back here if I was in the area? Might be a possibility but, again, if I was in the area again, there are still a lot of places I still want to visit.