Entries categorized as ‘Mexican’
People have been telling me to go have tacos at Doña Cata for well, much longer than I care to admit, considering that I just went there for the first time last weekend. But even though I’m devastated to lose out on a year’s worth of tacos, it was worth the wait. They are exquisite.
I ordered one each of the the Al Pastor, Longaniza and Barbacoa de borrego tacos which are marinated pork meat with pineapple, cured pork sausage with chili and lamb respectively. They come in a no-frills basket with chopped onion and cilantro and you can mosey up to the salsa bar to choose your topping from 10 different homemade sauces.
They were so tasty! A little messy, to be sure, but all the best foods are. Tender, spiced meat balanced beautifully in flavour and temperature with the cold cilantro and onion and a little squirt of lime made it just exactly right. Try some roasted chilies on the side for extra smoky flavour.
Doña Cata is often voted Vancouver’s best Mexican, best tacos, etc, and Vancouver Magazine recently rated it best in the Americas. I’m astounded that such a small shop way up Victoria has managed to command this kind of attention, but I don’t disagree. The steady stream of happy customers more than the wall of accolades is proof enough that they’re doing everything right.
I know that Doña Cata’s has moved to a larger establishment recently and while I had not seen the old taquería , this one managed to be both homey and festive and…fun! The pink and turquoise walls, Mexican kitsch and friendly, happy staff felt like we were just on the verge of a party or some kind of fabulous family gathering. I love food and am often beside myself when getting to try out a new place, but there were a few times during lunch that I actually caught myself grinning. Of course, that could also have been the margarita…
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Dona Cata Mexican Foods
5076 Victoria Drive, Vancouver
Categories: Mexican
Now that patio season is upon us, there is just no excuse for drinking indoors and one of my favorite West Side patios is at Las Margaritas.
Dappled sunlight comes in through the copious greenery on the patio and splashes against the faux adobe walls and does a passable impression of a Mexican cantina…at least after you’ve had a few margaritas.
The drinks, however, are all American. There is a choice of 4 different sizes - regular $6.26, large $9.75, monster $13.45 and pitcher $27.95 - to ensure that you get the exact amount of liquid libation you’re looking for, as well as 9 different flavours: Lime, Strawberry, Peach, Banana, Apricot, Coconut, Pineapple, and Raspberry. Thankfully complimentary chips and salsa are dropped off soon after you arrive, in an attempt to soak up the alcohol. The food here is also quite good if you’re hungry. Inauthentic, mind you, but tasty.
According to their website, the fruit margaritas are all made with natural fruit juices and nectars, but after trying the Peach, Apricot and Strawberry, I found them to be exceedingly sweet and syrupy. There was no denying the flavour of the drink, but the thick mixtures were so perfumed and specific that they almost seemed bottled. A lime marg would have possibly been more up my alley with Triple sec, lime and lemon juice and house made sweet and sour mix. I will give that one next time, or else sample from the top shelf margarita list, where the choices seem clearer (less thick) and more cocktail-style.
At any rate, there is enough variation on the margarita page alone to keep a dedicated researcher like myself busy for several hot afternoons this summer, even considering that I will have to rotate heavily with the hand-muddled selections at the Tequila Kitchen. I shouldn’t even have brought the TK margaritas in here, because there is no way their complex, refreshing flavours can compare with the sweetness of Las Margaritas’ margs, but tequila is a friend that takes many forms and sometimes you want to hang out with your sophisticated friends while other times you just want to party. And if you’re the kind of person that likes serious friends, true tequila aficionados can take the Tequila Final Exam. Let me know if you can get it to work.
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Las Margaritas
1999 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
Categories: Happy Hour · Mexican
I’ve been meaning to post about the Tequila Kitchen for a couple of weeks now, and in the meantime, instead of posting, I keep going back and eating there again. So I’ve had a few things from the menu…especially from the fantastic margarita list. Allow me to elaborate.
My first visit was at lunch, so I hadn’t anticipated dipping into the tequila and instead ordered the Special Lunch Platter (pictured) which is an utter feast. Guacamole and Salsa arrive with some chips for dipping and a small green salad with tangy citrus dressing. That spread of zing and spice gets your palate warmed up and thinking of Mexico and primed for the second course; a crispy chicken tostada, two pulled pork tacos in a spicy sauce, 2 poblano chili tacos topped with corn and onions and a nod to traditional Mexican rice and beans.
We were stuffed and happily sated but my crush on this place fully blossomed when our waiter, hearing my chagrin at our tequila-less meal, brought over a hand-muddled cucumber and serrano margarita on the house. Even given the rule that free drinks are automatically tastier than any other ones, this was still the best margarita I’ve had in a long time. Possibly the best one ever outside of Latin America. I don’t have much of a taste for sweet, syrupy cocktails, so the freshness of the ingredients, the mild taste of the cucumber punched up with the spice of the peppers and the quality of the tequila all make this a winner.
The only liquor served at the Tequila Kitchen is tequila, so you can be sure it’s done right. And after the cucumber serrano margarita, I knew I needed to go back and sample the other flavours. Hibiscus Rose (handmade hibiscus syrup and rose water) was the choice on a subsequent visit, followed by several Watermelon margaritas on another summer evening. Both were delicious, and while clearly sweeter than the cucumber, not even close to cloying.
Most of the responses I’ve heard about the Tequila Kitchen is that it’s not as authentic as Salsa & Agave around the block, but so what? It’s a fun and sophisticated place in the midst of Yaletown’s frippery, the service is impeccable and I for one will certainly be back. Often.
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Tequila Kitchen
1043 Mainland Street, Vancouver
Categories: Latin · Mexican
Approaching summer makes me think of tacos and salsa and, ok, margaritas, so on a sunny day last week when I met a friend for lunch, I found myself suggesting Mexican. Specifically, La Casita in Gastown.
A cute little hole in the wall with kitschy decor (check out the chairs-as-cacti, below), La Casita has been around for a while, but never seems to make it onto the radar of top Mexican restaurants in the city. And, while we had a tasty and festive lunch, I would say that there’s a good reason for that.
It was a little soon after my morning coffee for tequila, so I started with a Horchata, an iced rice drink infused with flavours of cinnamon and vanilla and we munched on the chips and salsa that arrived with it.
For lunch I chose something that the waitress said was a “popular combo” and that was probably not a great idea. Because first of all, popularity does not mean quality and secondly, because I don’t particularly like chimichanga’s. My fault entirely. Combo #5 comprised 1 beef chimichanga, 1 chorizo quesadilla, rice, beans and salad, for $14. There was nothing wrong with it, but the quesadilla was a little dry and then the other half of it was a chimichanga. The beans and rice and salad were excellent, however, which leads me to believe that I would have been very happy with a veggie burrito. Ah well, next time.
The main advantage here is that with a huge space and an off-Water Street location, you can get decent food before a night out without waiting around for very long. There’s no patio, but a summer lunch is also a nice option because it’s quiet and light and again, not that busy. Service is polite but not outstanding.
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La Casita
101 West Cordova
Categories: Mexican
A couple of weeks ago while snowshoeing I put myself in charge of hot chocolate, but instead of using my new power to influence the winter drinking habits of those around me for good (rich, creamy cocoa) and not for evil (Carnation Instant Hot Chocolate mix), I promptly forgot about it. That is until a friend and I stopped in for gourmet Mayan hot chocolate at the Chocoatl Chocolate Boutique after healthy sushi last week.
Now I can fully command any situation that calls for hot chocolate expertise because not only does Chocoatl have a fine selection of thick and rich hot chocolate from around the globe, but they also have several specialty infused hot chocolates in flavours such as chili, rose, lavender, cornmeal, etc. I went for the Caramel concoction, a mixture of dulce de leche, vanilla and chocolate mixed with milk and although I was a little bit hesitant (because I don’t like anything overly sweet), this was a match made in heaven. Sweet without being cloying, rich without overpowering and arguably most important when dealing with hot chocolate - something warm to wrap your hands around on a cold day.
Tricia chose the Champurrado, a modern take on a traditional drink made with cornmeal, chocolate, vanilla and milk (soya milk and water are also available), which had a earthy, grounding taste underneath the sweetness, which we were also in favour of. On other visits I’ve had both the Aztec hot chocolate (with chilis and peppers) and the lavender one, and none of them have been too sweet for my liking - something that really surprises me because the trend in chocolate really seems to be to make it sweet enough to make your jaw hurt and that really leaves no room for the flavour to shine through. At Chocoatl, the balance is perfect, although I’m not sure I could have drank more than the small size.
I also took home a sampling of truffles for a mini-chocolate tasting, and since I am not the choco-holic that a lot of my friends are, I made them all take notes. After trying such obscure flavours (for chocolate) like Cuba (tobacco), Olive oil, Kalamata (fig), Matcha and Chipotle as well as the more traditional varieties of Espresso, Vanilla, and Dulce de Leche, we sadly concluded that we didn’t really like them. Whereas the flavour/sweetness balance in the hot chocolate was perfect, here it was overwhelming. Either the truffle was pure sweetness with only a trace of flavour, or else the flavour was overpowering and didn’t taste enough like a chocolate. Also, some tasters said they preferred a creamier ganache. The more suble flavours were the winners here. Olive oil was surprisingly good, as was the Matcha. Cuba didn’t taste anything like tobacco, Vanilla was too overpowering and Dulce de Leche just made my jaw hurt with sweetness. With lots of untried flavours, however, there’s bound to be a few more winners in there and I definitely know of a few people who are happy to keep tasting chocolate until they find them.
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Chocoatl
1127 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
Daily, 10 AM - 10 PM
Categories: Latin · Mexican
Tagged: caramel, chocolate, cocoa, cornmeal, dulce de leche, hot chocolate, Mexcian, tricia, truffle, vanilla
We were sitting by the window with sunshine streaming in, people and dogs lounging outside, snippets of Spanish coming from the kitchen…and plates of tasty food on the table in front of us. It wasn’t Mexico, but it sure felt close. Instead, it was right around the corner from the office, at the Salsa and Agave Mexican Grill in Yaletown. A cute little Latin eatery on Pacific, it seems like a secret tucked in amongst all the Canada Line scaffolding.
The last time my coworker and I were here we had the mixed tacos - pastor (marinated pork), carne asada (grilled beef tongue), barbacoa (lamb), chorizo (sausage) and vegetariano (green pepper, onion and mushrooms) and were intending on sampling something from the South American section of the menu, only to find out on arrival that the culinary dishes have now been restricted to Mexico. No matter, the tacos - regular style or rolled - are an excellent choice and since one of my favorites last time was the carne asada, I decided to try the Carne Asada plate with chilaquiles verdes. This is a tender grilled beef dish made from a thin cut of steak and served with fried slices of tortillas soaked in green salsa. At Salsa and Agave, like most traditional Mexican eateries, it also comes with rice and refried beans. Tortilla chips and fresh made salsa are provided at the table in case, like us, you have been thinking about lunch since 8 AM and are about to gnaw your own arm off.
I’ve not had chilaquiles verdes before, but they were delicious and complemented the relatively bland flavour of the rice and beans. Tangy, starchy, and spicy make a delectably simple meal taste well, but the addition of the beef threw me off. It was cooked to a desired tenderness, but it was so bland as to taste like meaty pulp and I got tired of it before I was finished. I much prefer a carne asada that has a bit of spice to it and to compensate, I forked over a lot of my salsa verde onto the meat and that tasted pretty good. This could easily be a matter of personal preference, however. It’s definitely authentic.
To drink we had tamarind soda, but there is also a wide variety of tropical juices and pops available, and they also serve homemade horchata, a milky cinnamon, sugar and vanilla drink. They don’t have a liquor license, so dreams of sitting in the sun drinking Coronas will unfortunately be quashed, but it does make it a little easier to get back to work.
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Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill
1223 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver
Categories: Latin · Mexican
Tagged: beans, beef, carne asado, chilaquiles, degan, krista, Latin, Mexican, salsa, taco, tamarindo, tricia, Yaletown
