The legendary Tacos El Asador

First off, I’m scribbling this all down straight from the can. I want everything to be fresh in my mind when I do up a review, and this is usually where I end up post-grub.

Its friday night, and I’m meetin up with Jenna and Jon from uni to show them some real Salvadorian food. “Oh have you tried Burrito Boyz?” she asked politely. Thats like asking a mechanic if he’s driven a Geo. I shake it off, and we all end up at Tacos El Asador. The place is packed but we eventually grab a table. This place is pretty well known for having great tacos, but also for being super cramped inside.

Recipe: Salsa de Molcajete

Stolen from: One Particular Kitchen
So you cant go wrong with salsa, and everyone should have a fridge full of it. Makes you look cultured. Heres a recipe for some fire roasted greatness ima try out tomorrow, and see if my Magic Bullet stays true to the commercial.



Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 fresh jalapeño chiles (my late-season ones from the garden weren’t that hot so I used 5)
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, preferably fire roasted
• 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Salt

Mariachi Mondays

Its monday night, back on the grind, in need of some Mexican to get me through the rest of the week. After consulting the Tacodex, I decided to hit up Mariachis just south of Eglinton with my bud Liza. With the shitacular Chimichangas in the same neighbourhood, I didn’t have too high of hopes for Mariachis.

We get to Mariachis, and its pretty nice looking inside. A little too nice.
The only mention of tacos I found was the $16 Taquiza of 3 tacos. I pretended the 16 was a typo and settled on the chorizo and steak fajitas.

Point of reference

What a fish taco should look like.

Breaded cod, fresh lime, pico de gallo, cabbage and fish taco sauce. 
From the motherland, San Diego. Close enough to Tijuana to make authentic tacos, but still far away enough so I don’t get stabbed by an old lady selling paper mache chihuahuas.

O.G. Bloor taco goods

My bud Mike was downtown from sauga for an interview, so we hit up the most authentic taco strip in Toronto: Bloor Street West (but not too west). Home to a whole lot of bums, dollar stores, garbage piles, and the best taco shops in the city.

One of the oldest and most talked about is Mexitaco, just west of Christie Pits.
Mexitaco lays low like most of the good taco spots, and keeps it super simple on the inside. They do have a sidewalk patio which is always good for our 2 weeks of summer, but the inside is pretty damn boring. In contrast, El Asador down the street is able to house like 3 dinky tables and still make it a nice place to hangout and eat a buttload of tacos.

On to the grubadub! Mexitacos got some sweet taco deals, offering 4 tacos for 6.99, and you can mix n match. I went with a couple of porks and a couple of steaks. Each combo gets different toppings like pickled radish, pico, cilantro and peppers. They’ve also got a whole lot of other stuff on the menu, all with pictures to proove it.

Hot Date: Dos Amigos

Friday, time for a night out on the town, taco style.
I took the girly to Dos Amigos since its got a very comfy and intimate feel to the inside. Its got a sweetass backyard patio by the way, definitely worth a check in the summer.

Their menus pretty extensive, with a lot of pricier choices like Mariscada and Pescado Asado, and of course good ‘ole taco platters. They’ve got a Tequila list that will mess you up good too. I started off with some Cafe de Olla which is like a spicy black coffee, served up in a nice mug with a cinnamon stick. I’m glad I had something to sip on because the service was pretty damn slow that night. The girly was starting to get restless, but thats why I like her.

Johny Banana’s Taco Trio

Took a trip to Johny Banana during my lunch break Friday with my hungry Korean pal John. I had low hopes for Johny Banana, considering  all the dudes in tight jeans passing me by on Queen Street. However, just across the street is the local homeless hangout, filled with bums, crazies, and german sheppard mutts. Now I only mention this because homeless are usually a good sign of tasty tacos. Turns out Johny Taco is more authentic than I thought.

Schredded Chicken Tacos Recipe

Stolen from Savour Fare

This recipe looked good because you can just use leftover chicken. No need to roast pork for hours like a sucker. But thats good too.

• 6 tomatillos, husked and washed (tomatillos look like small green tomatoes encased in a paper husk. They’re not spicy at all and quite sour)
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• Olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (You can make this with store bought rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken, but if you don’t have any lying around, you can poach chicken breasts in chicken broth for about 15 minutes)
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 cup crumbled cotija cheese (Cotija is a dryish Mexican cheese – you can substitute feta, which is saltier and sharper)
• cilantro to garnish
• Crema or sour cream to garnish