Is there anyone out there that doesn't love a good taco? Our partners from Detroit flew in to go on a little taco hunt with us - the goal? To find the perfect little bundle of joy. So, here we go....First stop? Loteria:
Now, I'm going to be honest, for all the hype Loteria is not the BEST but it's pretty damn good. The best thing we had here was the Cochinita Pibil - pork slowly roasted in a banana leaf for 12 hours, served with citris-pickled red onion and chile habanero. Delicious but a bit wet for my taste. Up next? Tinga!
WOW! Tinga has something special going on. It's not your typical street taco - it's a bit gourmet. Our favorite here was the 48 Short Rib - Short rib with salsa verde and pickled red cabbage, raw tomato salsa, papas bravas, queso fresco and crema. AMAZING. I really think it could be even better without the potatoes, but that is just my humble opinion. Second favorite was the Pibil - long and slow cooked achiote and bitter orange rubbed pork with pickled cabbage, salsa habanero - the Pibil was not just slow cooked but thrown on a plancha to give a charred taste as well - the salsa was SUPER spicy and SUPER fabulous! I can't not mention the corn - it's grilled corn, cut off the cob with creamy lime, chile and pompano puree - orgasmic! Next...Teres Tacos:
Tere's is an all time favorite of mine. When I say they have THE BEST Verde sauce I am not exaggerating one bit. It is spicy goodness. Nothing comes close. Period. My favorites are the pork verde tacos and their carne asada - which is seasoned perfectly. This place rocks. Moving on...Cactus Taqueria #1:
Cactus Taqueria #1 is a taco shack in Hollywood that we frequent often - why? Because it has reliable, straight forward good food. Cactus has wonderful el pastor and equally as good carne asada. Pinche Tacos was next....
Ech, what's to say? Standard. The carne asada was very good but the rest? ech. No reason to go back really - not when there are so many other options in Los Angeles. Now it was time to go home and take a rest and digest.....
Oh, you didn't think we were done, did you? Taco trucks don't open until 9pm.... First stop of the evening was Leo's. Yuck - that's about all I have to say. Nothing special here - let's keep it moving...
BA-BAM!! This is it - no need to go any further! This truck has it going on! The wait was forever but worth every damn minute. This, in my opinion is the perfect LA Street Taco. The hunt is over. There is a great taco blog called The Great Taco Hunt and I'm compelled to end this post with a quote and some pictures from his site: "if I had to choose one taco truck to represent LA and say , here this is an LA street taco, it would be El Chato. El Chato does it right. These tacos are beautiful little bombs of flavor that come on your plate hot and greasy topped with grilled onions and chiles."
Street Taco Perfection. Time to roll my full belly into bed. Whew - GREAT DAY!
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