Taqueria Jersey City – The Best Thing Going

I don’t know how many words this post is going to contain because the english language hasn’t invented words strong enough to express my feelings for this place. Basically, if Taqueria didn’t exist I would die (or move to California). It is that good. I would go here daily if I had no concern for my health or wallet. As it is, I still make it here at least once a week in the summer. I decided I couldn’t have a taco blog without reviewing my favorite place so a few weekends ago I made a special brunch trip, trudging through the snow towards deliciousness.


The thing to have is the pork tacos. Oh god, the pork tacos. But since I get those every time I go I decided to try something new (in addition to the tacos which I’ll get to in a minute).

This beauty is their pozole.


A spicy pork and hominy soup that is perfect for winter and apparently hangovers, although I didn’t have one when I went.

They also have a version of french toast.


The picture came out blurry but the toast is excellent, especially with a side of rice and beans and a glass of horchata.

Here is a picture of me in heaven which is nice and cozy.


And finally, the manna from that heaven. Pork tacos!


I seriously can not express how awesome they are. The pork is soft and tender. The oily fat from the meat coats your throat with liquid gold. The cilantro, onions and lime are always fresh, never wilted. It is the perfect food. I even have a bumper sticker professing my love. It’s on my fridge because I have no bumper but it serves to remind me that every time I open that fridge whatever I grab will be a disappointment compared to the tacos I could be having. Seriously, these tacos. There are others too, steak, fish, cactus. All are amazing. But no matter which one I order, I always get pork to go with it.

Oh and on the way out I grab some Carlos V from the candy jar.


So that’s Taqueria. My first and only love. Hopefully, this blog will take me to many great taco places. Some I’m sure I’ll be infatuated with at the time but I doubt I’ll come across another like Taqueria. A jewel in the otherwise desolate taco wasteland that is Jersey City, NJ.

February 24, 2010 | | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »

Mini what? Mini who?

Let me preface this post by saying this blog doesn’t discriminate. There is plenty of room for all types of taco love. Of course I would rather be eating authentic tacos all the time, but that’s not always possible and for those times there’s Trader Joe’s Mini Tacos.


These don’t resemble anything close to a taco. Okay, there’s meat filling and something like a tortilla shell folded in half, but that’s where the similarities end. Eating these is more akin to eating a mutant Dorito that has some how altered it’s genetics to be a half-chip, half-taco hybrid. They’re a gross snack food and they don’t pretend to be anything else. They’re also ready in 2 minutes. 2 minutes! That’s a 1 minute cooking time and a 1 minute sitting period. It’s just ridiculous. I’ve microwaved a lot of food in my time and I’ve never seen anything cook that fast. I have pierogies in the freezer right now that are roughly the same size and take 6x as long to cook. You can’t tell me you don’t have at least 2 minutes for a hot snack that isn’t completely repulsive. In fact, being as gross as they are is what makes them so good. You couldn’t choose a worse food for yourself and that feels so right.


I dressed these bad boys up with Goya’s salsa taquera. I don’t think there’s anything that wouldn’t taste better with that stuff on it.


My final verdict is I will eat these again. I’ve eaten them almost every night since I got them. They’re not a taco and you won’t feel good about yourself after you eat them but you will feel awesome while you eat them and that’s all that matters.

February 12, 2010 | | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

I walked past Taco Bell

Since I just moved to Minneapolis, I haven’t enjoyed much of the Mexican fare that the Midwest has to offer. Except for Chipotle.
You’re probably not going to like what I say next, especially if you are a taco purist, but I freaking love Chipotle. I’ve eaten Chipotle here in Minneapolis. A lot of it. One chain-restaurant taco at a time. There are two of them here, and they just happen to not ever be “out of the way” for me, wherever I am going. But hey, I used to live in Colorado, the birthplace of Chipotle, and home of some awesome, excellent, supreme, and authentic (I’ve never been to Mexico) Mexican food.
And although I could go on and on and on about Chipotle tacos, that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. You’ve probably had Chipotle, or Qdoba at least. So, what do you care about someone else tell you what you already know: that shit is delicious.
I’m here to talk about something really special: delicious Mexican food floating in a sea of lutefisk-eating/ cheese curd/ Jucy Lucy eating Scandinavians.
It was a rainy January day in Minneapolis, and Bob and I had the day off. A perfect day for tacos. I had done a little research about good places to get tacos, and although I found what looks like the Holy Grail of tacos in Minneapolis- Taco Taxi, it was actually kind of too far to walk (even though we ended up walking 4 miles anyway. Don’t ever tell me I don’t love tacos.) But at least we made it past Taco Bell, because Bob really really really wanted to just go there.

Instead, we ended up going to this indoor farmers market kind of thing called the Midtown Market (really very similar to the Reading Terminal in Philly). They had two taco places, one of which was called Ay Carumba! I don’t really know why we passed on that one. We’ll go back. Instead we went to Taqueria Los Ocampo.
And I am glad we did. There’s no way that Ay Carumba! would have totally patronized us by asking us if we knew about tacos. (Don’t they know who I am?)
I’ve got to tell you, these tacos were delicious. And they came with this green magic sauce. I’m certain it had tomatillos in it, maybe some avocado. Daaaaaaamn, Gina. They were good.
Here’s the final verdict, though.
The tacos were so good, but when I got full, I didn’t want to keep eating just to continue to taste the delicious flavors. And isn’t that what we look for in food? Especially tacos? They usually only come in a set of three, if I get full and don’t want to finish three measly tacos, they aren’t good enough.
So, well played Taqueria Los Ocampos, but it just wasn’t quite enough.
February 1, 2010 | | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »