Hot Dish Review

The best tacos I have ever had were in Playa del Carmen. Coarsely ground warm yellow corn tortillas wrapped around ridiculously tender chunks of beef. Diced onion, cilantro, and requested white queso (gringo style) topped the beef to which I added a dollop of guacamole that had just been made at our table. Pure heaven. Even a gigantic cucaracha crawling on my arm hardly deterred me from savoring each morsel.

Since that day almost exactly four years ago (I know this because the World Cup was underway on my last visit to Mexico), I have been in search of a taco that could compete. From the tortilla to the beef, there has been, so far, no match.

Shame on me for not having visited every taco stand on Buford Highway, but I can rarely find someone willing to venture there with me, not to mention my own resistance to driving more than ten minutes when tequila or beer may be involved. And how could I eat a taco without the appropriate alcoholic beverage?

Nevertheless, the most authentic rendition of the Playa taco that I have had in a regular Mexican restaurant in Atlanta is at El Torero at Loehmann’s Plaza. Main differences….the beef is tough and I doubt they make their own corn tortillas, which are practically flavorless.

While in Cabo, B and I were determined to find good, cheap street tacos. I had read Gordo Lele’s was great but could not find it. Our cab driver said El Paisa was the best and we found it but they were closed for Siesta!

SOL and hungry, we started back towards the main street when we heard a rumble. It was hundreds of motorcycles! Biker week in Cabo…..awesome. Just then we spotted a rickety make-shift taco stand, specializing in mariscos. I believe it was called Rico’s, but it was hard to determine. No Ingles.

Despite their seafood specialty, I ordered one beef and one chorizo taco. So did B, with the addition of clams. We got two Modelos and waited at a table with a brightly colored plastic tablecloth, with five or six bottles of hot sauce. It was a hot day, probably 95 degrees. The plastic stuck to my legs, sweat ran down my back. This was authentic.

When the server brought the clams to the table, he squeezed lemon on them and they moved….so fresh they were alive! She loved ‘em, I didn’t.

A dish of cilantro, diced onion, and radishes plus a big bowl of salsa verde came out. More beer. Our tacos were double corn tortillas with meat. Nothing else. We loaded ‘em up with the fixins’. Plain, simple.

But the tortillas just didn’t measure up, nor did the fillings. Sure, they were real street tacos but I think there are much better stands in Cabo, it would just require some research in the form of trying them all in person (I’m up for the challenge!)

Until I can do that, however, I’m looking forward to continuing my quest on Buford Highway in the next couple of months! Any suggestions?