(Pictured Left: Tacos de Asada with rice, beans and pico de gallo)South of the Border for this one!
An overdue review, but a good one.
On my quest to solve the mystery of the best tacos, we need sometimes look further than our own backyard. This review takes us to Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, the motherland for the tacos! We only had a couple of hours, and while we would've loved to explore all of the taco carts and hole in the wall spots the town has to offer in the "real" parts of the city, we were limited on time and so figured we might as well try out one of the tourist spots since that's where you would probably eat anyway!
Refusing to settle for Papas and Beer (c'mon Mr. Pappas, we go for the beer, not the tacos or the Pappas), we encountered a restaurant right across the street which was just as loud as Papa's, but not because of the music but the people in and around it. From drunk folk hanging out the 2nd floor windows to the break dancers out in front, something was inviting of Mango Mango amidst all of the tourist traps. In we settled, and two buckets of beer and a healthy helping of meat and tortillas later, we left happy 'Manguitos'!
Meat
The meat was plain and simple -- asada. Juicy, marinated and tender, the meat showed no signs of loss of quality for being from Baja. No fat to be found on them and chopped into thick cubes that gave you something to definitely chew on with every bite. Not the absolute best asada ever, but damn close!
Asada: 9.5/10
Score: 9.5/10, just to leave room to find the 'perfect' asada just yet...
Tortilla
Tortillas were excellent, being as homestyle and fresh as possible. These tortillas were thick on the corn ingredients as is very visible from the rough edges all the way around, and the rigidness of the disc which exemplifies lack of flour or lard fillers. This is as authentic and original as it gets, and while it might not be for everyone, they were the perfect match for the meat.
Score: 8.5/10, for yet another tortilla that suffers from falling apart too easily.
Toppings
None to speak of here! They were served with tasty sides of rice, beans and pico de gallo, but none of them really shined, with any of the three being average at best. Would've gone much better with a side of guacamole, which was being made table-side, but we neglected to get any. Maybe next time...
Score: 7/10. Just like in class when a 70% is a C, so the 7 is average here.
"After-effects"
None really to speak of, which is remarkable for exposing the stomach to potential perils of different sources of meat and grains. Amazingly we adjusted quite nicely and felt no ill effects.
Score: 10/10, for leaving us with no regrets for eating in a tourist trap in Mexico, of all places!
Bottom line, the tacos were something quite unexpected since we went in with low hopes for the unassuming Mango Mango. Definitely worth the visit again for getting some good food when in Ensenada that you can count on, but only to be passed up in order to try some of the small taco carts which roam the city. I'll definitely eat at a smaller place next time, instead of getting toasted and sneaking a 6 pack of Sol down at the local Starbucks.
Bonus Points: (+1) For serving beer not by the single, but in buckets of 10!
Negative Points: (-3) For only having one type of meat to offer (Explanation below)
Price: $6.75 / 3 tacos (if I recall correctly), $30 for bucket of 10 beers, XX or Sol
Wait time: 15-25 minutes
Distance (from downtown): In the heart of it, across from Papa's and Beer
Total Score: 33/40
What I would order next time: Two plates of tacos with a side of guacamole and a bucket of Sol! (And hopefully some variations on meats)
Update: Thinking further on the review, it seems I overlooked a couple of things, and may not have been entirely clear. For one, while the tacos were very solid for just being asada tacos, and damn good at that, but it seems that the review may be too high for a taco that was so 'plain'.
There was nothing wrong with the taco itself, but it sure could have benefited from more and having more effort as far as toppings were concerned, since there really were none. Further, it does seem somewhat unfair to rate this higher or equal to other restaurants, when these were just solid, but nothing truly special or out of the ordinary. For that reason, I'm updating the final review to reflect a (-3) on overall points for the lack of variety and choice. Perhaps their menu should be expanded to offer more. This does not, however, take away from the asada itself being a 9.5, so if you're happy with JUST the asada, you'll have no qualms. Otherwise, there really should be more!
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