Taqueria Kukulkan
1730 Montreal Rd. 613-680-5055, taqueriakukulkan.com
Monday to Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m.
Prices: Tacos $4 to $5.50 each
Access: No steps
Only after we took our seats at Taqueria Kukulkan did we notice our table’s ominous decoration. The colourful image on the wood was of a fierce Mayan deity, and below it was the inscription “Buluc Chabtan — Human Sacrifice.” We hoped it didn’t bode poorly for lunch.
There was no reason for alarm — quite the opposite, in fact. On that visit two weeks ago, the last of three I’ve made, the modest Mexican eatery’s made-from-scratch fare was again utterly delicious.
Opened in late January in a Montreal Road strip mall east of Blair Road, Taqueria Kukulkan turns out not only superior tacos, but also a range of ambitious and distinctive dishes that belie its former shawarma shop roots.
Here, we’ve enjoyed addictively good, fried-to-order corn chips and perky, chunky guacamole. The price, $10.50, at first seemed steep, but oh, those fresh, thick-cut chips.
Taqueria Kukulkan’s guacamole with freshly fried tortilla chips.
The first of two dynamite soups, a richly flavoured chilpachole de jaiba ($7.50), was an intoxicating blend of crab meat, tomatoes and broth. In this soup’s native province of Veracruz, Mexico, there might be more sweet crustacean in a main-course portion. But as an appetizer, this soup was a winner, with shreds of crab meat in every tasty spoonful and a single crunchy chip as a garnish.
Crab soup at Taqueria Kukulkan
I expected less of frijoles charros ($6.50), but this soulful potage of pinto beans, ham, bacon and beer was a surprising, deeply flavoured delight.
Taqueria Kukulkan’s Frijoles Charros
These starters set the stage for tacos that struck me as among the city’s finest.
Protein-wise, the touted specialty here is marinated pork, bolstered by chilies and pineapple and cooked shawarma-style on a rotating vertical skewer. This meat finds its way into tacos al pastor. But other taco options were hard to fault too, including nicely charred grilled chicken, chunks of deep-fried basa fish, morsels of longaniza de Valladolid sausages, or fall-apart pulled pork in the cochinita pibil-style of the Yucatan or the peppery chilorio style of Sinaloa.
Taqueria Kukulkan’s Taco al Pastor
Taqueria Kukulkan’s Cochinita Pibil taco
Taqueria Kukulkan’s Sirloin A la Mexicana taco
Every attractive taco tasted of pride and care, evident not just in the astutely dressed fillings but also in the house-made red, green and habanero salsas and especially in the mellow, made-to-order corn tortillas, which popped with freshness and were sturdy enough to avoid disintegrating before the tacos were quickly devoured.
These dishes left us feeling that the people in charge of the taqueria were all about striving for quality and authenticity, and weren’t about to take shortcuts at the expense of good eating.
Taqueria Kukulkan on Montreal Road. Co-owners Sandro Castillo with assorted tacos; Liffdy Solano with Alambres Green Chorizo; and Sylvain Cardinal with Tres Leches Cake.
Given the extra time and effort that many items required, there must be a Mayan god of patience. Indeed, during two dinner visits, we almost made offerings to that deity, as the wait for food did seem long, especially given the restaurant’s hard wood chairs. But when the food arrived, it was good enough to dispel our frustrations. Meanwhile, our lunch’s food was hastily dispatched, even though the 30-seat eatery was almost packed.
After my meals, I learned that Kukulkan was the first restaurant that chef and co-owner Sandro Castillo has run, although over the decades, the 43-year-old worked in the kitchen or on the floor at such Ottawa mainstays as Romano’s Ristorante, Mamma Teresa Ristorante and Prime 360.
While Castillo was born in Ottawa, he has split his time between here and Mérida in the Yucatán Peninsula, where his family is from. He opened Kukulkan after seeing Ottawa foodies go taco-crazy in recent years. But in contrast to the artisanal, cross-cultural, Tex-Mex and mass-market taco out there, Castillo serves “the real thing,” he says. “This how we do it back home.”
Other “back-home” fare included the bolillo bread baked for torta sandwiches, such as the pork and cheese one ($7.50) shown below, and the house-made red and green chorizo sausages typical of Tolucca, which appeared in several dishes.
Sandwich at Taqueria Kukulkan
I enjoyed the scraps of the green, spinach-and-pumpkin-seed-enhanced chorizo in an “alambres” fry-up with bacon, peppers and onions, served with three corn tortillas ($15.50).
Taqueria Kukulkan Alambres with Green Chorizo
For dessert, slices of chocolate and tres leches cakes ($5.50 each), baked by Castillo’s wife Liffdy Solano, were generous and sumptuous. Caramel-drizzled churros ($5) were better than most I’ve had. For a smaller appetite, queso napolitano, a cream cheese-based version of creme caramel ($4.50), was a hit.
Taqueria Kukulkan’s Tres Leches Cake
Chcocolate cake at Taqueria Kukulkan
Taqueria Kukulkan’s churros.
Queso Napolitano at Taqueria Kukulkan
A mug of Mexican spiced “Abuelita” hot chocolate ($3) was massive. With coffee came a squeeze bottle of melted piloncillo cane sugar for a Latin American twist.
If Kukulkan were downtown and open late, and if it had a liquor licence — the application’s in, Castillo says — I could see discerning chefs and cooks happily unwinding there on high-end yet cheap tacos and tequila.
But as it is, Kukulkan is an east-end haunt — with flavour, integrity and promise that make it worth the drive from downtown or even Kanata.
phum@ottawacitizen.com
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