El Capitano Taco Stand
1541 Merivale Rd. 613-225-5559, elcapitanotacostand.com
Cantina Sur
Taqueria La Bonita
1128 Cadboro Rd., 613-695-7373, taquerialabonita.com
Last week in this space, there were kudos for the dishes at the unassuming Montreal Road eatery Taqueria Kukulkan, chief among them the finely designed and executed tacos made with freshly made corn tortillas.
I called those tacos among the best in Ottawa, and it became even more clear to me that they were upper-echelon treats after I recently ate their counterparts at three other taco restaurants, not to mention the tacos I’ve had elsewhere in the last two years.
So let’s round up what I tried elsewhere at three more taco places — and pass on some constructive criticisms.
To begin with the place where the food required the most improvement, consider the tacos at El Capitano Taco Stand on Merivale Road, which, in its own words, reflects a “crazy and fun Mexican feel” in its decor and “transitions from a family day-time eatery into a wild and fun nighttime venue.”
At this large, high-volume venue with a huge bar and arcade games at its rear, the tacos needed to be, first of all, less messy and overloaded.
The identically dressed tacos might as well have been Jackson Pollacks, had the famed abstract expressionist been drip-painting in the kitchen with lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa.
Tacos at El Capitano Taco Stand
Meanwhile, the defining aspects of each taco disappointed. Darkly fried fish was simply salty and greasy, and blackened, deep-fried shrimp was overly spicy and salty. These were premium tacos, priced at $5 for one or $11 for three. Pulled pork ($4.50 for one, $11 for three) was cold and almost tasteless.
Shrimp and Fish tacos at El Capitano Taco Stand
Sauces served at El Capitano were from its sister business, the Burrito Shack. My pal who slathered some of the hottest sauce on his burgeoning pulled pork burrito said it made it better, although given my qualms about the pulled pork, that was not much of an achievement.
With lightly sweet guacamole came brittle, seasoned chips that tasted assertively and artificially of salt and lime. Churros came heavily, heavily sugared.
We were told that El Capitano, which opened in November, will launch a second location in Ottawa. If so, it would do well to look at and learn from the proper preparations and good, distinctive flavours that make other Ottawa tacos — cheaper ones, at that — better.
Then there are the tacos at Cantina Sur on Bronson Avenue, which with its sombreros-as-decorations, bar with local beers on tap, two pool tables and mix of tables and chairs seemed like a smaller but more authentic version of El Capitano.
Tacos and black beans at Cantina Sur
Its tacos, either $4 or $5 each and double-wrapped in tortillas, were almost the opposite of El Capitano mish-mashes. Cantina Sur tacos came too minimally adorned, with bare-minimum condiments (sour cream, chopped jalapenos, too-salty black beans) on the side. Chicken, pork adobo and steak tacos were satisfactory, if not that exciting. The fish tacos were too salty.
The most interesting dish that we tried were the gorditas — “little fat ones” goes the translation — which were like sloppy joes of well-seasoned pulled pork made in the chilorio style of northern Mexico, sandwiched in made-to-order corn-flour buns.
Chilorio Gorditas at Cantina Sur
Salsa chips were the round, store-bought ones, accompanied by excessively chunky, sour, chipotle-heated salsa. A massive slab of tres leches cake was, for all its rusticity, super-moist and satisfying.
Tres leches cake at Cantina Sur
Finally, we have the tacos from Taqueria La Bonita, off of Ogilvie Road in a Cadboro Road strip mall. We liked the small low-key ambience of brightly coloured walls and cabinetry, as well as the gentle and brisk service and the selection of interesting imported Mexican sodas in flavours such as strawberry, tamarind and grapefruit. A liquor licence is in the works.
Here, we also liked the value proposition of substantial but not overloaded tacos at $3.50 a pop, as well as their variety and nods to authenticity. From 10 kinds on offer, typically adorned with a slice of avocado and perhaps a scattering of queso fresco, shredded chicken “tinga” was moist and brightly flavoured by its chipotle salsa, while pork carnitas were a little dry, and needed more fattiness. Better were the pineapple-bolstered pork al pastor taco and the chicken mole taco that had some spicy, chocolate-y appeal. Salsas of varying intensities weren’t needed, but nor did they hurt.
Chicken Mole taco at Taqueria La Bonita
Pork carnitas and chicken mole at Taqueria La Bonita
For dessert, flan was more firm than jiggly, but had good concentrated taste and caramelization.
Flan at Taqueria La Bonita
But the meat of the matter is that La Bonita made the best tacos of this batch. They were pretty good, if not as great as Taqueria Kukulkan’s, and I’d certainly crave two or three if I were in the neighbourhood and hungry. They also helped highlight what makes other tacos so-so or even terrible.
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