I’ve learned my lesson. If I want Mexican food I need to find the tiniest joint with the largest health violation. That’s where the authentic food is hiding. That’s where the fat and flavor is.
At the end of September my dear friend Alina came to visit. She is one of my favorite friends to eat with because she has never been on a diet and truly understands how I can talk about cheese and bread like I’ll never see them again. We wanted to try somewhere new, and the trendy La Urbana was booked. Nopalito wasn’t new to either of us but Mexican was on the mind and I’d been wanting to check the carnitas off my 7×7 Big Eat List.
Full from a large, late brunch, a 8:30 dinner seemed reasonable. We called ahead and put our name on the wait-list at 7:00. An hour and a half wait. We arrived promptly at 8:30 and headed directly to the bar to wait for our table to be ready. We were seated at 9:40. Imagine my mood at this point when my breakfast was long digested. I don’t do well hungry.
Standing at the bar we were offered spiced chickpeas. Okay they aren’t chips but let’s find the silver lining here. They were good. We sipped on the tiniest, most expensive pitcher (it’s more of a carafe) of margaritas…and waited. Still not seated after a half hour we ordered the Totopos con Chile (tortilla chips, salsa de arbol, cotija cheese, crema and lime). A sort of Doritos-like sauce coated the chips. At this point things were just getting too spicy. My mouth was on fire but I had to ration that teeny marg. So I just let it burn.
The portions were fairly small so we ordered several dishes to share. It’s not that the food wasn’t good, but the whole experience left a bad taste in our mouths, one that clouded the food. Annnd, a two-hour and forty minute wait is just ridiculous, especially when the margaritas are as tiny as these. Enter at your own risk. In fact, just go to Taqueria Cancun.
