el rey del taco • 12 comments • Alex heard about El Rey Del Taco from one of his coworkers who described it as having "authentic" Mexican food. It's definitely the closest we've come to our meals in Mexico City (we still talk about how much we love that place, mostly because of the food, nearly 3 years later). Now, every time we're at Jean Talon market, we make El Rey Del Taco a priority - to share some tacos and get some "homemade" guacamole to go. - Mina
no more nopales! • 21 comments • I stopped by a hole-in-the-wall taco stand and ordered a taco con nopales y queso. I'd never heard of nopales and the menu indicated it was cactus-like vegetable, so I figured I might as well try it. The taco was great, but a half hour later I came to the sudden and uncomfortable conclusion that eating stewed vegetables that had been sitting in the sun probably wasn't the best idea. I mentioned to Mina how much I enjoyed the nopales (before I got sick) so later, when we were eating in a proper restaurant, we decided to order nopales and nopales con queso (with cheese). We assumed (incorrectly) that we would get a handful of each. Instead we got 10 huge slices of nopales. At this point I really can't see myself eating this vegetable in the foreseeable future. On a related note, a fellow traveler told us about her solution to avoiding stomach issues in Mexico. She was advised to take HCL (Hydrochloric acid) with Pepsin by her acupuncturist. I know what you're thinking, but we researched it online and apparently e.coli bacteria can be rendered inactive when the Ph level of your stomach is decreased (which HCL does). We've been very paranoid about the water and fruit here, so I'm hoping that this might offer us the chance to try more foods. - Alex
mexican food • 13 comments • Never having been to Mexico before, we've been pleasantly surprised with the variety of new tastes and ingredients. Although Mexico City offers global fare, we've been sticking to Mexican dishes. We ate lunch at El Califa, a neighborhood favourite. Their signature appetizer is chicharron de queso (crispy fried cheese). I obviously had no choice but to try it: Mina's preferred dish is the taco al pastor, which can be likened to shawarma on a soft corn tortilla with lots of cilantro. My pick is the ribeye taco, although the condiments are a touch too spicy for me. A generous serving of limes seem to be a standard side. Tomatos, onion and avocado are rarely missing from the table. Although Mina and I usually don't drink alcohol, I like to sample local drinks (alcoholic or otherwise). A waiter suggested I try a Michelada, which was a mixture of beer, lemon juice, and salt. I've tried lemon-beer drinks before, but the salt was an interesting touch. Mina has always hated beer, but was curious enough to try it. We both agreed that it had it's appeal, but that we probably wouldn't order it again. The best thing about all of this amazing food is how affordable it is. Most of our nice dinners together have cost less than $20. -Alex
