Corrales Mexican Food - Ventura



So, Corrales Mexican Food in Ventura doesn't necessarily fall within the guidelines of a prototypical taqueria. But, I haven't been too much of a hard ass about this stuff lately especially with my recent post about Los Dos Amigos in Thousand Oaks.

As with the other hot spots for Mexican food in Ventura city, this place has an absolute legion of fans that won't be swayed by this blog, or any other (possible) negative reviews about their beloved Corrales.

I knew going in to this posting that Corrales is not known for their tacos, and I think that the loyal patrons of this establishment may acknowledge this opinion. But none the less, I may get a little "feed back" if I don't give these dudes a glowing review. Assuming that any of those good folks even read this blog, which is assuming a ton.

But lets face it, when you go to Corrales you go for burritos, hamburgers and all the other Mexican/American mish-mash posted on the menu.

Okay, I go up to the window to order my tacos and come to learn that the options for fillings are as follows: Shredded beef, carne asada, fish, shredded chicken and if I'm feeling a bit naughty, they can fill a corn tortilla with pork in a verde sauce.

Since I didn't want the soupy pork scattered all over the tortillas creating a horrible mess, I decided to go with the shredded chicken and the carne asada. I order two of each. I was hungry.

Now, both of these came topped with no salsa and as you can see, the chicken came loaded with shredded lettuce, shredded American cheese and a slice of tomato. When I first started this blog, one of the things that I mentioned I hate on my tacos, is shredded lettuce and cheese. But because I want to give Corrales a fair shake, I'm going to ride this out and see if the taco tastes any good (as I should) basing my opinion solely on flavor and not on my own personal preference.

Shredded chicken: So, when I ordered this I envisioned a version of the awesome Tinga De Pollo (a spicy stewed chicken) dish which I make at home a lot. But that was definitely not the case; this chicken was shredded and moist but was flavorless on its own. Thanks to the (can't believe I'm writing this) toppings of lettuce/tomato/cheese and the very tasty salsa that came on the side, this taco ended up being pretty decent. Not something that I would come back for but it filled me up in a hearty sort of way and I did appreciate that.

Carne asada: I scrutinized this one a little bit more. Now, the meat that filled this taco was tender and juicy but still a bit too chewy and borderline rubbery. How can it be tender and rubbery at the same time? Don't know how to answer that but you'll have to try it for yourself to understand it fully. Maybe not in a taco but in a torta or a burrito or something. Since this taco was not garnished with anything I was left with the salsa to drench the meat in. The results were positive, much like the chicken taco the meat had a very hearty "beef" flavor and paired well with the very tasty salsa. Really damn flavorful salsa, do they sell this stuff on its own? its good.

Welp, that's it. The tacos were very decent but knowing that there are other superior taquerias in Ventura plus the short list of options for fillings on the Corrales menu, I can't say that I'd recommend ordering tacos here. Yes- I'll probably be back for a burrito at some point which I know first hand is actually pretty good. Unfortunately I only review tacos for this blog.
TA-COS. 2/5 stars

Corrales Mexican Food
1951 East Thompson Boulevard
Ventura, Ca 93006