Latino Market - Thousand Oaks

Its been a long while since Josh and I hooked up for a review. Admittedly, its tough for us to get together during the week and try to to knock one of these out, which is why we decided to hang out for lunch on the weekend instead. You'll probably see more of these joint reviews again in the future now that we've both sorted out our busy schedules.

So, this may end up wrapping up my reviews on what I believe to be the only relevant taquerias in the greater Thousand Oaks area. That's not saying much of course given the demographics of the area leaning in favor towards the caucasian. Still, this small market located off of Thousand Oaks Boulevard does see a lot of traffic; especially given that today is Saturday so the place is busy with folks needing some Menudo.

I've only been to the Latino Market two other times and those visits were only for my latino grocery needs not to sample their food. So this will be my first time trying their tacos......... which is kinda embarrassing for me. Really, as a latino and someone who lived in Thousand Oaks as long as I did you would think my parents would have brought my sister and I in for a bite to eat or just for some groceries back when we first moved here from the valley. Or- why the hell did I practically ignore this place all through my teens and later as an adult save for a Loteria board game and a bottle of Jarritos? I don't know.

In any case, Josh and I meet up in the parking lot and make our way inside. I order four tacos, three of which are: pastor, asada and carnitas. Then, I decide to roll the dice on another taco con chicharrones. I haven't had any luck with the last few chicharrones tacos I've eaten (tasting any good) but what the hell I thought, gotta hit pay dirt at some point right? I believe Josh ordered: asada, pastor, carnitas and a large asada taco.

As Josh and I waited for our order, we noticed through the window were all the meats and stews sit in their respective heating bins a big batch of dried out Asian style chilies. Many of the patrons were asking for these once they received their food orders so in Spanish I asked the taquera if she would throw some in with our order. She ended up piling a handful or so into Josh's plate. She wasn't all that stoked on forking them over either.

We ended up taking our food outside and ate by Josh's car. Here's how my tacos worked out:

Al Pastor: Obviously an adobado fashioned pastor taco. I don't have any real problem with this fact anymore but the execution of this style was a bit off the mark. The sauce that the pork was cooked in came off a bit to barbecue-ish. It was thick and sorta paste like with a spicy, cumin-tomato-dried chilies flavor that tasted more like Jack Daniels sauce at Fridays then an adobado sauce. Texture of the pork was average, at least it wasn't dry and tough.

Now- having written all that nonsense I went ahead and loaded the taco up with the salsa roja that came with our order and it transformed this taco into something that was actually very pleasant to eat. Wow! the salsa was really, really, really damn good. It was very spicy at the front end with a long smokey finish, excellent. Up there with the best I've ever (watch it, Rob) had.

Carnitas: Very average: not dry, in fact a little moist with decent pork flavor and in a shredded presentation. No deep fry treatment here, so no crispy bits. Just middle of the road carnitas, but with the salsa on top it was pretty tasty.

Asada: again, average. The taste and texture of the meat was a bit boring. The cut wasn't bad though, no connective tendons or anything. The meat was in fact tender but nothing else really happening here. I went with the salsa verde on this one and like the salsa roja, it was very tasty and spicy. I can't say enough about what a great job they did in the salsa department. Just well thought out and executed.

Chicharrones: Wow, this was bad. A blob of gelatinous mess.......whatever. I won't elaborate further other then to say that I'm taking a chicharrones break for awhile.

Other goodness: Tortillas were cooked well in oil and tasted great. Josh and I both loved the dried chilies and could not stop eating them. Josh ended up putting like, five on his large asada taco.

Here's Josh's take:

ordered:

3 normal taco's with spicy salsa and extras (cilantro and onions)

Meat: asada, pastor, carnitas

1 grande taco

Meat: asada

Rob asked for some chili peppers that were burned in oil and they gave them all to me instead of him

Asada:

There wasn't anything to it, it wasn't charred, it wasn't smokey, it was just there, nothing about it makes me excited to want to go back. I would make this type of grilled asada if I was in a hurry not caring about making anything other than trying to fill my belly.

Carnitas:

They tasted like they had been sitting all day. it would be better if they stuck it on the grill for a bit or something, crisp it a little.

Al Pastor:

Once again it's that sloppy joe's Ventura style pastor. The meat was marinated well it seems, it's just not what i'm used to. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything i went home thinking about either.


What I did like at this particular place was the salsa and those cooked chili peppers. The tortillas were put on the grill to warm them up which was a nice touch and they were very generous with the cilantro and onions. The red salsa was really good and made these average taco's taste great.


When I was finished with the standard three taco's, I decided to try out this Grande Taco. It was just a normal taco but bigger. That is it. So I dumped all the rest of the red salsa in and added about 5 of those chili peppers. The red salsa had a small kick already and some of those chili peppers added more kick. So this made the taco hotter, otherwise it would just be the same average, just there and only slightly larger taco.

And there you have it. Oh, they sell that salsa roja in large cups for $2.99 that can be found at the butchers counter inside the market area. I recommend the salsa highly.  2.5/5stars

Latino Market
711 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard
Suite 2
Thousand Oaks, Ca 91360




La Loma Mexican Food - Ventura

Hey there! I know its been a month since my last post ( pretending that anyone is actually reading this crap ) and to those few who have been following this blog, I'm totally sorry for not getting some reviews out any sooner. I wrote at the start of this blog that I would post new stuff when I could and as time allowed. And really, honestly, who cares anyways.

In any case, this is my 25th review and I thought that I was gonna write this laundry list of things I've learned and some things that I've written that I would love to take back from past reviews. Sort of to commemorate this incredibly unimportant milestone that I kinda sorta set for myself. But you know what? I'm not going to do that I'm just gonna keep moving forward and not look back. Are there some mistakes that I've made with my grammar and spelling in past reviews? YES- What about proclaiming something to be the best I've had/ever had? Oh, hell yes. But one of the biggest issues I have with most of my reviews, as I go back and read them, is the rating system that I've devised.

If you don't already know, its just a simple 1 through 5 stars. 1=Bad, 5=Great and a bunch of crap in between. I don't have anything set in stone with regards to the criteria of what makes for a good taco, a decent taco and a piece of shit. I've thought of creating a solid formula that I would present to you in vivid detail (for the 3 to 4 people that follow this) but after about 5 minutes of thought on the issue, I decided to scrap any changes and continue on with my wildly inconsistent ratings of tacos through out the Ventura County.

Yet, there are certain things that I concentrate on as I'm eating a taco:

-Salsa on the tacos any good?

-Texture and taste of the meat

-The flavors of the tortillas

-Execution of the recipe

-Quality of the ingredients

You get the picture. After that, I may consider the price but I try not to let that sway me. I'll mention it if I think it's too expensive or if its a bargain as it relates to the quality and quantity of the food. Will that affect the overall rating of the taco? Probably not, I'll mention it if it does.

And with that, lets get to review number 25.

Yeah, so, I've found another Taco/Lunch truck set up in the parking lot of the Contractors Warehouse off of Johnson in Ventura. Its called La Loma Mexican Food and I was told about this truck from someone at my work. Since my review of La Careta De Don Gaby many months ago, I've been trying to locate other lunch trucks that might be operating in the Ventura County area. I've not had much luck but I also think I haven't been looking in the right places either.

As I approached the truck I noticed that they have a trompo inside spinning some al pastor. From the looks of the meat, it appeared as though it was an older batch that looked a bit dried out. Not sure if that's normal (and I've seen some pretty gamey looking stuff on trompo's before) and I wondered if it was going to taste like garbage. Only one way to find out.

Judging from the small menu printed on the windows of the lunch wagon they only serve tacos and burritos with the meat options being: Asada, Al Pastor, Buche, Chorizo and Cabeza. So no Carnitas for this review. A bit limited but, what else do you need? They have all your basic food groups covered.

I ordered 2 asada, 2 al pastor and 1 chorizo.

So, starting things off with the chorizo: it was pretty tasty, a little greasy maybe? Yes- but you'll be surprised how many chorizo tacos I've had in the past that were too dry and lacked depth of flavor. Not this one though, it was spicy and juicy and was chopped in to tiny morsels that were well, swimming in liquid/grease which normally happens when cooking Mexican chorizo.

Al pastor was decent. The texture of the pork was not as tender as I would like but it wasn't dry and rubbery either. It was in between with a decent flavor throughout; I could taste hints of the sweetness from the pineapple but it wasn't as prevalent as it needed to be. The spice rub was good but the overall texture hurt this taco too much. Even though the pork was roasted on a trompo the execution was just not good.

The asada suffered the same fate as the pastor, texture sucked. It was rubbery and tough and had too much connective shit all around. Ligaments and so forth........bad cut of meat. It happens, not all carne asada is created equal. The "asada" type flavor was just O-K. Not that good though, dudes.

I did appreciate the grilled/oiled Jalapeno on my plate. In fact, that might be the best thing I remember about the whole meal, it was really good. The tortillas were dipped in the chorizo grease then cooked on the plancha. This, my friends, is the way to go when cooking up some corn tortillas. It would have been absolutely bitchin' if the taquero dipped the whole tortilla in the grease instead of just half. The flavor still made it to the tortillas though and I greatly enjoyed that aspect of all of the tacos.

I'm not solid on the hours that La Loma is opened for business but I'm pretty sure they operate mostly from lunch time through the afternoon.

Well, 25 reviews in and still a ton more to go. La Loma was just OK, not bad. 2.5/5 stars.

La Loma Mexican Food
In the parking lot of Contractors Warehouse
6655 Cresent Street
Ventura, CA 93003



La Cocina Rica #2 - Oxnard

Well, as I've written so many times in this blog, my plans don't always work out. Case in point is today's review, I went into Oxnard with the intention of eating some tacos at Tacos La Costa on Saviers Road but alas, it was closed. If you haven't noticed by now I'm not really familiar with the business hours of many of the taquerias around Oxnard. But luckily for me, there's plenty to choose from.

It always seems weird to me when 2 or 3 taquerias are right next door to each other, which is the case with Tacos La Costa and La Cocina Rica, the latter being were I'm doing today's review.

The sign outside read that they serve tacos for 75 cents apiece but when I ordered my tacos at the counter inside I was charged a dollar for each one. Its really no big deal since either way its totally cheap and reasonable for a taco. But I do wonder why they charged me more?

On the plus side they had the easiest menu to read and understand that I've seen yet. Anyhow- Ordered 4 tacos: carnitas, carne asada, al pastor and chicharoness.

Starting with the chicharoness: If you don't already know, I'm a huge fan of chicharoness. As a kid, my uncle Ramon would make some awesome tacos out of chicharoness and ever since then I've been hooked. Yeah, well, so far all of the chicharoness tacos I've tried for this blog have just plain sucked. This one was average; there was some crispness to them but no pork flavor. Really, its almost as if they took a bag of pork rinds and just chopped them up and dumped them in to a tortilla.

The al pastor was very tender with a moist and soft texture. This would have been awesome if the pork had any flavor whatsoever, which it did not. The only thing I could taste was the overwhelming flavor of corn from the grainy yellow corn tortillas. They weren't bad, I mean they were hot and lightly oiled (which is always a plus) but it was all I could taste.

Carne asada same thing. The meat was extremely tender and chopped into tny bits but just no flavor.

Carnitas were shredded and a  little moist but mostly dry. Comparatively, the carnitas packed more flavor than the other tacos. But, if this is the stand out of the group then there's some serious problems here.

All the tacos came topped with a salsa roja which was very good. Smokey flavor with a very slow building and  long lasting burn that I just wanted to dip some chips into. Again, the tortillas had a rustic flavor (no way they were handmade) and were good but unfortunately had no other notes to play off of and just dominated the flavor of all of the tacos.

Yeah, so I wasn't totally pleased with today's food. At 75 cents a pop ( or a dollar, or whatever...) these tacos may be worth your time. I don't think I'll be back........I just wish Tacos La Costa was open........son of a bitch... 2/5 Stars

 La Cocina Rica #2

4202 Saviers Road

Oxnard, CA 93033

Ortiz Taco Time - Ventura

Ortiz Taco Time is a well known place on Ventura Avenue that I've heard much about. Truth be told, I wasn't planning on going there for this post ( I was going to go to Taqueria Tepatitlan across the street) but its been on my radar now for some time so I just couldn't resist.

I know there's some history here with the building and the owner plus this place has many fans but I'm not going to delve into all that because its time to get down to brass tacks, are their tacos superior or not?

Well, as I walked in through the front door I was quite surprised how nice the interior of Ortiz Taco Time was. Plenty of seating and very clean in appearance plus this bad boy painted on one of the walls:

Anyway- At the counter ordering my tacos: 1 asada, 1 carnitas, 2 al pastor when the lady taking my order yelled in Spanish to the cook in the back: "Dos tacos adobados por favor!" ............and there you have it folks, mystery solved. Josh and I have been validated (well, at least one time) with our belief that most of the "al pastor" we've been eating is not really the traditional version of the recipe.

 Its not a big deal whatsoever, its just that it should be advertised on the menu a little differently. I mean, the pork is being cooked adobado style ( simply put, slow cooked with onions, garlic and dark chilies or adobado sauce/paste) as opposed to roasting it on the trompo ( Roasted on a rotisserie, pineapple involved, juice from said pineapple tenderizes the pork) then again, its also a regional issue. Who fucking cares Rob! were the tacos any good??

Right- The tacos, one more thing before I get to that, before the tacos even reached my table, I was served complimentary chips and salsa with the salsa also serving as the eventual topping for my tacos. I found the salsa (which was still pretty warm from just being cooked) to be smokey, with a slow building heat, very nice little number. Not gonna make you sweat or snap in your mouth with spiciness but it was very flavorful none the less.

Okay! Carnitas: nice crispness, shredded and moist, that chicharroness type flavor coming to the forefront and just delicious through and through. It had a very clean flavor as opposed to say, greasy like the one I had at Taqueria Potrillos in Camarillo. Definitely deep fried but still clean and not weighed down as carnitas can sometimes get after the deep fry treatment.

Carne asada was also really good. Great flavor, solid cut of steak, tender and juicy with slight char. Very nice, not the best, but really good and enjoyable to eat.

Al pastor/pork adobado tacos: After understanding what it was that I was eating, I set my mind to the flavors that I was expecting. This pork adobado taco was really, really good. absolutely delicious. Tender and spicy, totally melted in my mouth I was so glad I ordered 2 of them. Great execution of this style.

Other things: All of the tacos were quite hearty; the tortillas were filled to the brim with meat. Speaking of the tortillas, they were perfectly oiled and pliable, absolutely added to the overall flavor of the tacos. At the price of $1.25 each, these tacos are a serious deal.

There's still alot for me to get to just in Ventura city but yeah, I really enjoyed my tacos at Ortiz Taco Time; they are the real deal. I know that may not be news to the locals, and I'm sure there are also plenty of detractors, nevertheless- Ortiz Taco Time is one of the stand outs in the Ventura County. Trust me, I've been around, and in that medium sample size I think this place is great in comparison. 4.5/5 stars.

PS: On the way home I saw Don Gaby's van and lunch truck parked off the freeway in Oxnard. Please forgive me, Don.

Ortiz Taco Time
339 North Ventura Avenue
Ventura, Ca 93001

El Chilito #2 - Oxnard

Well, when I see an advertisement in the VC Reporter that reads like this:

It definitely perks my interest, which is why I'm at El Chilito in Oxnard for this post.

In any case, my co-worker buddy, Martin, came with me to check this place out. For some reason, through all of my other taco adventures in Oxnard I've missed this joint. Which is weird since I drive right past it all the time on Oxnard boulevard.

One of the interesting things about El Chilito is that they claim to have a "taquero" outside the premises in the parking lot on Fridays and on the weekends who dishes up fresh tacos right off a mobile plancha and al pastor tacos off a Trompo.

I think that only occurs at night though since I didn't see anything set up out on the parking lot when I got there at noon, oh well.

Another thing that I did not know before hand was the fact that its more of a restaurant/sit down type of place with one of the ladies behind the counter taking our order at the table rather than ordering at the counter. They even served us a complementary bowl of chips and dipping salsa.

So, I order 4 tacos: 2 al pastor, 1 cabeza, 1 carnitas and I think that Martin (also ordered 4) had carne asada, carnitas and 2 al pastor.

Starting with the carnitas taco: I thought it was really bland and dry. It was of the shredded variety but it just lacked flavor in a big way. Not much else to write on this other than it was a big disappointment.

The al pastor tacos were nice; tender and cooked adobado/Ventura County style with hints of pineapple through out. Nothing to amazing here just an adequate to solid taco.

The cabeza was definitely the standout; very moist and tender with loads of flavor and absolutely no tangy taste. Again, it was pretty good and I highly recommend this taco to anyone who is a big fan of cabeza.

Martin didn't have much to report from his end other than to say roughly the same things about all of his tacos as I did: nothing exciting at all but he thought the al pastor was very good.

Speaking of al pastor, I obviously couldn't tell if they were carved off of a trompo or not since the kitchen area was totally hidden from sight. The pic on the advertisement had me hoping that I was gonna hit pay dirt with some delicious al pastor. But alas, that was not the case. Also, I'm not saying that having pork roasting on a rotisserie will yield sweet tasting al pastor but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

A few more notes: tortillas sucked, salsa roja on the tacos was not spicy and didn't "add" anything and I completely missed out on a nice looking salsa bar. On a totally positive note, they threw some grilled onions on my plate that were pretty tasty when I topped a few of my tacos with them. And, the tacos are $1.00 each.

Okay, so I really feel like El Chilito is a place that I need to re-try down the road. I'd like to be here when the taquero is outside wheeling and dealing tacos. I'd also like to take their salsa bar home with me. 2.5/5 stars

El Chilito #2

733 South Oxnard Boulevard

Oxnard, Ca 93030

Taqueria Potrillos - Camarillo

Hey there! I haven't had time to blog about any taquerias since the bloody aftermath of Christmas/New Years so I thought it was definitely time to get back on the horse and spit out the first set of reviews for 2011.

Taqueria Potrillos is located in Camarillo across the street from one of my favorite places to go for a taco, Establos Meat Market, on Ventura Boulevard.

Anyhow, tiny hole in the wall type of place that you would expect- Now that's neither here nor there but what is, is the complementary chips, salsa, pickled veggies and other goodies that I helped myself too.

I ordered 4 tacos at the counter: carne asada, al pastor, carnitas and cabeza ( meat off the head of a cow) and had a seat at one of the few remaining tables.

Starting with the cabeza: as you can imagine, the meat was a bit gamy so it had that distinct tangy flavor. They had a very nice salsa verde loaded up on this taco which seemed to complement the meat, which was very tender and falling apart by the way. The tamatillo flavor of the salsa chilled out the tangy taste of the cabeza and somehow it all worked to make a decent taco.

Al pastor was nice, albeit pretty greasy. If that bugs you then this is not the al pastor for you. I felt that this pastor, no where near an authentic execution nor in the Ventura style either, was tasty. The pork was tender but with a noticeable charred crispness on the outside. Had a very flavorful adobado taste. Totally delicious, I'd come back just for another one of these.

Carne Asada was finely chopped, greasy, tender and with a crisp charred texture through out. Can't complain to much on this one either. Solid.

Carnitas was not shredded but cut into small cubes that tasted deep fried, almost like chicharrones. They were very crispy and greasy. Catching the overall theme here? They're not shy about the copious amounts of lard used in their cooking.

So, the verdict? Well Taqueria Potrillos is definitely a greasy spoon taqueria through and through. I don't mind that to much but some folks may. In any case, its my blog and I liked the place so 3 stars for them. Am I just totally high from the ridiculous lard intake ala Super Size Me? YES. Will I regret this decision later? Probably.  3/5 stars

Taqueria Potrillos
2650 Ventura Boulevard
Camarillo, CA 93011

taco wire - Ventura County Tacos, Tacos Guisados in DF, Soho Taco

taco wire - Ventura County Tacos, Tacos Guisados in DF, Soho Taco