Tacos Mi Peublo - Oxnard

With the winds kicking up around Southern California ( which I hate ) and me crying myself to sleep after re-reading my Manny's review, it was time to get back on the horse and have some of that sweet elixir that is the taco.

Anyhow, eating at Taco Mi Pueblo in Oxnard for today's post. I've never been to this taqueria but I hear its good and there are a few different locations in the Ventura County area. Also, my brother-in-law was buying so that gave me extra motivation to post something new.

Although we stopped in during the lunch hour, the place was totally quiet. That's not a real good sign.

There was actually one person there and after they were finished at the register, I placed my order for 3 tacos: Buche, Carnitas and Carne Asada. There were other options for taco fillings on the menu like cabeza and lengua too.

Checking out the salsa bar, I have to say, I was impressed with the options. The salsa's were: Verde, Roja, Pico De Gallo, Chile De Arbol and something else that I couldn't make out. They also had pickled jalapenos and spicy pickled onions, which was was awesome because I have not seen pickled onions yet in my travels.

The tacos arrived at my table only with cilantro and onions sprinkled on top. I decided to douse them with some of that salsa roja. I tried a spoonful before I did and let me just say, that it was hands down the best salsa roja I've had. Things unraveled quickly from there though.

 I tried the carne asada first and it tasted like they threw it in the microwave before they served it to me. Wow, not only that, but the carne asada was cut in to huge chunks with a rubbery texture that was difficult to chew. I put more of that salsa roja on top to see if I could make some magic happen but it was all for not.

The Carnitas were average, not bad or great, just okay. They had a sufficient amount of fattiness to them (again, cut in to chunky pieces) with the shredded stringy pieces of pork coming apart nicely.

The Buche was not to bad either, but it was not as awesome as the buche I had at El Taco De Mexico. This one, much like the carne asada, was cut into large chunks. Its tough to make buche suck since its naturally fatty and tender, with that strong pork flavor but I didn't like the large chunks and again, tasted like it came out of the microwave. Damn.

Also, even though they make tortillas fresh there daily, that doesn't mean they automatically taste good. The corn tortillas on my tacos were dry and almost cold. So maybe they made them that morning but they were probably sitting around ever since. What could have fixed that is to throw those bad boys on the plancha (griddle) with some oil like every other taqueria does.

Well, even though I was wowed by the salsa bar, the tacos at Tacos Mi Pueblo were not very good. The execution was terrible, but maybe they were having an off day when I came in? I don't know, but I should probably go back on another day just to make sure. These tacos made the tacos I ate at Manny's a week earlier taste like they came out of a taco truck in the middle of Boyle Heights at midnight. Which is to say, good. At this point, I'll have to give a Tacos Mi Pueblo a low score until I go back. 1.5/5 stars

Tacos Mi Pueblo
189 East Gonzales Road

Oxnard, Ca 93036

Manny's Mexican Grill - Thousand Oaks

Well, I didn't plan to be visiting Manny's this soon on this blog but, with my family adding a new member ( a baby girl ) and while taking care of the 2 existing kids with the wife at the hospital, I had precious little time to write a new post with me being so busy. So I figured I would just get to the nearest taqueria ASAP and see how it goes.

After visiting the local hospital were my wife was staying at in Thousand Oaks, I headed over to Manny's Grill to try some of their tacos. I've admittedly never had a taco from Manny's ( I've always ordered burritos ) and now seemed as good as time as any. More importantly, it was the most logistically convenient to my location.

Since moving to Thousand Oaks when I was a kid, I've frequented Manny's many a time. How could you not? It was the only respectable hole in the wall taqueria around. So even though I haven't eaten there in few years, I still have endearing memories of the place. But, it was time to give their tacos the once over.

When I got there the it was totally empty. I quickly ordered my (sort of) usual 3 tacos: Pastor, Asada and Carnitas and headed over to the salsa bar. Man, I guess I've never noticed how tidy and clean their condiments area was. But then again, it was not like I was in there during the lunch rush or anything so it should be clean as a whistle. As far as the salsa offerings, they had Verde, Roja and a house salsa for dipping chips. The Verde and Roja were disappointing (both very watery and lacking in heat) but the house salsa was very pleasant. It had a ton of flavor with a smooth heat and it also included spicy pickled carrots that were in the salsa, which is a nice touch.

The tacos: Carne Asada was not that good. Although the taco was piping hot and the meat was somewhat tender, it had a very rubbery texture to it with a lot of connective tissue. The flavor was kind of there but it was lacking in so many other ways. The salsa roja that it came topped with was okay but like the salsas at the condiment table it was a tad bit watery.

Al Pastor had an adequate flavor ( and I'm really trying to be nice for old times sake ), I don't think it came off of a trompo or anything. But just like the last few Al Pastor tacos that I've tried, it tastes like a big slippery mess drenched in sauteed onions with the pork swimming in an overly cumin tasting sauce that's more akin to Indian Chicken Tikka Masala than Al Pastor. Shitty? yes. Alright, that was not nice.

The Carnitas was really good; shredded pork that was succulent and a little greasy with loads of pork flavor that can sometimes be missing in carnitas. The meat fell apart as I was eating the taco, almost like pulled pork. I know that I'm a stickler for carnitas having crispy bits to them but I didn't mind that component missing in these tacos.

I love Manny's and their food has always been there for me in the past. During the good times and the bad and usually paired with an alcoholic beverage.

Unfortunately, I have to give them a negative review based only on the tacos I tried. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy eating at Manny's or that I wouldn't mind having a burrito or potato taco there sometime soon but its become obvious to me that since no real challengers emerged in Thousand Oaks ( Or stayed in business long ) to compete in the "hole in wall-health department issues-taqueria" business that Manny's has simply not stepped up their game over time.

Sorry this is starting to read like a break up letter or something but I really do like the place. Its just that those tacos sucked in comparison to whats in the rest of the county. 2/5 stars.

Manny's Mexican Grill
1030 East Avenida De Los Arboles
Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

El Taco De Mexico - Oxnard

For today’s taco excursion, I ended up at a place called El Taco De Mexico in Oxnard. I guess I was just keeping with the theme of “tacos de Mexico” after the last place that I posted about in Oxnard called Jesse’s Taco De Mexico.

Either way, this again was another taqueria that I was really looking forward to eating at. After not posting anything for that last 2 weeks I really wanted to start this next session of posting off strong with a good showing out of the heart of Oxnard.

Strangely enough, El Taco De Mexico is right next door to another taqueria called: Taqueria Hernandez. I've never seen 2 next to each other (not in Ventura County, anyways) but at some point I'll probably come back to check that place out as well.

Okay, as far as El Taco De Mexico is concerned it was much more spacious inside than I expected. I immediately got in line after entering and ordered 4 tacos a the register: Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Carnitas and Buche (Pigs stomach lining).

There wasn't a condiment table or salsa bar or anything but the option for taco fixing's when you order are cilantro, onion and either a hot or mild salsa. I went with everything mentioned and the hot salsa.

The tacos: The Carne Asada was a bit bland. Although it was chopped up into tiny pieces it just lacked any real flavor. The spicy salsa roja almost hid this fact but they weren't very liberal when pouring the salsa on to the tacos, there was very little salsa on all of my tacos. What small amount of salsa I could taste was pretty good; a real smooth heat and very flavorful but it could not rescue that asada.

The Al Pastor had a ton of spices mixed in with the meat but it didn't make it any good. It was a sloppy mess of a taco with cooked onions and with an amazingly confusing flavor, much like Jesse’s Taco De Mexico. I don't know what the hell is going on but, so far, no one seems to be able to pull off a decent Al Pastor around Oxnard (in my opinion).

The Carnitas were also chopped up into tiny bits with an adequate amount of fattiness but zero crispiness! Man alive what a disappointment, and again, the salsa roja might have covered up the flaws in these tacos but there just wasn't enough.

The only real star here was the Buche taco. I haven't had one in a while so maybe any buche taco would have been awesome but I really liked this particular one. It had a distinctive pork flavor and the texture was soft, moist and melted in your mouth. I wish I would have just ordered 4 of these. The minimal amount of salsa on this taco actually helped! It let the cuts of stomach lining to stand out on their own, very delicious.

Well, El Taco De Mexico didn't really blow me away or anything and the fact that the buche was the best they had to offer for a taco isn't saying much. Easy come easy go. 2/5 stars.

El Taco De Mexico
3101 Saviers Road
Oxnard, CA 93033