After realizing that the last few places that I have eaten at have yielded less than 3 stars, I started thinking that maybe I've been to harsh in my judgement. I was thinking that my standards (totally easily attainable by the way) may be out of whack with whats out there in this great county and maybe to rigid. I do enjoy tacos after all, so whats the big deal?
I started thinking, that even though, a guy hauling a lunch wagon with a piece of crap utility van and selling tacos out of it, some how has kicked everyone else's collective ass in making delicious tacos that I should none the less recalibrate the way I judge a good taco because apparently its just to damn hard to make a tasty taco around here. We're taking about tacos.........tacos, how freaking hard is that to nail??
But after I went to Establos Meat Market, i decided to stay on course.
I've been here before and thought their tacos were good not great the last time I was there. Establos is a Carniceria (Meat Market/Butcher) and is located off of Ventura boulevard in Camarillo. Most importantly though, its also a Mexican specific grocer with a taqueria located inside.
The menu at Esablos is very extensive with many options. I've never made mention of price at all the places I've visited but in my opinion anything over $1.50 is way to expensive for a taco. So at $1.00 a piece, it definitely adds some incentive to try a few different tacos.
Even though I could have chosen from: Asada, Pastor, Carnitas, Alambre, Buche, Pollo, Cabeza, Lengua, Chorizo and Tripas, I just went with the usual (Asada, Pastor, Carnitas) plus Chorizo.
After getting my order and realizing that there was no place to sit, I headed out to my car to eat there.
Carne Asada, was chopped very fine with a few larger chucks that were very tough to chew on. The taco was solid though, it had a classic steak ranchero flavor and was piping hot too. But most importantly, for me, it had a a nice crispy char from the plancha, which I love. The salsa roja on top was a solid compliment.
The Chorizo was nice and greasy (but not too greasy) with a clean overall flavor for chorizo so the grease was not running all over the place. Totally solid.
Carnitas was good too. Greasy, crispy tiny chopped bits of pork that made this taco delicious.
Al Pastor was really good! a shocking turn of events. No Trompo to be located on the premises but no matter, the flavor was clean, and the spices that I was looking for were their too. I'm looking for a strong chili / pineapple flavor with crispy bits of pork. It had all that with the pork flavor really standing out on its own. It was not totally traditional but was very enjoyable.
All of these tacos were delicious and enjoyable to eat. They were nice and small and could be devoured in a bite or two. all of the meat was chopped fine, much like El Taco De Mexico in Oxnard, but these had so much more flavor. I could have easily had four more, but held off .......... for now. 3.5/5 stars
Esablos Meat Market
2633 Ventura Blvd
Camarillo, CA 93010
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