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