Well, instead of me starting off this review with the prerequisite "I suck at running a blog" rabble, lets just get into my latest post in the never (never) ending search for taco excellence in the Ventura County. But let me also add, it would be a joke to say that I'm keeping this blog up to date. OK-
So I'm at La Gloria Taqueria in Oxnard which may, or may not be related to the fantastic: La Gloria De Oxnard. The names of some of these taqueria's can make things quite confusing in how they borrow from each other (or, possibly their respective home town) when it comes to naming. Although really, who gives a shit.
So yeah- I go up to the counter to order my tacos, and after a bout with indecisiveness, I settle upon two carnitas, one asada and one cabeza. No Al pastor here, but they did have tripas up on the board and surprisingly, chicken too. Which I feel is totally useless in a taco unless we're talking about Chicken Tinga and not some dry chicken breast. the latter seems to be appearing in many tacos around Oxnard. Such a sad state of affairs.
So moving on:
Carnitas were really good; strong pork flavor, shredded and moist with some crispy bits and overtones of lard. Hey, I don't have a problem with lard. Although it wasn't up there with Taqueria Potrillos (in Camarillo) lard-ish tacos, the taste was part of the flavor profile and very distinctive. Delicious all the way.
Cabeza: just like its carnitas brethren it was moist, juicy, greasy and very tasty. Can't ask for a better cabeza taco. Well seasoned too.
Carne Asada: Unfortunately the loser of the bunch ended up being the carne asada. It lacked flavor and quite honestly the texture had no "bite" whatsoever. I never felt like I was eating beef but instead something that came out of slow cooker that may have been beef at one point. It was really soggy and bland, it would have been great in a beef stew but not in this taco.
The tortillas were okay, warm and pliable which is fine but I like my tortillas heated up on the plancha with some oil or preferably dipped in some chorizo grease..... or something along those lines.
The salsa on these tacos was very, very mild and did not stand out in any way. The only salsa available in the condiment area was a salsa verde that was pleasant but a nice dark, smokey salsa roja would have jolted these tacos alive. Too bad that the container that was holding the salsa roja was totally empty. I tried to scoop out the liquid that I could see at the bottom but couldn't get any on the ladle. Oh well.
I may try and come back, but probably won't. 3/5 stars.
La Gloria Taqueria
2736 East Vinyard Avenue
Oxnard, CA 93036
Cabeza: just like its carnitas brethren it was moist, juicy, greasy and very tasty. Can't ask for a better cabeza taco. Well seasoned too.
Carne Asada: Unfortunately the loser of the bunch ended up being the carne asada. It lacked flavor and quite honestly the texture had no "bite" whatsoever. I never felt like I was eating beef but instead something that came out of slow cooker that may have been beef at one point. It was really soggy and bland, it would have been great in a beef stew but not in this taco.
The tortillas were okay, warm and pliable which is fine but I like my tortillas heated up on the plancha with some oil or preferably dipped in some chorizo grease..... or something along those lines.
The salsa on these tacos was very, very mild and did not stand out in any way. The only salsa available in the condiment area was a salsa verde that was pleasant but a nice dark, smokey salsa roja would have jolted these tacos alive. Too bad that the container that was holding the salsa roja was totally empty. I tried to scoop out the liquid that I could see at the bottom but couldn't get any on the ladle. Oh well.
I may try and come back, but probably won't. 3/5 stars.
La Gloria Taqueria
2736 East Vinyard Avenue
Oxnard, CA 93036
