Another week, another slew of tacos:
Carnitas Los Gabrieles: I've said before on the sub that this spot, in the Piñata distrct of DTLA, belongs in the top tier of carnitas stands in L.A. Coming back there for the first time in a while only reconfirmed that impression. The carnitas mixtas here is everything you'd want: a beautiful blend of different textures and pork flavor in every bite, served on handmade tortillas. While it's not the least expensive carnitas taco out there at $6/each, to me, it's worth the cost. 9/10
Tacos Anahis: This is an evening stand off Whittier, by Marietta, in East Los. I passed it by on the way home from Tacos El Xolo and was curious enough to return. It’s a relatively large stand, taking over an entire parking lot. They have two planchas (one for meats, one for hand rolled tortillas), a large comal bubbling with some of their meats, your standard al pastor trompa, and two tables for salsas and toppings. All of that allows them to have a large menu: all kinds of antojitos and at least half a dozen meat options. Plenty of seating, at least compared to most other stands.
All of this said however: the tacos were just OK. Overall, I found them to be underseasoned so whatever salsas/toppings you add is doing a lot of the work to making things flavorful. The suadero was probably the least memorable of the trio because it was both bland and a little dry. The buche was more tender and the cabeza had more going on flavor wise but all of it was average, at best. At $2.50 each, they're a decent value, but it's not great bang for the buck compared to other stands. All three: 7/10
One last item I tried was a vampiro with al pastor. They asked if I wanted everything which meant topping it with lettuce, tomato, crema, and cotija cheese. That’s not how I usually see it prepared at other stands but, no complaints since this added more texture and flavor but once again, the al pastro was just average. I’m glad I went to check out this place but it’s not gonna make my rotation. Vampiro: 7.5/10
Mariscos El Faro: In contrast, I'm really glad to have finally tried this truck in Highland Park, just south of the Arroyo library, off of Figueroa. They specialize in Sinaloan seafood, with tacos, tostadas, botanas, etc. I was there to try three items in particular, all of which we got: tacos de pescado was the least memorable; while it’s kind of Baja style, the batter wasn’t crunchy enough; they may as well have grilled this. The flavor was fine but you can get this done much better, elsewhere. 5/10
The tacos de camaron were better…not at the level of Mariscos Jalisco but there’s no shame in being “not quite as good as one of the best damn tacos in L.A.” But there was decent crunch and the fillings were tasty. 7.5/10
The big winner for me was the plate of shrimp empanadas. You get three to an order as these are all on the slightly smaller end. They didn’t state if the empanadas were made from wheat or corn but based on the texture, I assume it’s wheat. These were very enjoyable: crunchy exterior, creamy and cheesy interior, not quite the same flavor as the shrimp tacos but close. While not literally bite-size, you can polish one of these off in about 3 to 4 bites and it would be very dangerous to put a platter of these in front of me. 9/10
Tacos de Canasta La Salsa: I’ve been meaning to try this place for a while. Tacos de canasta, aka “basket tacos” are small, with sealed edges, and they’re partly steamed by having them stacked in baskets. From my understanding, the origins of these were as quick, on-the-go snacks, sold by street vendors. This spot, located in one of the dense Fashion District alley markets (just south of Santee Alley in fact), isn’t a street stand however. It’s an operation, meaning that they have a whole system in place: someone at the front will take your order which is simply the number of tacos you want. They’ll issue you a receipt which you take inside and hand over to the folks behind the counter who will ask you which tacos you want and they’ll put your plate together.
Pricing is based on volume: if you buy six, for example, it’s around two dollars each but I wasn’t that hungry and I just wanted three, in which case it was more like 2.50 each. if you order a big enough platter, it can be as little as a dollar each. You get a choice of five different fillings: chicken mole, chicharron, chorizo with potatoes, just potatoes, just beans.
I got one of each of the first three. Not a big fan of how greasy these were (the only other time I’ve had this dish was in CDMX and I don’t remember those being greasy there). They are tasty though I couldn’t really tell the difference between the chicharron versus the chorizo. 7/10
The mole sauce was overly sweet so the chicken taco wasn’t my favorite. 6/10
Overall, I’m glad I finally went to try this place. If nothing else, visiting the fashion district on a Sunday was an experience in an of itself; I had no idea it was so packed and lively. As for the tacos: similar to those shrimp empanadas, there is something enjoyable about a small taco to just scarf down in a few bites but didn’t love how greasy these were and for the size, you’re definitely not getting the same kind of bang for the buck as you would at most other places.
Bonus churros: there is a stand right next to Tacos De Canasta which sells bags of fresh churros and I was very tempted to get one but they only serve them in these larger, $10 bags and I was definitely not that hungry. But on my way out, I passed a street vendor selling smaller bags for five dollars in while it wasn’t hot out the fryer, it was still pretty tasty, especially because I can’t even remember the last time I had churros. 7.5/10
by soulsides
Dining and Cooking