yeah the hard tortilla is a trademark. i adore it
Tried Taco Maria last weekend - fantastic restaurant, enjoyed it very much. Excellent food and service. Every single dish was a hit, no misses. Smoked albacore taco is declicousand was our favorite! Paired with Domaine Huet Clos du Bourg Sec Vouvray which carried us very well through the whole savory part of the menu.
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Glad you liked it!
The Clos du Bourg Sec is easily the best Vouvray Iâve tasted, over multiple vintages, and itâs not terribly expensive. Thatâs the kind of wine I like to see on wine lists.
Gah I just went back to taco maria for the first time since March 11th or 12th 2020. Lol umm so is this again a top 5 resto in Southern California?
The good is revelatory. Best tortillas Iâve ever had. The guinea hen that @PeonyWarrior mentioned was, as he noted, the best poultry dish Iâve had this year. Making a taco with that crispy skin, the gooseberries, the epic salsa, the tortillasâomg. The sturgeon taco is also divine.
This was a much tastier meal than the one I just had at Quintonil. From a sheer flavor-creation/ flavor melding standpoint, Carlos Salgado to my eyes is the best chef in Southern California. Nobody else cooks thing that I want to eat quite as much as he does. (Iâve not been to Hayato yet donât yell at me.) Occasionally execution is not perfect. For instance, my amuse buche (a squash taquito type thing) that I literally saw them deep frying three feet in front of my bar seat was lukewarm. The cheesecake was stupendous if not too large? Etc.
But holy cow this review is mostly for me to look back on in like 3 months when Iâm trying to decide if I should go back. Yes, you should. Nobody makes food that you want to eat more than Carlos Salgado does.
If this place had a full bar and was in some sexy spot in Silver Lake this would be the quintessential LA restaurant. What a damn joy though that it exists in any format.
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I liked it about the same as Pujol. My favorite dishes at Taco Maria (the two you mentioned) were better than anything we ate at Pujol.
We would go often if it were in LA. I suspect we will go about twice a year going forward, making the drive just for Taco Maria.
If youâre looking for another good MĂ©xico food city try Guadalajara.
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So sad! Never got to have dinner there only their lunch.
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this is a bummer, but whispers might Carlos Salgado actually have a place to really get after it? A bigger space with a bigger kitchen and a tad more ambition might mean the best food OC has ever seen.
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If anyone has a reservation this week/weekend that they canât use, please let me know.
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Addendum to my previous message:
If anyone has a reservation this week/weekend that they canât use, or even an extra spot in a reservation they will be using, please let me know. This has been top of my list for several years and I just never made it happen. I know chef says it will reopen, but that doesnât mean it necessarily will (or that it will anytime soon).
That scallop aguachile was such an amazing bite of food
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In a very small world encounter, I ran into Carlos Salgado at Holbox tonight.
Hereâs the money quote. âOur best work is still ahead of us.â
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(Brimming with tears of joy as I read thisâŠ)
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Look I could easily cry at taco maria too haha
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Delete.