Taco Shop

1288 Hornet Road
Rio Grande, NJ 08242
(609) 600-2961
Website

Cape May Brewing is a fantastic off-the-beach shore stop. A wide selection of good beer, the only thing missing was something to eat. Until Taco Shop opened next door, that is. In the same industrial area that the brewery operates, a number of small shops have taken root.

Taco Shop has a small menu, with standard burrito, bowl, quesadilla, taco options and then a choice of protein for each. When I saw they were hand making the tortillas for the tacos, I figured a sampler was in order.

Place an order, step next door to the brewery and have a beer while you wait, then pop back in, pick it up, and head back to the bar.

I got some tacos, a special shrimp tostada, and some street corn.

From left are the mole chicken, the carne asada, and the chorizo.

The "De Chorizo Casero" consists of housemade chorizo, salsa roja, and xni-pec (pronounced shneee pec) has Mayan roots, and refers to a wet dogs nose, a reference to the runny nose you will have from this spicy habanero hot sauce. While I didn't find this particularly hot, I did rather enjoy the chorizo. While I generally like my chorizo rendered down and grilled hard, this had lots of flavor and a great texture.

"De Carne Asada" taco was garnished with cherry tomato, avocado, pickled red onion, and creamy chimichurri. The brisket was nicely crisped, and well rendered, but it was lacking a strong punch of flavor. The topping worked well together, but I was looking for a deeper, more beefy experience (perhaps adding some stock or boullion to the braise mixture would work). Certainly it was still good, but the flavor was a bit subdued as opposed to what I expected.

Meanwhile, "De Pollo" was well shredded chicken, simply garnished with mole poblano. pickled red onion, and queso fresco. Again, everything was fresh, well thought out, and assembled with care, but it was lacked the depth of flavor I expect from mole. It had no distinct, characteristic flavor, such as nutty, chocolaty, etc.

The shrimp tostada was my favorite of the protein (a special), because of the chiptole mayo. That stuff was like crack. A crisp tostada flat topped with avocado, tender shrimp, queso, and crema. The stuff dreams are made of.

Finally the street corn. Chipotle mayo (fantastic), crema, queso, El Muerto salt (red flakes below, absolutely delicious, you can buy it here), lime, and cilantro. I loved this street corn. The spicy mayo and El Muerto made it stand out from the dozens of variations I have tried, and numerous versions made myself. They might bump the flavor up a bit on some of the offerings (though I imagine they are catering to a specific niche, but overall, this is a SOLID place to eat when quaffing some delicious Cape May Brewery beers.

Besito

Suburban Square
105 Coulter Ave.
Ardmore, PA 19003
(484) 417-6825

Besito (little kiss) is a new entrant to the high-end Mexican scene in the burbs. They have a number of other restaurant locations, and invited me to come check out their soft opening last week. It is located in Ardmore, and the attention to detail is extremely nice.

The interior is slick, with modern Southwest flair (which reflects their menu), and nicely appointed decorations.

I was told to start with margaritas, so I had to oblige. They were great drinks, though possibly a bit of the old velvet hammer, as I could barely taste the tequila. The salsa was fire roasted tomato, and had a touch of heat.

First up was the table side guac. I really don't care if it's gimmicky, I love watching it be prepared.

The server took into account the level of heat I wanted, and served it in the same stone mortar it was mixed in. The guacamole was great. Each order contains a whole avocado, and was well seasoned, creamy, and still had the chunks that let you know this was made with a ripe avocado.

The owner John Tunney stopped by and chatted while I stuffed my face. He also sent out some shrimp tacos, as they are always a crowd favorite. I can't argue, these were one of the tastiest things of the night.

Crispy shrimp, chipotle sour cream, and queso fresco, three of the things I like most about Mexican cuisine, came together for an explosion of flavors and textures. It was fresh, rich, and clean. I could eat approximately fifteen of these things.

Next up was the dinner course (I skipped any additional appetizers), and decided to try the enchiladas de mole poblano, the mixtos tacos, and a variety of sides.

The mole sauce was rich, thick, and delicious. It had a perfect consistency and was deep in the toasted flavor of poblanos. I really liked this iteration of the timeless (yet time consuming to make) Mexican dish.

The mixtos was basically queso fundido, topped with chorizo, chicken, and grilled skirt steak. It came with napoli (cactus) salad, and two sauces. The salad was fantastic. It was like a Mexican version of succotash, and was bursting with bright acidity. I was surprised with the flavor and how much I liked this salad. The queso was made with melted queso Chihuahua, and had so much flavor I could have  eaten this with a fork (and possibly did). The chicken and steak were good, the only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the chorizo. It was more like a Mexican hot dog and less like the chorizo I traditionally see.

All together, this was a great dish, and the cheese was just fantastic. You will not be able to tell from these pictures, but it is incredibly dark in there. They even give you little Besito branded lights to see the menu. It's that dark. Probably a good thing if you were going on a date with someone who looked like me. Not so much if you are a fat guy trying to see what ELSE you are going to order.

A cheesy taco creation shown below.

The elotes de la calle was simple and fresh. It was roasted corn, some queso fresco, and some chili. I loved this take on the traditional street corn (which I make quite often at home), but I use mayo at home and wished they had too...

The beans were okay, nothing to write home about, but they came extra with the entree, so that is a nice touch. The rice was well cooked, and was studded with pepita seeds. It was almost like a pilaf, which was an interesting twist on standard white rice.

John the owner came by and asked if I tried the plantains. At this point, I was starting to hit the wall of gluttony, but I powered through when he had an order brought out. Fried sweet plantains, queso fresco, and crema. Simple, indulgent, and delicious. The cheese and cream balanced out the sweetness, and the caramelized edges had just enough crispiness.

At this point, I was really getting too full for comfort. That being said, the flan was supposed to be great. So I obviously had to indulge.

Sure enough, it was great. A light texture, with not overly sweet base, and some fresh whipped cream.

The meal ended with a to-go bag of hot churros, and a gift of two Mexican worry dolls. You put these under your pillow and they take your worry from you. Very cool little treat, and I was happy to only be worrying about waddling back to the car. Thank you Besito, I will be dreaming of that queso fundido until I make it back.

Don Gabriel

611 W Strasburg Rd.
West Chester, PA 19380
(610) 431-3212
Website

I was told West Chester had some great Mexican spots, so I thought I would start with the popular Don Gabriel. It's located in what was obviously a WAWA in it's former life.

It had all of the makings of a great spot. No frills seating, a small grocery store inside, and chips and salsa.

A kitchen with various pots of bubbling sauces and stews.

And fresh guacamole.

The guac was good. The chips were medicore. But they were not a show stopper. The salsas, while plentiful, all lacked acidity and salt.

The pork tamale was decent, nothing to write home about. Confusingly, I had a previously frozen sweet corn tamale sample at Trader Joe's recently that far surpassed this offering.

The sope was good, like a salad on a masa disc. I liked the cotija, but again, nothing was too impressive with this item.

I felt the taco trio would be a good way to try some of my favorite meat varieties. The chorizo was good, the barbacoa had all the trappings of good 'coa, but the chicken was extremely bland and dry. In addition, why were they served with lemon slices? The lime shortage?

The torta was the biggest winner of the group. I got the al pastor, and although the bread could have been better, it had all the necessary requirements. I would order this again, if I were ever forced back here.

Probably the biggest disappointment was the mole. It had a couple of whole pieces of chicken in a rather bland sauce, lacking the complexity and depth of traditional mole. I would pass next time.

I just didn't find anything to love at Don Gabriel, and ended up spending over $40 in disappointment. I have heard West Chester has great Mexican, so where is it?