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.

Mid St8 Taco

West Shore Farmer's Market
900 Market Street
Lemoyne, PA 17043
(717) 737-9881
Website

I was over in Central PA for a weekend and decided to try out the West Shore Farmer's Market. This place is like a JV version of the Reading Terminal Market, but it certainly boasted a whole lot of different kinds of food. It was surprisingly good, and I won't go into details, but I ate at three places within an hour. My favorite was Mid St8 Taco, which had all kinds of flair, and even better tacos.

This gentleman on the right is hitting the complementary salsa bar. On the left is their fresh tortilla making stand.

This salsa bar was pretty great, with pickled peppers, onions, fresh salsa, and limes.

I decided to try the fried fish, short rib, and chorizo potato tacos.

The chorizo and potato was garnished with onion, garlic, and cilantro. I am always a fan of the fatty, greasy chorizo providing color and flavor to potatoes. These can be somewhat mushy, but the onion provided some textural crunch. Also, the fresh tortillas were fantastic. It is hard to beat fresh when it comes to taco wrappers.

The braised beef special was another great taco. Tender shredded beef with a hint of spice. The crispy ends (always the best part) added some texture and a healthy amount of flavor. A very good taco as well.

The fried fish was perhaps my favorite. It held achiote marinated and roasted wild atlantic cod with cabbage, pico de gallo, creme and shaved radish. I loved the variety of flavors involved with this. The cod had a nice heat and was perfectly fried. Radishes and cabbage gave fresh crunch, and the crema cooled everything down. It was a great taco de pescado if I do say so myself.

The color on the cod was brilliant. Who would have thought great tacos would come from the middle of the state? I guess if you knew the chef attended the Institute of Culinary Education on a James Beard scholarship, you might have had an inkling . . .

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.

Taqueria El Limon

446 Lancaster Ave.
Malvern, PA 19355
(484) 329-7969

If you have ever been to the Conshy El Limon, you know this place is no joke. It's easily one of my favorite joints for Mexican food in the Philly area. I happened to stumble across the recent Malvern addition, and figured it was definitely worth a shot. PLUS there is a kick ass Mexican market attached to it, so I could stock up on staples. It's not much to look at from the outside, located in the back end of an old strip mall parking lot, but it certainly makes up for appearance with the usual delicious food.

The chips and salsa/guacamole is a solid starter, but I had a bit of trouble getting past the fact that there was no salt on the chips. Zero granules of tasty sodium chloride to provide mouthwatering salinity to these extremely crunchy chips. The pico is quite hot but fresh and delicious, and the creamy guac had me like.

Oh, did I mention they offer free margaritas? Be sure to ask your server. While these are a bit too sweet and I'm not entirely sure how much liquor is in them (if any), I never turn down a free drink.

On to the torta. The torta here is a thing of beauty. Perfectly executed, with crispy al pastor, charred pineapple chunks, freshly sliced ripe avocado and a chiptole crema.

The al pastor is rich, spicy, and made using quality pork and rendering it down quite well. The griddle-frying approach creates a crust on it, and all of the usual ingredients, including pickled jalapenos, shredded lettuce, tomato, and queso are in perfect balance. The torta bread is also up to the task, though I wouldn't want to let this sit more than an hour or so.

Look at the stringy queso coming off this thing. Perfect.

A sampler of tacos was the next big winner. Chicken tinga, al pastor (I am an addict), and chorizo to round it out. A substitution was made to include cheese on these, blasphemous among some purists, but I pretty much do whatever I want. It was not needed, and I would skip next time. Too many cervezas the night before may have skewed my ordering judgment.

The tinga was just awesome. Hands down the favorite of the taco trio, but to be fair, I just ate an al pastor torta so it wasn't as new and exciting. Rich, deep tomato and chipotle flavors were accompanied by juicy, well cooked shredded chicken. Just perfect.

Again, that pineapple makes it for me on the al pastor.

The chorizo was solid, but I prefer mine to be crispy and well rendered, this retained a bit too much of the chew fat. That being said, it was promptly devoured.

Now, onto the mole. Probably the best thing at this place. Just look at how deep, dark and rich the mole sauce is. Let the darkness surround me.

The depth of flavor in the sauce belies the modest price tag that accompanies this giant burrito. Their burritos come smothered with either a tomatillo,  chipotle or mole sauce. You can't go wrong with any of these options but the mole is my personal favorite. This burrito is so big, I LITERALLY couldn't finish it. I tried and the more I tried the more the rice and margarita worked together to expand in my gut.

The chocolate and coffee flavors are punctuated with a smack of cinnamon that kept me coming back for more, even given my overfull situation. For $7 a grilled chicken, mole smothered burrito is about the best value in the Greater Delaware Valley.

In closing, you'd be hard pressed to find better Mexican anywhere in the suburbs, and even in the city. If you have a challenger, do let me know!