Tacos in Sight. Afternoon Delight.

I received a message from my friend Christina saying “We are going to be in your area tomorrow, Silverlake Arts and Crafts Fair. You should stop by!” Finally! Christina works for the Border Grill Truck, which until yesterday made most of its stops on the Westside of Los Angeles. Being an Eastsider and with LA’s notorious traffic quandary, I don’t often venture westward. I have been a long time fan of the Two Hot Tamales, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, and until this weekend I had not had a chance to experience the flavors and joys of the their latest gastronomic endeavor: the Border Grill Taco Truck.

Saturday, R and I waited patiently growing just hungry enough to gorge ourselves on tacos and more. When our stomachs could wait no longer we made the convenient trip down the street and found the big black shiny truck.

I have had many a taco in my day. Tacos are actually part of my meal rotation each week. I am also no stranger to the growing outpour of food trucks around LA. I have sampled a Kogi BBQ taco, I have evaluated the Let’s Be Frank hotdogs, I have savored the BarbieQ’s sandwiches, and I have tried the CoolHaus ice cream sandwiches. This experience was different. As we read over the menu posted on the truck, the words jumped out with new vitality. The pork taco was braised in achiote seed; the avocado taco was coated in quinoa and amaranth. Overwhelmed and excited by all of my choices, I worried that if I did not order everything on the menu I would miss out on the half the pleasure. We ultimately settled on 4 different tacos, 2 cones, and churro bites to round it all out.

We started with the Green Corn Tamale cone. It was a sweet and savory deconstructed tamale placed in a paper cone in which you would normally find a snow cone. It was topped with salsa fresca and crema. I had a buzz of euphoria with each sweet corn bite. One cone was hardly enough between the two of us.

Next we enjoyed the Peruvian Ceviche cone, a bright blend of mahi mahi, ginger, Amarillo chiles, pickled onions and lime in a crispy tortilla cone. The fish was tender and flavorful with the perfect crispness provided by the tortilla. The ginger was a pleasant and unexpected ingredient.

The tacos were a playful contrast of textures and flavors. The Yucatan pork taco was juicy and satisfyingly tart from the orange and pickled onions. The Avocado taco was generously crusted in seeds made complete with a creamy corn relish. The Potato Rojas taco had a silky spicy consistency. The flavor of the potato was expanded by the chiles and Mexican cheeses that crowned it.

Full and happy, we ended our meals with bliss in the form of four little dulce de leche infused churro bites with whipped cream. This was a true afternoon delight!