La Guerra del Taco

[Since my article for this week got pushed to next, here's a food review from a couple of weeks ago!]

Though Montreal isn’t exactly a capital for the spicy food of our southern North Americans friends, there are a few hotspots around to satiate cravings for a more authentic Mexican food experience than 3 Amigos. The faceoff: Tequila Taco House vs. La Matraca.

Round 1: Tequila Taco House

           

Their interior may be small, but the high ceilings with tall shelves supporting earthenware pottery and desert plants make it feel comfortable and open. Festive Latin music dance salsas in the background and a waitress arrives instantly with water, menus, and preemptive bowls of hot sauces.

Before sinking teeth into the main course, try the guacamole nachos: the guac is homemade with the summery tang of lime that goes great with the oily bitterness of the thick cut corn nachos. For colder weather, there’s the Aztec soup – while salty, the taco shells lining the bottom do well to offset this, and the cheese and sour cream swirled on top are irresistible.

Guacamole and Aztec soup with spicy sauces

For the indecisive, the waitress enthusiastically recommends the Tequila Taco special. It has a little of everything, and is perfect for sharing. It comes with four soft tacos with two shrimp balls each that are fried in cornbread. Served with spicy mayo, a corn-herb-rice medley, chunky tomato salsa, and a side of nachos speared into a dollop of refried beans and cheese, it is positively filling. As an aside, their food presentation gets an A+.

 Taco Tequila special

As for drinks, the marguerites are where it’s at. The lime was maybe a bit salty, but the fabulous Jamaican marguerite is reminiscent of an amaretto sour with tequila.

In all, it’s not exactly cheap, averaging at $12 a dish, but the food is quality enough to make it worthwhile.

9/10

Round 2: La Matraca

Anyone looking for the Mexican equivalent of a Belle Province, look no farther! La Matraca is a diner with quirk, from its signs about la etiqueta del taco, to its corkboards crammed with photos of satisfied customers, to the “I <3 Tacos” t-shirts for sale.

The menu is a DIY checklist allowing for a mix-and-match of different dishes. While there isn’t any guacamole, they do have a savoury bean and Mexican sausage entrée soup (highly recommended!). The flautitas – taco-cheese rolls with a bean dip – are great for a group of friends to split.

Mexican sausage and black bean soup

Main dishes are a wide array of tacos, sandwiches, and burritos. The guera is the highlight of the menu, a flour tortilla with seasoned beef and cheese improved only by copious amounts of the three types of spicy sauces provided. For dragon-people who like to feast on fire, La Matraca’s hot scale for these sauces starts at around a 6 and hovers comfortably at a 9.

Their unique beverage selection includes milky sweet Agua de Horchata, Agua de Jamaica (a homemade ice tea), and fizzy apple soda.

Spicy sauces and (left clockwise), apple soda, Agua de Horchata, and Agua de Jamaica

To cap it off, there is a small selection of desserts, but the only one you should have eyes for is the flan which is surprisingly one of the best flans to be found in Montreal.

Prices range from $5-8, but the portions are small. Also the service was leaning on the frigid side and they charged for something that wasn't bought.

7.5/10

Winner

The quality of Tequila Taco House gives it first place, but both are worth checking out – take a date to Tequila Taco House, and go with friends to La Matraca!