Tourism

Tijuana’s El Taconazo disappoints with their flavorless tripa and adobada tacos

Though its charred sauce was very good, the other ingredients in the tacos didn’t help

By Redacción 2022-02-16T01:00:00+00:00

In this episode of Una Mordida Tacos Tijuana, our host, Chef Danny Betancourt, went to “El Taconazo” taqueria located in Av. Hipódromo 126-Int. B, 9 Section in Colonia Hipódromo. He tasted two tacos here: an adobada (marinated) taco and a tripa taco, both priced at $1.5 dollars (30 pesos).

Adobada taco

This taco has marinated meat, onion, coriander, a creamy coriander and guacamole dressing, and is served in two corn tortillas. The first thing our host noticed is that the adobada meat has a nice color and looks juicy. Another thing is that the bird's beak chile sauce can be noticed on the first bite, for it was quite spicy for our chef.

The tortillas were soft with a subtle taste of corn, but the meat, though it had a nice color, did not have a lot of flavor. There was a lack of adobo flavor, like achiote or pineapple, making the taste of the meat quite neutral. The dressing was very interesting, but Chef Danny would have enjoyed it more if it just had been the avocado pulp by itself. For his second bite, he decided to turn the taco around to find more fried meat and less sauce and to taste the caramelized adobo even more. This is why this taco gets a rating of 7.8.

Price: $1.5 dollars (30 pesos)

Tripa Taco

The second taco that our host ate had fried beef tripe, onion, coriander, Mexican husk tomato and regular tomato charred sauce and is served with two corn tortillas. When eaten, our chef confirmed that the sauce was quite tasty and that the spiciness level was a little above average.

On the other hand, the beef tripe was quite dry. As Danny stated, the process to make this specific kind of meat is very specific in its cooking, which is why very few places dare to offer tripa tacos. When tasted, and though he noticed a little more flavor in his second bite, it was still quite dry even though it had been fried in oil. While the sauce flavor creates a nice contrast in textures, neither the meat nor the tortilla helped this taco. This is why this taco gets a rating of 6.7.