The Taco Walk-o 2025

 

We're capping off this first ever 12 days of Reviewsmas with a very special treat... trying a bunch of tacos! Sometimes this really is a tough hobby that I've chosen.

What may surprise you is that doing this "project" (gorging on several tacos) was not even my idea... or at least not entirely. A very old friend of mine (lets refer to him as "David" his middle name) recently moved to the Dufferin and Rogers area of west Toronto and mentioned to me the considerable number of taquerias in the general vicinity, especially on St. Clair Avenue. This was certainly intriguing to hear, so together we quickly formed an idea of meeting up one afternoon to wander about and try as many of these tacos as we could. 

The only real debate or question was what to call this endeavour: the "Taco Crawl", "Taco Trip", "Taco Tour", "Taconnoiseurs" were all floated... but for this piece I'm going with another of his suggestions "The Taco Walk-o" because it's obviously the silliest and thus the funniest. What, you think I take any of this stuff seriously? Okay, maybe I do a little... but I never let that get in the way of a very, very dumb joke, damnit. 

While my old friend is not the type to exaggerate, the sheer number of taquerias we encountered was indeed staggering. With only two stomachs between us, I'd say we were able to sample a third (probably even less) of the places we saw... which means there will almost definitely have to be at least a second part to this. For now though... here is the first Taco Walk-o (he he he). 

Taco Fuego

 

Upon meeting at Eglinton West Cedarvale subway station, David and I made our way southeast, via Vaughan Road... coming across the corner of Taco Fuego (translating as "Fire Taco") rather quickly. The inside most definitely has a 'new restaurant' shine to it... and indeed BlogTo reviewed them just a month ago. 

In a rather hilarious example of 'great minds think alike' my taco companion ("Tacpanion?") ordered the same two tacos as I did: the "Pescado Asado" and the "Adobada" which you see above: a grilled pork with a thick slice of pineapple. Out of curiosity, is there a militant online community that is vehemently opposed to pineapple on tacos, like with pizza? Is this also a thing in the year 2025? I may not care who I'm offending exactly with my culinary viewpoints but I do like to know if I'm offending.  

Anyhow, this taco here was indeed quite tasty, a good first stop. The bits of grilled pork are small but still juicy enough, with some crispy edges to them and a solid undercurrent of flame grilled flavour... while the hunk of pineapple gives a fleshy fresh firm juiciness that really matches well with the peppery taste of the meat. I would've liked a bit more of it (the pork) and as such this taco is somewhat two dimensional... though still tasty.

Indeed, I was a bigger fan of the Pescado Asado if only because it was substantially more food. The name is a bit misleading, as "Pescado Asado" usually translates as "grilled fish" and this is more like a fried fillet. Nevertheless, this had all the elements I like in a fish taco: a good crunch, a full fluffy fish inside, good helping of slaw (thin shreds here so as to give a lighter texture) and a little bit of a tomato salsa underneath for some acidic sweetness. Very tasty indeed, a taco that definitely stood out once we'd reached the end of the day (this of course was only the beginning!)

Tenoch

A mainstay on St. Clair Avenue West for well over a decade now, Tenoch ended up being the only restaurant we visited that I'd actually heard of beforehand.

Unfortunately, their menu doesn't allow you to order one taco at a time (it has to be three) nor can you mix and match those three either. Curses! Instead, David and I agreed to order a different trio and trade one for one... with him getting three of their Cochinita tacos and myself going for the Al Pastor. 

The first noticeable difference between our first stop at Taco Fuego and here were the tortillas: while Fuego's tortillas were all right, these were much more alive and fresh/authentic tasting. Another obvious note is how much simpler these are: just diced onion and cilantro on the side (plus some of the salsas that came with our complimentary corn chips) are the only available frills. Otherwise, it's just pork and tortilla. 

Fortunately, there is a lot of that Al Pastor pork here and it is very flavourful. There's pineapple cooked in with the pork and so there is a hint of it everywhere throughout, along with the assortment of chili and onion and vinegary spices that make Al Pastor such a distinct flavour. The pork itself is also quite tender, not too fatty but still pleasant to chew while those flavours linger in the mouth. Very, very tasty stuff.

As for the Cochinita... likewise quite flavourful although I personally preferred the Al Pastor. Still, I did like the unique taste of this one, with a distinct earthy, almost citrus-like undercurrent to the flavour. The texture of the pork was also more shredded than the Al Pastor, which made it a bit juicier but also somewhat chewier as well. Definitely a very good taco as well that can hold its own in such a minimal configuration.  

Casa Sonora (inside La Tienda)

This is where things got a little confusing. You see, La Tienda is more like a Latin market than a single restaurant... or rather more accurately, it's like three different Latin restaurants in the space of one... which made things very perplexing at first when we sat down to order. There are even three different menus! "Uhhh... which restaurant are we in?"

It does help that my pal is himself a native Spanish speaker, allowing him to clarify these questions with our very friendly owner/chef. To be totally honest, I still wasn't completely sure which menu we had ordered from when coming back to write this article... I'm only about 90 percent certain it actually was the Mexican Casa Sonora (from recognizing their shirts from their Instagram feed) while the other two restaurants here are Costa Rican and Colombian respectively. 

Once we had that all sorted, it was time for more tacos! (Truly a running theme of this afternoon). Wanting to mix things up after all that pork at Tenoch, I ordered a "Chicken Tinga" and the "Barbacoa". These were indeed the smallest tacos of the day, though what they lacked in size they very much made up for in memorable flavour. 

 

Starting with the Chicken Tinga... you get a very wet and soft texture from the chicken, some acidity in the flavour (I didn't get much of a tomato taste considering) which is all well-balanced by the crumbled crema (think Feta with less dry saltiness). 

This one was all right. That soft texture of the chicken threw me a little off, like it had the loose texture of being shredded and slow cooked but more akin to the mouth feel of a saucy pork rather than the usual firmness of chicken. 

No matter, because the Barbacoa taco was truly exceptional. Incredible juicy beef texture and flavour, matched brilliantly with the light sweet tang of the pickled cabbage. The earthy, juicy beef flavour legitimately oozes out of this taco, like it is swimming in its own wonderful taste. This one tasted better than it looked and I think it looks pretty darn good to begin with. 

While we're here, might as well discuss the winner of the "Spiciest Salsa" crown of this day. Every taqueria we visited this day had also offered a standard mild verde salsa alongside a more earthy pepper/chipotle-focused salsa... the latter of which typically being the more intense, spicier option. This one from Casa Sonora indeed followed that pattern and then some... David (who can handle his spice) warned me beforehand that is particular salsa was pretty legitimate, which meant I of course had to try some. 

Yeah. It's both sneaky (taking it's sweet time to build the burn) and one that lingers... within a minute you'll be feeling that fire in your mouth and it will take a few minutes to subside. The actual taste is indeed very much an earthy, bitter pepper... though not to the point of being unpleasant. As a spice it's also more of a blunt, heavy spice rather than one that sizzles or stings... it's a hammer of heat! And yes it will bash your taste buds good... thumbs up. 

El Sazon Mexicano Restaurant & Bakery

Our final stop on the first ever Taco Walk-o (hey we were in over half a dozen each at this point and David still had a platter of chicken wings for dinner waiting for him). We sat down and immediately noticed El Sazon does an 'All You Can Eat' taco special one night every week, even offering a prize to whomever can eat the most in an hour (the all-time champion has their name on the wall and everything). Naturally, this made us both think of this:

 

Before our tacos arrived, we spit-balled how many tacos in an hour each of us thought we could eat (I figured I could get to 10 if I was hungry enough). Upon seeing the size of El Sazon's tacos, that estimate quickly dropped. These are quite large tacos, loaded with meat... you've got a carnitas up top and a beef brisket taco down below. 

 

First the Carnitas... a little too dry (both flavour and texture) and crumbly for my taste. At this point I was close to being stuffed full anyhow so it's a little bit of an unfair judgement at this stage of the game... but it also wasn't like this tasted so good I was eager to find room in my stomach for it. Very okay... which made it probably the weakest taco I ate this particular day. 

 

Fortunately, their brisket taco was much more up to the task of closing up this taco tour. Quite fatty and tender (with a very fatty flavour) resulting in a beefy texture ready to melt in ones mouth. Combined with a very corn-forward tortilla here and you've got a taco with fabulous flavour and texture (the tortillas were also soft in the centre though with a bit of crisp along the edges). Not a whole not of exotic spices here beyond salt and pepper I'd say... which sometimes is all you need when you've got a shredded brisket this juicy. 

---

So... many... tacos...

I think what I learned (beyond almost every one of these tacos being between good and exceptional) is that more authentic Mexican places tend to go very bare bones with their tacos... offering just the meat, tortilla, a salsa or two alongside some diced white onion and cilantro. Which in cases like these, when said meat is so well prepared and marinated or cooked in such fantastic flavours... can be all you need! 

It goes without saying that I look forward to the next time, whenever it may be, that my friend and I resume our tour/walk-o and visit some of the several other taco places we didn't get around to this time. In the meantime, I'd definitely recommend any one of the four spots we managed to sample on this go-around. All were very good in their own (and notably different) ways.