La Taquiza

-

I know, I know. Another Korean Mexican taco? Well, perhaps the Kogi truck started a trend, or perhaps it's just the perfect time for latin-asian fusion cuisine to emerge. Whatever it is, Kogi is not the only one doing the Korean Mexican taco.

Behold La Taquiza. They are known for their mulitas, which are two tortillas with cheese, meat, and veggies inside. Almost like a quesadilla, but on crack. Here are some pictures of those:

I eat at La Taquiza about once every two weeks, usually it's enough time for me to really crave it. The last time I was there, I saw a sign that said they were going to start serving Korean tacos. Yes! More than just satiating my cravings to eat Korean Mexican tacos, I was excited I would be able to compare the two existing Korean Mexican fusion tacos and blog about it. Truly, madly, deeply.

I met Miguel, the owner of La Taquiza, who explained how they went through rigorous test groups to see which combinations of flavors worked the best. I ordered the pork and the beef.


It's basic. Meat, kimchi, Korean hot pepper sauce, avocado. No frills (nor cabbage). If you feel like you need to add something, you can always go to the salsa bar (pictured below) and add whatever you want to it. I wanted to taste it the way it was.
The verdict? I think Kogi and La Taquiza have very different takes on the Korean Mexican taco. Kogi strives to make it fusion from the beginning, mixing ingredients that work together, and tends to lean towards being sweet. The thing with Kogi (in the Alibi Room, not in the taco trucks) was that all the menu items started tasting the same. Could it be because of the marinade? I know that when I ordered the tacos from the taco truck, the pork and the beef tasted very different from each other. In the alibi room, I ordered chicken, beef, and pork but they gave me three beef tacos. I also ordered beef sliders so there I was eating a beef slider or taco and the carbs don't taste that much different to make it seem like I'm eating two completely different things.

La Taquiza, on the other hand, uses less ingredients, and takes a different course. It combines authentically Korean items like kimchi and garnishes pork that is prepared in a Mexican style (yes, I know al pastor is derived from Lebanon but it's now Mexican, ok?) though the short ribs taste like Korean galbi and the avocado can be argued to be Californian, but Mexican food uses it almost like a staple. The avocado cools down the Korean hot pepper sauce and the kimchi which are both very spicy!

They're both good, like I said. Kogi uses higher quality ingredients but La Taquiza makes it work with less ingredients and there's a kick to the flavors.

I also tried their shrimp tacos, which comes with cabbage. Miguel was kind enough to explain that cabbage only belongs in fish/shrimp tacos. They also have Korean burritos so I'm going to try those tomorrow and will report back.

Short cap: Kogi = sweet and spicy. La Taquiza = spicy and salty.

*edit*
I had the short rib burrito today. Must admit I'm not a fan. I guess I just don't really like sticky rice to be in my burrito and I also wanted more Mexican ingredients. It was basically short ribs that tasted like galbi with Korean hot pepper sauce, avocado, kimchi and Korean sticky rice. The concept is good but I wanted more of the Latin ingredients.... maybe even cilantro or tomato. The pico de gallo helped a bit but I think the sticky rice threw me off.

La Taquiza 2
3009 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(213) 741-9795

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black Sesame - the food trend I love

-
Image
Black sesame ice cream, black sesame cake, black sesame creme brulee, black sesame mochi, black sesame mochi ice cream, black sesame sauce, black sesame paste, black sesame soup, black sesame dim sum, black sesame gelato.... Is it just me or is this the new trend in desserts? Especially among Asian (or Asian-inspired) restaurants, the black sesame could be the new red bean! According to Betty Hall from LA Times , not only is the black sesame taking America by storm, it's wildly popular in Europe as well. Growing up, I've always had black sesame in my food. Many Korean dishes call for it, but never had I had it in a delicious dessert until I tried the Sesame Bean Sensation ($7.50) at Royal/T cafe , located in Culver City, CA. It was a layered cake with gray sesame cream filling. The nutty and sophisticated taste of the black sesame with the girly sweetness of the fruity cake got me hooked. Ever since then, I've been on the look out for black sesame anything. When I went to L...
Read more

Cuñape

-
Image
"Cuñape" is the best cheeseballs in the world, and it’s from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. These gooey and addictive cheese balls are similar to the Brazilian "pão de queijo" or the French "gougères" or the Colombian "pandebono" but all of these are different from each other as well. Gougères are lighter and more airy while the Brazilian ones are chewier but drier on the outside. I would say the pandebonos are closest in taste and texture to the Bolivian cuñape but it is slight more bready. In Bolivia, we use mennonite cheese (farmer's cheese) for this recipe and honestly without that cheese it will never be exactly like the original but you do what you can. I've been hunting down a similar cheese in the U.S. for ages but the closest I can get to it is to use the queso blanco or fresco and add some more salt (or even mix some feta into it). The history of the cuñape is very interesting. It is a Guaraní word that means "a woman's b...
Read more

Making Mocochinchi

-
Image
I get really excited when I can think of a food or drink that is solely Bolivian. I admit there isn't too many Bolivian dishes that are not influenced by the many countries that it borders. Even the Saltena, Bolivia's most famous empanada looking pastry comes from a woman who came from Salta, Argentina, to Tarija, Bolivia.  So when I'm researching Mocochinchi, my favorite childhood and now adulthood drink, made from dehydrated whole peaches, sugar, and cinnamon, and I find that it's a "Bolivian"drink , I get really really excited. Bolivia Bella  goes on to describe regional favorites.  In Santa Cruz, you can buy the dehydrated peaches in the open markets. I snag a pound of dehydrated peaches because you really can't find these in the U.S. except maybe in Miami or Virginia, where there is a huge population of Bolivians. Using sliced dehydrated peaches don't really work for this particular drink because the fun is eating the reconstituted pe...
Read more