Let's Give Them Something to Taco About
The Tacos of San Diego
Good morning,
As I said in my last newsletter, the one about being in Los Angeles during the terrible wildfires in January, I would be dedicating this one to a journey of tacos. So let’s begin.
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We said farewell to idyllic Los Angeles and boarded the Amtrak train towards sunny San Diego. Four hours later, we arrived late in the evening at the Santa Fe Depot station and already felt this was going to be the quieter part of the trip. Well, that’s what we thought until it was 2am in Hillcrest after screaming Chappell Roan at the top of our lungs in the lesbian bar Gossip Grill. San Diego is a laid-back city with a busy downtown, the military docks, golden sandy beaches and pine covered mountains. It’s at the bottom of the California state where the Mexican border lies. Many people who live in Tijuana, the Mexican city just across the border, cross over daily to commute to work. As you can imagine, there is a lot of influence on what food you can devour.
The areas of San Diego are vast and varied, from North Park to Ocean Beach or even popping into Old Town or heading across the bridge to Coronado. Every area offers you a different take on San Diego, but something that unites them, the tacos.
You would think a week of tacos would shake my obsession but we ended up eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was told by a friend out there that it’s common for people to eat tacos for breakfast especially fish and shrimp ones and birria tacos if you’re severely hungover. I wasn’t going to argue with the expert.
I want to take you on a journey through my trip to San Diego, through the tacos. Pictures will be included. There won’t be a ranking system as each taco made a different impact. So here we go… do save this if you’re heading to San Diego at some point in the future.
City Tacos, North Park
This is how it all started. The first taco stop. We were slightly tired from our four hour train journey but we were ravenous. My partner’s family friends’ drove us to North Park where Javier recommended City Tacos. It was a small place with only a handful of tables and chairs but it was a convenient stop for a quick bite to eat. As we were starving, we devoured them quickly I had the quesibirria taco which was a tasty combination of pulled beef and salty cheese with a dash of coriander and onion. We added some veggie frijoles, a mix of pinto beans, cheese and vegetables
It was a good starting point for the week ahead.
Mike’s Taco Shop
We spent the day over at the very laidback, hippie surfer area of San Diego, Ocean Beach. The sun was shining and reflecting off of the blue waves, the main strip filled with souvenir shops, antiques and thrift stores. We went to Mike’s Taco Shop which is on the main strip, rock music was blaring from the tattoo shop upstairs and it was very quiet, it was in the middle of the week to be fair. I ordered the steak and shrimp taco as well as the northern tijuana one, steak, pinto beans and cheese. Plenty of fresh coriander and fresh avocado slices. Washed down with an mandarin orange jarritos. We sat outside under one of their umbrellas to shield us from the what we would call the “hot sun”. Most people were in trousers and jackets whereas I was wearing a mini skirt, I had to get that tan on gals.
South Beach Bar
This was a drunken experience to be honest. After spending some time in the bar down the road during happy hour, a few mai tai’s later and we were famished again. South Beach Bar had great views of the sea and the coast, however it was a shame it was dark by this point so the only thing we could see was our reflection in the balcony windows. Lower league basketball was blaring on the TV’s in the room and it was considerably busy for a mid week evening. It was a Tuesday so there was deal Taco Tuesday deal, as well as a cocktail deal, on so we ended up having a couple each. We went for the fish tacos this time including the baja one and the fried prawn one. Every taco had the same topping as the the last, white cabbage, diced tomatoes and more like a sour cream on top but they just call it “white sauce”, interesting. It did the job though and curbed our appetite.
Cafe Coyote- Old Town
Popping into Old Town was like a step into the past, there was a haunted house, an idyllic graveyard respecting the people who built the town, saltwater taffy made right in front of you and my weakness, pretty ceramics. Cafe Coyote is on the main street near the top of Old Town. It’s very popular as you would imagine. I would say these were big portions, plenty of rice and refried beans to accompany. I went for something different and chose the California taco—steak, cheese, tomatoes, and chips. It wasn’t my favourite out of the ones I had so far, I don’t know why I picked it. Maybe to have something ever so slightly different and mix it up a bit, next time I won’t bother. I tried Kyra’s pulled beef birria taco and preferred that. It was a pretty hot day, so having a massive jug of iced tea from Cafe Coyote was ideal.
Quixote
I was celebrating turning the grand old age of 29 when I was in San Diego where as a joint celebration present, we spent the night at the 1940’s themed hotel The Lafeyette. The hotel was filled to the brim with green strips, intricate velvet and leather, checkered pool and a sense of history, it was a landmark building after all. Quixote is the restaurant just to the side of the hotel, and it’s linked to it. This was the most upmarket meal of our trip. Inside, the dark wood panelling and the stained windows, flickering candles made it cozy and exclusive, apart from having to put the menu up to the candle to see what was to offer. The details were taken from a decommissioned church in Mexico. It was a place of worship for the food alone. We had more than just tacos including a blue crab corn donut with caviar and tempura mushroom duxelle and sweet potato. In terms of tacos, we had their chilli garlic shrimp one which had this explosive but fresh salsa macha and the bitterness from the chicory. And because it was our birthday celebration, we drank plenty of mezcal cocktails including my favourite, ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’.
Tacos El Gordo
It’s 2am. What are you craving? Tacos. After a night out in Hillcrest where they don’t hold back on alcohol measurements we popped into Tacos El Gordo in downtown San Diego. The vibe gave off McDonalds in Brixton, a lot of drunk people having the same idea as us. I was surprised that there was security guards watching people like a hawk as they devoured tacos in quick succession. Bright red signs signalling where you can pick which meat you want and how you want it, whether in a taco, quesadilla or tostadas, it was a chaotic delight. I had the adobado pork quesadilla and an asada steak taco and I also ate them in quick succession. I would say this was the perfect drunk snack and it made me question why no one has opened up a late night taco spot in one of the big cities in the UK, we’re missing out.
Tijuana Food Court
The last stop on our journey. After picking up some supplies to take back to the UK corn tortillas and corn husks, it was time to say goodbye to San Diego. Our good friend Marla took us to the Tijuana Food Court in Chula Vista, where we had some ensenada tacos and spicy prawn ones. We tried some of Marla’s spicier tacos and her mum’s red mullet tostado, which were both delicious. It was sad this was the last stop and I was close to weeping, as we sat on the plane home in complete silence we decided that we needed to come back as quickly as we could.
Javier’s Dinner
A special Mention to Javier who cooked for us at his home. Gorgeous tamales that are worth a mention.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter. I’ll be back in a fortnight about my partner’s love affair with the air fryer but now I’m off to Mexico to eat even more tacos.
Chloe x