Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Casual walk-in to Chancho Tortilleria tonight to catch up with a friend. If it looks like it's got a line-up, don't be daunted -- go in and see if there's actually a wait for seating or if it's just the lineup to place your order at the counter. This is diner-style: Place your order, find a table. There are napkins at the table but if you're sharing with friends you probably want to look for a plate and fork as well. Guacamole ($9) Appys are always more expensive than mains, so you can't expect that much for price for portion. This was okay-tasting. At $9 I'd pass if I went again. Vegetarian Tortillas ($18 for half pound) - Mixed Potatoes and Vegetables. All orders include condiments: Pickled red cabbage, whole pinto beans, salsas, freshly made Chancho tortillas, and limes. The best part here is price for portion, especially if you are in a group of 3-4 people and order one pound. 1/4 pound is recommended as being enough for one person. We go...

I've had Queso Fundido at a couple of places ( Glowbal and The Mexican ) and so far Glowbal's done it the best. Why? The main reason is it's hot and stays sizzling hot for a long time. This keeps your cheese goopy and tasty, and helps you get some seared cheese on the sides of the stone bowl. Tried it tonight at La Mezcaleria and it was disappointing for so many reasons. Price was probably the worst -- at $26 you might be able to make it a meal for one, but you're also more likely to get much better and tastier for your money. And at $26 (for the one with ground Mexican chorizo, the only meat-optioned one) it cost twice as much as at Glowbal or The Mexican, for a comparable portion of cheese in a big but thick-walled shallow bowl. It came to the table sizzling but strangely with very little seared cheese on the sides of the volcanic stone bowl. Our server pointed out the seared cheese being a delicacy and I was also definitely looking forward to it. But it was ...

Been meaning to come here, finally dropped in on a whim for lunch. Lunch specials are decently priced! You can get a good meal for around $10. TIP: You want it spicy? Tell them up front and they'll help by bringing you decently spicy chilies/sauces. Azteca Soup & 2 Rolled Tacos (Taquitos) - $9.50 I let the server pick my tacos and she came up with beef tongue, and spicy pork with pineapple. Beef tongue very mild in flavour and not helped enough with the lime and onion provided. "Spicy" pork was delicious but not hot-spicy if you are worried about that. Overall the tacos were OK but flavour-wise not as good as, for example, Gringo . That said I only tried two types of tacos here. Azteca Soup is a tortilla soup (strips of tortilla inside!), chipotle pepper (but it's nowhere close to spicy-hot), diced avocado, cheese, and house sour cream. I like things spicy so I put in the provided chili sauce, and it was great! Not too sure I like the diced avoc...

Small clean place at the dingy foot of Stadium Skytrain Station (stadium exit). Things on the menu look reasonably priced to slightly expensive, except the tacos. Which are OK-sized but at almost $4 each, very pricey to put together a meal with, if you want any chance of actually having a filling meal. They said they were new and don't have bulk pricing yet. Tacos are standard size but only one taco shell each instead of the usual two. Fillings are light -- lighter than almost every other taco place I've tried -- but fluffy-ish so it looks like a good quantity. My Jeju Taco didn't overflow or squish out or tear through the shell because the fillings were wet when I pinched the shells together, so you don't really need two shells. Veggie options for tacos also really weak compared to many Mexican-ish taco places, so vegetarians should definitely look carefully at the online menu before going. Jeju Taco ($3.45) Spicy pork belly Tasted like nicely done shredded...

So my bill at El Santo was almost $30 after tax and tip, for one main and one non-alcoholic beverage. What you can definitely expect from El Santo is Vancouver fine-dining prices. Fortunately, you can also expect pretty interesting flavours in their Mexican fare. TIP: Larger groups can be put in a private room at the back that can easily seat 14 with OK spacing between diners. Enchiladas Flor de Jamaica ($18) Hibiscus flowers, jicama, carrot & cabbage, fire roasted tomato chipotle sauce, Oaxaca cheese & green rice I can't really rate this properly because it tasted way too much like my mom's spring rolls. She uses a lot of jicama, and that for me was the predominant flavour here. Lots of cheese but it hardened way too quickly to be fun. Not sure how that can be avoided, however. Green rice (possibly just rice with green herbs, such as cilantro) was al dente and had a firm, coarse texture in the mouth. Interesting for not being your normal tender rice. The...

My first experience of queso fundido was at Telus Garden, where I really thought they did a great job of it. I spotted the dish again tonight at The Mexican Antojitos Y Cantina , where you have two options: with chorizo (the traditional way) or mushrooms (the veggie option; doesn't cost any less). Queso Fundido ($11)  Flame-melted cheese mixed with your choice of mushroom or homemade chorizo, corn tortillas and pico de gallo . It's an appetizer so portion is smallish. Salty cheese. And only three (?) tacos so be generous with the cheese. Cools quite quickly but doesn't harden for a while. Still, it's not tasty when it's not hot so don't dilly dally! Definitely use the salsa (pico de gallo) provided as it helps to offset the heaviness that comes with basically eating a whole lot of cheese. Overall it's pretty tasty in a salty-tasty sort of way, and if you like stringy cheese it's fun. BUT -- and I can't believe I'm saying t...

Went veggie on Taco Tuesday at La Catrina ! I didn't look too hard at which options were vegan, but it is likely they would just remove the cheese for the most part. The Taco Tuesday offer is five (5) tacos plus choice of pop for $10 if all-veggie tacos, $11 if you have some meat tacos in there. Normally tacos are $3 each and sodas are also $3, so you're getting your meal for almost half price. Of their four regular veggie tacos, the only one that was curiously interesting and somewhat tasty was Papas Mexicanas (Mexican potatoes with drizzled cream and parsley). Everything else was so boring I needed hot sauce or pickles to liven them up. Overall taste was OK, especially considering I deliberately went veggie here, but vegetarians who aren't there for a deal on their meal should definitely consider eating elsewhere. That said, tacos everywhere do give you good bang for your buck with lots of fillings and it's no different here. In fact, if you are careful, you...

Tucked in an armpit of Gastown is Gringo, a tiny diner that serves some really decent tacos amid colourful flamingoes. Price and portion of nicely loaded tacos was comparable to Le Tacqueria but selection is small in comparison. And made even smaller by their running out of two types of fillings by around 5.30pm on a Tuesday night. That said, some of their fillings were basically so tasty that you didn't need any hot sauce or costs-extra additional toppings. TIP: There are two routes to Blood Alley Square which do not involve going through any substantial stretch of scuzzy alley. Do not turn into the alley via Abbott Street. Instead, you can find one of the paths on Water Street near Zientte Interiors; another is on Carrall Street near the Gassy Jack Statue, between Vera's Burger Shack and the OK Boot Corral. Once you are in the alley it's easy to spot the colourful lights. No, it's not the other taco place that has a neon taco picture. Austin - saucy brisket,...

  Sal y Limón has a basically clean space but once it gets busy (around 6pm, maybe peaking at around 7pm or so) clearing tables becomes slower. This is in part due to the mess people tend to make eating the finger foods. Tons of used napkins all over the place. Clean-up is actually not so bad to do yourself, so if you need to secure several seats together, you can clear the tables yourself (there are tubs for dishes near the self-serve cutlery station) and wipe down the top with napkins. Otherwise, if you prefer to wait, table turnaround time is usually pretty fast. Don't be daunted by the lineup. Their nearby competition ( Los Cuervos Taqueria Y Cantina ) is just as busy and supposedly just as good, so pick a line and stick with it instead of jumping around. Table spacing is actually pretty decent with space to move and movable tables. TIPS: Examine the menu and nominate someone to place your group order. This keeps the lineup from inflating. The others in your party can ...

The Mexican is a small diner that closes at an unfathomably early time of 10:30 PM considering it is in the Granville club zone, unless you're going on Friday or Saturday. Barrigón - Grilled Pork, Beef and Chorizo, with melted cheese and a secret salsa verde Very nicely grilled meats with tasty burn marks. Quantity might be somewhat deceiving, however, as there's a rather big amount of diced onion as well. Diced for your convenience. Interesting sweet sauce! Definitely use some of this (but don't drown the meat, eh)? Huarache de Carne Asada ($14.50) Homemade corn tortilla in a bed of refried beans, grilled top sirloin steak, onions, serrano chiles , your choice of rice or cactus leaf, topped with sour cream and feta cheese I was curious about cactus leaves and hoping for Nopales Asados (grilled cactus leaves) but having walked in at just 15 minutes to closing, it was not available. Instead, the waitress suggested Huarache de Carne Asada with cactus leaf inste...

If you are at San Francisco Airport (SFO) in the early morning, there aren't that many breakfast options to choose from unless you run around before going through the security check in. And once you are through the security checkpoint, there's even less. Andalé Mexican Restaurant is one of those restaurants. I was at SFO For a before-8 AM international flight, and based on the menu pictures, I gave them a go for breakfast. Mistake. But beggars can't be choosers. Morning really is only "breakfast menu only", which is a rather small menu. The ad copy for their Huevos Rancheros  ( Two soft corn tortillas topped with two eggs over-easy, refried house Mayocoba beans, queso fresco, and serrano salsa ranchera. Served with potatoes and fresh fruit on the side. ) looks colourful and awesome and a nice full plate. What you get is a sad wannabe of that ad copy. It is also $10.75. Which, to be honest, is not uncommon for a similarly sad-looking breakfast in Berkele...