I must confess that I was pretty excited to be taste testing tacos for this week’s taste off. Tacos are my favourite and I rounded up a couple of very willing taco-loving friends to come along for the ride.
It was a close contest for Canberra’s best tacos. A few RiotACT readers suggested that Guzman y Gomez, a chain “Mexican Taqueria” found in the City and Belconnen, was the perfect hangover taco fix. Other votes came in for Honkytonks, a bar in the city with a Mexican-themed menu and an extensive tequila collection. This week’s taste off, however, was to be a hot taco contest between Beach Burrito Company and The Elk & Pea.
The Elk & Pea is a great little restaurant on Lonsdale Street in Braddon. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, this versatile restaurant is all about good food and quirky decor. Their menu has a self-confessed Central American flair and a choice of five different tacos, all served in soft corn tortillas. We tried most of the flavours and they were all so good that we couldn’t agree on the best. My pick was the spiced pumpkin and goats cheese, while the others had difficulty deciding between the crispy honey chicken and the braised lamb shoulder.
Beach Burrito Company, also known as the “Cantina”, is located on City Walk in Civic and is unmistakably Mexican-themed. With bright colours, sugar skull motifs and more fake flowers than you can throw a taco at, this place is all about fun, relaxed, beach vibes. They have a large taco menu, offering nine different fillings and a choice between soft or hard shell. Again, we tried a variety of flavours and were all pretty impressed. The hot favourites in our group were the pibil pork and pulled beef.
The winner of the Taste Off this week was again a hard choice. While The Elk & Pea do a mean taco and their fillings are a little bit fancier, Beach Burrito has more options and is better value. The real clincher for me in my decision this week was the choice between a soft or hard shell taco.
This week I’m awarding Canberra’s best taco to Beach Burrito Company.
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