Taco Crawl Presented by Vanfoodster

Although the taco landscape of the GVRD has drastically improved over the past 10 years, there really aren't as many spots as I'd like to see.  Interestingly, crossing the border over to Bellingham yields some pretty good tacos.  I guess we really do have to run for the border?  I digress.  So when I looked at the lineup for the Taco Crawl (presented by Vanfoodster), it wasn't overly surprising to see some places "stretch" the definition of what a taco represents.  No matter to me... Those who put too much effort and stress into being the "authenticity police" often lose out on good food.

In reality, the South Indian Dosa Taco (at Dosa Hut) was not really a taco at all.  Call it a mini-dosa instead and everything is fine in the world.  I found the lentil crepe to be on point being super thin and light.  It was perfectly crispy where it held the ingredients in while not becoming soggy.  We much preferred the chicken over the vegetarian for obvious reasons, but the flavours were definitely more impactful.  There was a flavourful combination of spices including the usual cumin and curry.  The chicken was really moist and tender.  From there we made our way to Las Tortas where we were served both the Mexican Zucchini and Pulled Pork Taco.  I found the pulled pork to be a bit dry and on the milder side.  However, with the addition of the sauces, pickled onions and lime, things got more lively.

Again, the offering at TMix across the street loosely interpreted the definition of a taco.  In reality, it was a Bubble Waffle with a scoop of house-made ice cream on top.  We ended up with the Mango for one an Earl Grey for the other.  Very eggy and soft, the waffle lacked the crispiness and chewiness we often look for in a traditional Taiwanese bubble waffle.  However, with that being said, this one had its own charm being soft and fluffy.  The real star of the show was the ice cream as the flavours were impactful.  However, the ice cream itself could've been creamier.  We headed into Downtown next and hit up Patron Tacos & Cantina where we got one each of the Cochinita (Pork Butt) and Nopales (Cactus) Taco.  I really liked the cactus as it wasn't slimy and exhibited a nice texture (not mushy).  The pork was okay, but not particularly flavourful.  It was tender though.

The best taco we ate all night was from La Catrina.  It was the Res en Cascabel or braised beef cooked in cascabel chili sauce. The meat filling could've done without any other condiment and it was flavourful and lightly spicy (albeit a bit saucy).  The Papas Mexicanas (Potato) taco was more mild and had quite a bit of onion in it.  It was soft though.  It turned out that we saved the best for last, even though we didn't intentionally plan to do so.  As mentioned, I don't really care about what is a taco, but for those who really wanted all 5 stops to be about authentic tacos, this might've thrown them for a loop.

*All food excluding beverages and gratuities were complimentary*