Please note that since writing this blog post, Orale Taqueria has closed down
It wasn’t until fairly recently that I learnt there’s an actual word for a place that sells tacos. You know: just like the bakery sells bread and the butcher sells meat, the taqueria sells tacos. How cool is that? And suddenly these taquerias (or whatever the plural is) seem to be springing up like snow drops in February.
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will know that I’ve also been in search of a decent taco for a while. Well, even if you didn’t, you’ve probably figured it out from the title: “part 5?” I hear you ask, wondering how this simple task could be so darn hard. So, to give you a quick recap, I’ve tried tacos from the Burrito Maker (his name is semi-misleading; he doesn’t only make burritos); long-time Mexican restaurant Caramba on the Lindengracht; the Original California Burrito Company (same issue with the name); and most recently, Salsa Shop (one of my 2014 Amsterdam Restaurants of the Month). But just as I was starting to feel like I’d run out of potential taco purveyors, a new breed of pop-ups started, well, popping up: the moveable taqueria feast!*
A couple of weekends ago, I signed up for a “Tequila y Tacos” event at Hiding in Plain Sight (my favourite cocktail bar in Amsterdam) without really having any idea who would be making my tacos. Turned out it was Orale Taqueria, who wooed me within the first five minutes by bringing over their ceviche tostadas. I could have happily skipped the tacos and spent the rest of the afternoon crunching away on raw, citrusy, chilli-hot shrimps with avocado.
