Fish tacos!

[superpitching]

Fish tacos, for me, are the food of ultimate sun-blushed bromance. Whereas in London we can eat our way round pretty much anything, the fish taco has always remained elusive, the preserve of a sunnier, warmer clime. The sort of clime you see on TV, in shows such as the awesome GRΣΣK, or where you would take your latest man-date ("those fish tacos were teh t1ts)! I am pretty sure that they might be the ultimate in Californian food. They've even got cilantro in them, for goodness sakes. And you DEFINITELY can't get them in London...

Until now! Benito's Hat on Goodge Street did their first fish tacos to mark the occasion of their 2nd birthday! To say I was excited is a bit of an understatement. "Fish tacos!", I thought. "That's what they'd eat in Sweet Valley High, omgomgomgomgomg", etc etc. But what, after all this anticipation, to expect?

So, thing #1. Benitos Hat tacos are not served in a hard shell. I am reliably informed by Kerry that the hard shell is TEX-MEX! (Tex-Mex = Mex food, deep fried, extra butter, extra meat, extra lard - think deep-fried mars bar). So, a small tortilla wrap it is.

Thing #2. Well when I say WRAP... what we actually had was the wrap laid flat, on top were some pieces of nice fish (I don't know what kind! I know nothing about fish! Rubbish!), with some very sloppy sauce, onions, totally impossible to wrap up and VERRRRY messy. Forks had to be obtained, and really, I am not a fussy eater, I do not MIND sticky fingers, but come ON. The meat/veg ones were wrapped fine, so I don't know if this was just an inherent problem in the size of the taco wraps. Then use the burrito wrap?

Thing #3. This makes me sound greedy, but there were no extra fillings? I was confused because I usually order a burrito, and wasn't sure if tacos went with the extra fillings (rice, lettuce, cheese, the noble guac, etc etc), but apparently they do! We just didn't get any! (TBH I didn't strictly speaking NEED any but that is not the point).

Perhaps it was because I was eating them on Goodge Street, instead of a split-level ranch on Calico Drive, but the fish taco did not live up to my dreams. If only it had been wrapped properly! Perhaps I would have got it! 2 fish tacos and tortilla chips were good for me, but I think when you're at Benitos Hat, it's all about the burrito. (And a Negra Modelo, but I wasn't drinking sadly).

I'm not sure if Benitos Hat is going to have them on the menu full-time now - their website doesn't list them - but go and check them out! But be warned, they will be IMPOSSIBLE to eat from your hands, unless they sort out the wrapping! The fish taco hasn't supplanted the steak burrito - but, honestly... what could??

Comments

[ewan]

I'm pretty sure the idea is that there are many ways to eat a taco. I just Googled it (this is the first link for example), and you can either just sort of pinch it together and eat it at an angle (which can be messy, yes; it certainly is for me... though I understand practice helps), or fold it all up like a burrito. I've been to several Mexican places that serve tacos like that, and there are websites that say the former method is the 'proper' way to eat a taco. Whatevs, I say. It's all about the food. And I rather liked them!

[superpitching]

I managed to pinch up the second one, the first one was just too liquid! I did like them too but function was suffering a bit from form. Imagine if I'd been drinking when trying to eat them! I'd have ended up with taco up my nose or something.

[kake]

RGL informs me that I had fish tacos at Wahaca in 2007! I seem to remember loving the idea, but the execution was rather too greasy. And of course according to the website they are no longer on the menu...

[superpitching]

Ooh do you remember if they were soft or hard shell!

PS omg I must sort out how to turn off this thing which only lets you comment if you're a dreamwidth member ffs.

[superpitching]

Oh goodie should be fixed now. Unleash the hordes of reader(s).

[superpitching]

HIIIII LEWIS

[kake]

So can I comment under all my secret identities now? :)

[superpitching]

ハイイイイイイイ!

[kake]

Sadly I can't remember, and it was prior to the era of "must photograph everything I eat", so I can't even go to Flickr and check!

(Comment settings are here.)

[superpitching]

That queueing system sounds like it would drive me up the wall. On the other hand, make mine a pint of guacamole please...