Habanero Sombrero - Mexican Food Truck Tacos

With spring rearing its head in Winnipeg comes, for me, a renewed interest in outdoors and physical activity. Like a bear living in hibernation, I found the cold of the Winnipeg winter to be a difficult obstacle to overcome when it came to going out and exercising. Now with the absence of the harsh wintry days and the presence of spring showers and the slight peek of green on the trees, I have taken a vow to add more exercise and balance into my life. To start, achieve a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. Thus on a warm day I took a long walk from my Osborne Village home down to the Forks and up. Wanting to make sure to grab a bite, I stopped by one of the many food trucks parked on Broadway, Habanero Sombrero Taqueria.

My love for food trucks began with The Food Network series, Eat St., which featured delectable homemade dishes out of a four wheeled caravan of goodness. Here, Habanero Sombrero is housed in a spiffy trailer. With pleasant imaging, friendly staff and a fantastic location, it has all the ingredients needed for a quality food truck stall.

As one would expect from the name, Habanero Sombrero features Mexican fare. As a taco truck, their main attraction are the variety of meat tacos (Beef, Pulled Pork, Chicken) and Black Bean all served on a six inch tortilla and topped with coleslaw, pico de gallo and queso fresco. Hungry patrons can opt for the Low Rider, a combination of three tacos along with homemade chips and salsa (or quacamole for an extra dollar).

After one orders, each taco can be topped with a bevy of salsa choices. Ranging in heat from a mild pico de gallo to medium pineapple salsa (personal favourite) to extremely hot habanero salsa, these delectable additions add not only a heat element, but also extra flavour to your tacos.

The Low Rider comes with a side of Chips and Guacamole (I upgraded). The large tortilla chips are nicely fried and extremely crisp. Delicately seasoned with a touch of salt, these chips truly are difficult to put down; especially when combined with the smooth and creamy guacamole.

The Low Rider comes with an option of three tacos, so I went with each protein (Beef, Pulled Pork and Chicken). Each taco consists of a healthy portion of meat topped with homemade coleslaw and a spoonful of fresh queso fresco (cheese). Unfortunately with all the toppings, each protein lacked uniqueness and all ended up tasting the same, with the exception of the chicken that was disappointingly dry. Nevertheless, the tacos were tasty and an excellent vehicle for the bevy of salsas available.

Habanero Sombrero is a tasty food truck that should be enjoyed for its uniqueness. While the food, specifically the protein options, leave some room to be desired, the entire meal was overall tasty enough to warrant a try. I also see a number of people at odds with the cost of the meal and while certainly pricier than most fast food options, the amount charged is on par with most food truck options, as customers must come to the reality that is the costs associated with owning and running a truck.

Rostizado - Tremendous Latin American (Edmonton 30 in 30)

Tres Carnales arrived at the moment of Edmonton's stratospheric jump into modern haute cuisine. Indeed it was the airing of "You Gotta Eat Here" that piqued everyone's initial impression of Tres Carnales. Based off a concept of Mexican style cuisine with local ingredients, they then took the food scene by storm and put Edmonton on the proverbial food map of Canada. Using their success of the first restaurant, the owners decided to create a new establishment based on the concept of Mexican infused rotisserie meats. That restaurant came to be Rostizado and, like its old cousin, has consistently been on the top of Urbanspoon's Talk of the Town.

The restaurant is located on the corner of 104th Street and 103rd Avenue. Found in the northern tip of Downtown, Rostizado is betting on the eventual development surrounding the arena to build up their clientele. Handsomely presented, the large neon sign (that reminds you of their Tres Carnales owners roots) beckons you forward. And boy what a payoff! The restaurant is new age with low dim lighting, gorgeous art and tasteful decor. Helpful wait staff try their best to entertain you as you make the sometimes long wait for a table (reservations are only allowed for groups of eight or more).

The menu is small and based upon their rotisserie. They offer two protein variants, a pollo (chicken) and a puerco (pork) which serve the basis upon which patrons add with a number of appetizers, all with Mexican flare, and a number of tasty side dishes. Rostizado strives to serve fresh local produce and proudly displays their partner farms that they receive their meat and produce from.

These Tamales were excellent. This version of the classic Mesoamerican dish takes corn based dough, combines it with their roasted chicken, wrapped around a corn husk and steamed to tenderness. Encapsulating everything in the corn husk is a old and tried method that allows the ingredients to cook within its own juices. But truly it was the balance of flavours, from the starchy yet grainy dough with a fiery salsa roja (red sauce) to the cool brown butter cream and smooth queso fresco, that makes this dish stand out.

Platter of 2 is one of their marquee dishes and one that stands out in their menu. Doubling the protein quota with a half order of their rotisserie chicken and pork, this is the best way to indulge and experience Rostizado. The platter is indeed humongous and includes a side of roasted potatoes, an unlimited supply of Mexican soft tortillas and a trio of sauces: Chimicchuri, Salsa Verde and an Argentinean Hot Sauce.

Rosti-Pollo was the table favourite of the two protein options. Oven roasted to lock in the juices, this rotisserie chicken had a delightful sweet and slightly bitter char on the skin that went incredibly well with the awesomely tender meat underneath it. Popping these into a tortilla topped with your choice of sauce finalizes the flavour profile.

Rosti-Puerco (Roasted Pork) was similarly delicious with a smooth fatty flavour profile mixed in with a heavy accent of cilantro and rosemary. In fact, this pork was some of the most tender I have had in Edmonton! Furthermore they go delightfully well when packed into the middle of the mild corn tortilla which adds in a blander starch element to the dish.

The included Rosti-Papas are your average run of the mill roasted potatoes. Rostizado does indeed roast them well to the point of tenderness, but fail to infuse any further flavours into the taters. Granted this is meant as an accompaniment in the Platter of 2 and when taken from that light, they do act well as a bland starchy contrast to the flavour-filled meats.

Rostizado offers a few sides on top of the rotisserie meats. Frijoles Charros, fried pento beans, were surprisingly presented as a soup! The broth had a nice sharp spicy aroma and flavour to it while the beans added a meaty punch to each bite. Cilantro finishes the dish with a much needed herbal freshness.

Roasted Carrots are humbly named but full of royal flavour. The use of a lime, serrano and honey based vinaigrette is a calculated one as it infused sweetness, tartness and spice to the fork tender vegetables. Balance of textures is achieved from the addition of almonds. Delicious.

As customary now with my current group of dining companions, we went with Churros Con Dulce de Leche as our dessert option. Large pieces of fried dough are coated with sugar and cinnamon and served with a "dulce de leche" sauce. This was, unfortunately, the only dish that did not work for the group as: technically, the dough was too dense and a tad undercooked; and thematically, the flavour too simple and reminded us of tastier variants we ate from the summer fair.

Rostizado is a bold addition to the Edmonton dining scene. Although created by the team of Tres Carnales, they take a different approach to dining serving up immense protein rich mains, cool and refreshing salsas and tasty accompanying sides. In the end, the food was excellent with delightfully tender meats and well executed sides with a twist in Mexican flavours. A definite visit for anyone in town.

El Cortez - Newage Mexican (Edmonton 30 in 30)

Onto the latter half of my series I go (I believe this is post 23 so far). What was initially a monstrous task seems close to coming to fruition as I continued to dine Edmonton and blog 30 posts in 30 days. Next up is El Cortez, a new Mexican restaurant recommended to me by a close friend. My history with Mexican cuisine is usually quite bipolar with restaurants either serving disappointing Westernized tacos and Quesadillas or incredibly authentic places with tasty meats and fresh salsa. Hopefully this would be the latter!

El Cortez is located just off of Whyte Avenue on 103rd street and 83rd avenue. The initial impressions are positive with a handsome exterior, large signage and lots of windowspace. Interiors are similarly great with a vibe and atmosphere that was part bar and part sit down restaurant. Seating is self arranged, but the waitresses do a good job of noticing new arrivals who quickly usher in menus and drink specials as soon as you sit down.

The menu is unique. Billed as a Mexican restaurant you can see they offer the classic tacos and tostadas. However upon finer perusal you realize that the dishes are new age takes on tacos that try to combine unique ingredients and other cultural influences. For those not wanting a taco or tostada, El Cortez also features a number of mains ranging from the expected roast pork to a puzzling squash ravioli. Intrigued we set off to order!

We quite enjoyed chunky Guacamole + Chips here. Considered a Mexican staple food, this dish had a nice chunky creamy avocado mixture with cubes of tomato and onion finished with a hint of lime. Nothing extroadinary, nothing spectacular, just homey tasty guacamole with toasted pita chips.

This Albacare Tuna Ceviche, on the other hand, was marvelous. Large cubes of fresh tuna are dashingly paired with pineapple, mango and mint cucumber. Finished off with a Jalapeno, this dish does a great job of marrying the sweetness from the mango and pineapple with the heat and spice of Jalapeno. Texturally this dish also works with the silky tuna meat matched by the crisp vegetables and crunch of the peanut topping.

Wanting to try as much as possible, a few of us ordered numerous tacos to share. This Braised Beef Tostado was unfortunately not the strongest horse out of the barn. While the beef was nice and tender, it was underseasoned and overshadowed by the sharp Jicama and beefy tomato in the Pico de Gallo. The green ancho chili jam, the best part of the dish, made a valiant effort to salvage the whole dish but ultimately was unable to unify the polarizing flavours.

Cinnamon Braised Pork Tacos were a bigger hit at the table. The well braised pork was fall off the bone tender and mixed with a nice combination of shredded lettuce and pickled onion. Ultimately it was the spice from the chipotle mixed in with the salty cojita cheese that brought all the ingredients to the fore. Sweet, salty, savoury = delicious.

We went a bit left field in ordering the Steak "Bulgogi" Tacos. Knowing full well that this was fusion cuisine, we held our breathes as we delved into this unique dish. Boy were we rewarded. Thankfully the sweet and slightly bitter bulgogi marinate they used in the meat worked well with the crunchy slaw. Tying all the parts together was the sesame aioli, a nice aromatic Asian style sauce that unified everything into a tasty dance of flavours in your mouth.

Pollo (Chicken) Tostada is usually as safe as you can get in a Mexican restaurant. Unsure what the "encacahuatado" sauce was initially, a Google perusal revealed it as a peanut sesame based chili marinate. Truthfully, the chicken was a bit bland and did not live up to its fancy saucy namesake. The best part of the dish, though, was the interplay between a luxurious, sweet and slightly spicy tropical salsa with the tender slices of chicken breast. The inclusion of purple cabbage adds brightness and a bit of crunch to finish off the dish.

Wanting something more significant, one member of our group ordered the Roast Pork. Slow braised exquisitely tender pork is paired with coconut rice, braised beans and the same tropical salsa used in the pollo tostada. Casting aside the beans and rice as simply ordinary, the key was the contrast between the sweet and spicy salsa with the inherently fatty tender pork. Developing a crust on the pork, the chefs have also imparted a nice bitter char on the exterior of the meat that added a new dimension of flavour and texture, tasty indeed! Pity about the sloppily presented dish though.

It seems that dessert is becoming more commonplace with my current dining companions and while we initially lamented on the El Cortez only having one dessert, we quickly changed our tune after tasting the Warm Ginger Cake. Ooey and gooey, the warm cake had a distinctive ginger flavour that went well with the whipped cream. Fresh strawberries add freshness and sweetness to finish the dessert.

El Cortez is interesting. As if they were creating dishes for the sake of innovation, they have, in essence, strayed away from their calling of authentic Mexican cuisine. Indeed some of these dishes work well (Bulgogi for example) but for each that work there are just as many that did not (Braised Beef). This inconsistency in flavour profiles is troubling and make it difficult to wholeheartedly recommend El Cortez, especially with them being on the pricier side. Nevertheless for anyone looking for a new take on Mexican food or bored of the current options in Edmonton, El Cortez is definitely an option.