Where: San Francisco, at the home of my best friend Terry, who, after sampling the poor tacos with me at Ponche Taqueria, insisted on trying her hand at making some fish tacos for me. (“Well, I know I couldn’t do any worse than the place in New York,” she asserted as we were making plans to meet)
Price: $0
Fish: tilapia
Extras: shredded cabbage, queso fresco, red onions marinated in red wine vinegar, avocado
Review: The fish was marinated in something delicious. In fact, I believe there was tequila involved in the marinade. Terry also made the tortillas from scratch, something she had never done before, but which turned out really well. The recipe she was following would have either made the tortillas too small for tacos or too thin to actually hold anything, but she doubled the dough balls and ended up with a decent sized tortilla. They were about the same size as the ones they make at Guisado’s, and just as delicious.
I am now convinced that the main difference between a good taco and a great one is the tortilla. If you are working with a made-from-scratch tortilla, you’ll get extra points from me, for sure.
Since the tacos were served in an assemble-your-own format, I was able to discern that the avocado, while delicious, did not really lend anything to the taco itself. The marinated onion, however, lent both a crunch and a tang that enriched the taco-eating experience exponentially. I’m keeping that in mind for the future!
Rating: 5 out of 5 chickens (with the caveat that it doesn’t actually count when looking for the best taco in the world, since it’s homemade and not available to the public. Also, Terry is my BFF so I’m really biased.)
