a bite at pinche taqueria

"I don't care where we go, I'm just not in the mood for Mexican," - a naive, half asleep, and silly me.

One movie (Extract, hilarious) and an hour or two later and we found ourselves at Pinche Taqueria. And as I sat in the tiny yet incredibly campy and festive space, I decided, well, what the heck. One fish taco ($3.75!) and a can of Modelo, por favor.

Three bites later and it was gone. But what fantastic bites they were. A tender piece of fried tilapia, shredded cabbage, a schmear of guacamole and a spoonful of perfectly spicy salsa, all wrapped in a small warm corn tortilla and finished off with my generous squeeze of lime. And when that was gone (sadly) I sipped my ice cold Modelo with sheer happiness. Modelo, incidentally, is superb.

Crumby weather? Stop by Pinche for a pick-me-up. In a city deprived of really good Mexican food (an epidemic I truly do not understand), this place is absolutely legit. Fresh, fast, and pretty darn delicious. You'll leave with lips slightly tingling with the lingering sensation of jalapeno and you'll like it. A lot.

Pinche Taqueria 333 Lafayette Street

pinche taqueria's fish tacos: the verdict

Ok, so this Friday was finally the day. The day that I would finally get to try the fish tacos from Pinche Taqueria. After sorting through at least ten take-out menus on Friday night, we settled on Pinche. Totally out of the blue for me, as I rarely crave Mexican, but I figured now was as good a time as any to try the famed little soft tacos. One fish and one shrimp each and a green salad to split. Shortly thereafter, our food was delivered and we dove into the white boxes. There, four little soldiers were lined up, each dressed with shredded cabbage and a slather of fresh guacamole. I hastily picked one up and bit into the soft corn tortilla and through the perfectly fried fish with the crunch of cabbage and smoothness of guacamole. I snapped a picture for you all but it serves it no justice so I figured it was better off without. Now, for whatever reason, I'm much more of a flour tortilla kind of girl. Something about the strong flavor of the corn tortillas really overpowers whatever else there is stuffed inside. Way too perfumey for my taste. That said, the fish taco was pretty darn good. And for only four or five bites, incredibly filling.

However, the shrimp taco was terribly sad. The tiny shrimp were insanely hard and incredibly fishy tasting. Think fish food. I only wish I was exaggerating. Neither one of us could touch them. Perhaps I will give them another chance though, because the other pictures I've seen of them online looked absolutely promising. Off night maybe?

Who knows. Either way, we enjoyed our Mexican treats that night because this dinner somehow carried us through rest of the weekend. I kid you not. Which is why this kind of food will remain the once every month or two indulgence. It's simply too heavy for my taste. Because beyond that, I'm not sure I'd have room to report back any other perfect bites. And if that were the case, well, then it'd all be over my friends.

Olé!