Monday, November 18, 2013

Tacos 46


I finally have someone who lives west to meet up on west side with me on a regular basis. I met my friend @zigged at Tacos 46 the other day for lunch. Apparently, this place has recently located into a new space from a very small place it was in before.  The new digs are pretty spacious, if not overly orange. You order at the front counter and they bring your food out to you. 

We kind of shared everything so we could get a taste of many things (all tacos), and I would say in general we ordered too much food (we ordered 6).  But I was really glad we tried a bunch of them. All the basic tacos are $2 each, with the exception of a couple of the “deluxe” ones we ordered, which were $2.50 each. Honestly, I could be finished after two of them, so it’s a pretty cheap place to eat lunch if you want it to be.

My favorite taco was probably the al pastor (which seems to usually be my favorite). The pork had nice crisp edges-the tacos are simply topped with cilantro and onions unless you ask otherwise. The pork had a great flavor and topped with all the little freebie accompaniments (more on that later), it was really good.

We also had some cheesy ones—the choriqueso, the asada con queso and the alambre con queso. These are done in flour tortillas and are slightly bigger than the others. They are tasty, but almost remind you more of a quesadilla than a taco because they are full of melty cheese. Of these, I liked the choriqueso the best (which is a good deal because it is still just $2)—it was simple and had bits of chorizo in it giving it some saltiness.  The asada con queso was similar but the beef wasn’t quite as flavorful. The alambre con queso had lots of stuff going on in it—besides the meat; there was cheese, peppers and onions.  

We also had a straight chicken one with a sprinkle of cheese added.  This one was just ok, as is often the case with chicken tacos. The chicken was just too dry. You needed a lot of the accompaniments to make this one work. (If you added a lot of salsa, etc., you could make it more moist and more palatable). The lengua taco was slightly less dry, but still a bit too dry for me. Again, once you doctored it up, it was better. Also, a couple of the pieces looked a bit TOO much like a piece of a tongue and made it a little freaky.

So my favorite part about this place for sure? All those accompaniments I have alluded too. They give you a plate with sliced radishes and juicy lime wedges, a bowl of lightly pickled white onions, a bowl of pico de gallo, a mild flavorful green sauce, and a spicier, heat building orange sauce. All of it was really good and I really loved doctoring them up with all this stuff. My favorite was the pickled onions and limes because you know me; I love that extra dash of acidity with food like this. Most places will give you the limes, but the onions were a nice extra touch. The pico was very fresh and flavorful as well and I really liked the green sauce—lots of cilantro flavor and not too much heat. The orange one was very good as well, and didn’t assault your mouth with heat, but it definitely builds over time. All of these things are what made this place special for me. The tacos aren’t bad, and some were good, but all these extras took them to the next level.

I also had a mango aqua fresca that was a little overly sweet, but I liked that they 4-5 different flavor options. Overall, it’s a cheap lunch option, and one that quite a few people were taking advantage of when we where there. The service is fast and efficient and the people are also efficient, although not the friendliest bunch (not unfriendly, just very business-like).  Would love to hear if any of you guys have been here.

Tacos 46
3089 N. High School Road
Indy, 46224
317/728-1303


Tacos 46 - Demetrio El Taquero de la 46 on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

  1. The alambre has pineapple too! I always think of it as a Hawaiian taco in my head, much like the pizza, because apparently I am culturally insensitive.

    ReplyDelete