Ive been a big fan of since it first showed up in food truck form at the rear of a gravel parking lot in Tofino several years ago. I was a sucker for their fish taco, laden with chunks of fresh ling cod battered to a perfect crisp, crunched further by a thick nest of cabbage chiffonade, moistened with a gently-spiced chipotle aioli, and topped with a colourful crown of salsa fresca. For a couple of years, it made the long drive across the spine of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Island all the more palatable.
I was therefore more than a little thrilled last summer when I learned that owners Kaeli Robinsong and Jason Susman had maneuvered Tacofino into Vancouvers burgeoning street food scene. The new truck (and later a second) was virtually a clone of the one that kept me so riveted in Tofino, and it was within walking distance of my house. Odd though it was to confront the same fish taco (the one I associated with ocean air, surfers, and holidays) while sitting on a busy street curb on the corner of Main and Alexander, it was the same delight.
And there was even better news to come. Back in February, WE announced that Tacofino would open a proper brick-and-mortar restaurant in the East Village neighbourhood. The place at 2327 East Hastings (formerly a restaurant called Seri Malaysian) would hold some 50 seats and feature a menu that would go beyond what was available on the trucks. And perhaps best of all, it would be licensed.
The wait is over. The new Tacofino opened just last week. So excited was the neighbourhood about its coming that on the two occasions that I went last week, I found gaggles of patient keeners milling about outside, waiting for their names to be called. Its lucky for them (and us) that the service led by former Waldorf Hotel stalwarts Steve Da Cruz and Alfredo Garcza is quick, if a little harried at times, and that the food is served tapas style (ie. each dish delivered when ready). The turning of tables is consequently rapid. No matter the depth of the queue, no one has to wait that long for a seat.
The room has a rough-and-ready style that echoes the brands wilder origins. Its concrete floors see three long and wide communal tables with matching benches of thick wood. These were salvaged from the small town of Coombs, BC (on the drive to Tofino), together with two smaller tables by the front windows (which dont open) and the short bar. From the ceiling hangs a one-of-a-kind lighting installation by designer Omer Arbel. Its a tangle of thin, copper-coloured pipes piercing about two dozen brightly lit baubles inset with little planters. These have been artfully plugged with cacti and other plants, so that the whole has the look of a floating, twisting, glowing garden. The walls are bereft of art, save for a small and extrinsic brass plaque that reads No Smoking During Breakfast. (Duly noted: they dont do breakfast.)
All of the hard surfaces and raised voices combine to make it a loud dining experience. Its also under-ventilated, so on hot days its something of a sauna. Im not sure if there are solutions to either issue in the works, but I did notice that once the food arrived, both annoyances ceased to irk. The bar helps in this, too. Its stocked with plenty of spirits (especially rums and tequilas), wines, quality cocktails, and hard-to-get beers from Tofino Brewing.
Though Im totally appreciative of the menus expansion, the fish taco remains irresistible to me, and at just $5, its easily the best bang for the buck on the whole of it.
Some of the pricing is a bit incongruous, but it all works out in the wash in the diners favour. To wit, though delicious, a handful of cauliflower florets flavoured with turmeric and decorated with crispy rice is $8 a serving, but then a taco with two thick slabs of pork cheek, fried shallots and pineapple kicked with fiery sriracha sauce sells for just $6.
The most expensive dishes cost only $12. These include a nice portion of chicken wings coated in a tongue-torquing glaze of tamarind and black garlic; a surf & turf of lightly battered chicken pieces and squid rings littered with cilantro and served with a tasty but grotesque-looking black chili mayonnaise; and a tamale stuffed with spot prawn meat and juicy lardons. The rest hover in the $4 to $8 range. Like its food truck predecessor, the restaurant is good and cheap.
Aside from the fish taco, which is imperative, other must-try dishes include the little bollilo rolls served with Hawaiian sea salt and decadent bone marrow butter (presented in the hollow of a bone); the thin-cut french fries smothered in gooey queso fundido, cheddar curds, braised beef and a dose of kimchi-flavoured crema (like a poutine on peyote); the Cuba Libre cocktail (when was the last time you had one of those?); and the sweet and flabby banana churros with ibarra chocolate and banana/sriracha ice cream.
All told, the new Tacofino is a huge win for the community, not to mention an open invitation to other successful food carts to start hunting for a roof and keyhole of their own.
Its your move, Roaming Dragon!
