What he ordered* The Place: Taco Mamacita, 109 N. Market St.* The items: Taco Royale, General Homeboy, Queso Royale, Chipotle Turnip Greens* The cost: $19.56
For months now, I've been hearing people rave about Taco Mamacita, so this week I finally checked it out.
Located off Market Street in the space that used to be Durty Nelly's, it's a cool place, especially the patio area. I was getting a takeout order, however. My order, a Queso Royale, a Taco Royale, a General Homeboy and a side order of Chipotle Turnip Greens, was ready as I got there.
I have to say what I got was a mixed bag of very good, kinda good and not so good. The Homeboy -- panko-breaded shrimp with a spicy sweet Thai chili sauce, cabbage, radish, green onions and cilantro -- was delicious. I could taste everything, and all the elements worked well together. I could have done without the small piece of foil stuck to one of the shrimp pieces. It was there because of the skewer used to hold the taco together during transport.
The Taco Royale was a tasty blend of crumbled chorizo, chipotle cream sauce, salsa verde, pico de gallo and creamy black bean mash. The roasted chicken was just OK, however.
The turnip greens were pretty darn tasty with a nice little kick.
I'm not sure what happened with the Queso Royale. The cheese had curdled or broken so badly the dish was runny.
It came with chips, which were fairly oily, and individually wrapped flour tortillas, which seemed odd, especially given the state of the queso.
It's not traditional Mexican fare, but I appreciated the reinterpretation of taco, and these were good but pricey.