Truly Tasty Tacos

These days, a Boston chef with only one restaurant is practically no chef at all. Having your own gastronomic empire is all the rage… Barbara Lynch is up to a whopping eight establishments, Michael Schlow has four under his belt, Chris Douglass added a third with the opening of Tavolo last year, likewise Scott Herbert with the reemergence of Marilave, and even the now-nationally-known Todd English still maintains five Boston eateries. So, it’s really no surprise that one of the Hub’s super-chefs, Ken Oringer, operates five restaurants in town.

Oringer is best known for the uber-upscale Clio, where, not incidentally, I spent the most memorable and most lavish New Year’s Eve of my life. But his kingdom has grown to include Uni, a high-end sushi bar, Toro, a cozy tapas joint, KO Prime, a temple of all things beef, and La Verdad, a Mexican taqueria. By and large, Oringer’s restaurants feature exquisite food with prices to match, making La Verdad a bit of an anomaly.

First off, La Verdad is located on Lansdowne Street – smack dab between Tequila Rain and Jillian’s, and, consequently, along the path of many a drunk 22 year old clubber and drunk 45 year old Sox fan. To say that La Verdad’s clientele is different from the well-heeled Brahmins that frequent its cousin Clio is the understatement of the year. But finding ourselves at Jillian’s pool tables around the dinner hour – on Valentine’s Day, no less! – it was an obvious choice to head downstairs and nosh on some tacos and throw back a few cocktails laced with tequila.

La Verdad is warm and casual, with dark red walls and playful décor featuring Day of the Dead figurines and Mexican wrestlers’ masks. Requisite for the area, there is also a large, well-stocked bar in the center of the dining room, and about a dozen flat screens around the perimeter – sort of Boca Grande meets Boston Beerworks. Given the night we were there, it was a light crowd and our friendly, funny, heavily-tattooed waiter lets us linger as long as we like over margaritas and Presidentes, which was a good long time in the end.

True to its name, this taqueria is known for its tacos – offering nearly 15 varieties – but the menu also has an ample list of appetizers, and a few dishes they call “big plates.” I was overjoyed when I spotted the grilled corn on the menu – having waxed poetically over this dish at Toro. It lived up to my memory, as a smoky-sweet delight served with a slather of garlicky cream and salty cotija cheese. Delish.

We also shared a small order of chips and guacamole, which also came with a dusting of the cotija cheese and green onions. The guac was simply flavored and chunky and served as an excellent cooling agent for the spicy tacos – though it was not prepared at the table, as advertised in the menu. My only gripe with the dish was the price – ten dollars seemed a little high for what was essentially chips and dip. The waiter also brought out a small serving dish with two types of salsa and a dish of pickled peppers (save the jokes about Peter). One salsa was almost pink in color and had the consistency of crushed tomatoes – it was fairly unremarkable. The other was a tomatillo salsa that was tangy and vibrant on the tongue – the clear winner of the pair.

Everyone at my table ordered the carne asada tacos, save me – I selected the pastor traditional tacos. All of the plates come with three tacos, a small helping of refried beans, and a light sprinkle of cabbage slaw. The carne asada tacos had nice chunks of grilled steak and sweet caramelized onions. While they also had a thin drizzle of guacamole, the salsa arbol on them was so spicy, it nearly killed your taste buds with the first bite. We needed to ask for a bit of sour cream to dull the fire enough to continue eating. The pastor traditional tacos came with slices of pork smothered in an adobo sauce, giving them a warm heat from the smoked jalapeños. The menu claimed that the tacos also featured pineapple – and there was a certain citrusy-sweetness about them – but there were no discernable pieces of the fruit.

The restaurant does offer a selection of traditional Latin desserts, including flan, dulce de leche, and churros, but we opted for another round of drinks in place of a sweet finish. We left with mouths still ablaze from our spicy dinners and stomachs full of yummy Mexican treats.

I’d give La Verdad, at 1 Lansdowne Street in Boston, a B. If you are amongst the under 25 set, the tasty take-out will make for a better than average way to soak up your sins from a night out at the bars. For those of us whose club days are in the past, the flavorsome Mexican is a natural pairing for ballgame or two.

Ok, so I get it about the corn.

Have you ever had that experience where some movie comes out and everyone talks to you about it and how fabulous it is? Then you go and the movie is good, but let's face it, it's not the second coming. Then you're bummed because, if no one had ever talked about it, you would have thought the movie was great... it was just burdened by all that build up.

I had that fear when going to Toro tonight. There'd been a lot of build up: Best of Boston, Spanish for two years running, Top 25 Dishes in the City (Grilled Corn), multiple glowing kudos from friends... how could it possibly live up? In short, it does.

I love TAPAS. Love it, love it, love it. It's like a cuisine custom made for me. I want to try a hundred different things, even if it only means one bite of each. If I go to a party with good apps, it's all over for me - I eat so many, I rarely care about the main meal. So, tapas is a perfect way to eat, in my opinion. I think I have eaten at all the major tapas spots in the city - Tapeo, Dali, Cuchi Cuchi, Taberna de Haro, Tasca (which was right across the street from my first apartment in Boston - it was fated!). If there are others, please let me know about them! Dali is my absolute favorite restaurant in the city - the food is great and the atmosphere is like no where else on earth. Each of these places offers very traditional tapas, except Cuchi Cuchi. I love traditional, but I am also always up for something new. That is definitely what Toro offers.

This shouldn't come as any major surprise, right? Toro is the second? third? outpost of Ken Oringer's growing list of restaurants - all featuring cuisine from a different part of the world. Oringer's skill with food is beyond genius; so much so that we'll forgive him his giant ego (so they say, and, really, don't all the great chefs?). And Toro keeps true to his reputation of creativity and exquisite execution.

First, let's get this business about the corn out of the way. EVERYONE that has ever been to Toro talks about the corn on the cob. I couldn't believe this... it's corn. You can buy ten pounds of it at a road side stand for, what?, thirty-five cents? Foolish girl. It's_really_that_good. I swear. It is grilled to smoky, sweet perfection and then covered in garlicky sauce and cheese (queso fresco? I'm not quite sure.) and then doused with lime. Holy crap. It's unreal. Just go. Eat the corn. Don't be the cynic I was.

So, you can't survive on corn alone, I know... the tortilla was egg-y perfection with a dollop of sour cream, raw tuna dressed with soy and scallions and teensy oyster mushrooms, tart chicken thighs with sticky, honey-like farro, tender grilled bistec with balsamic-y carmelized onions. Wow! All exceptional and unusual.

Less impressive were the portions. While tapas is supposed to just be a small taste, some plates came out with barely enough for the four of us sharing the meal to each get a bite. The sangria and dessert - doughy, bland churros with a spicy chocolate dipping sauce - were both ok, but no match for the meal.

I'd give Toro at 1704 Washington St, Boston, MA an A-. Stick with the main tapas and skip dessert. The service was also outstanding and knowledgeable.