In the past few years, quite a few Mexican restaurants, mainly taco places have sprung up in Dhaka. Although separated by two oceans, Mexican food is quite similar to local palettes, with a complex flavours and their love for chilies.
After much deliberation, the top three Mexican eateries, ranked in terms of authenticity were El Toro, Taltibaaz, and Taquiera Lola.
All three venues are located at Gulshan, prime location to find for corporate workers, students and families alike.
El Toro
El toro, is an age-old favourite that first pops up in your mind if you have grown up in Dhaka and need to satisfy your Mexican cravings.
The 1995 establishment witnessed three relocations, and is currently located at Gulshan 2 behind the Westin hotel.
Keeping consistent for 27-year is a tall order, but El Toro rarely misses the mark.
The sparingly lit hallway gives off an immediate intimate vibe with comforting aromas wafting through the kitchen doors as soon as you cross the hallway.
Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneAmong its specialties, the Tampico chicken taco comes in a flaky flour taco shell holding a filling of seasoned ground chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, and a spicy taco sauce.
While the ingredients are freshly imported, it had more room for the filling, giving a lackluster experience.
The beef Nachos satisfies the flavour quotient, but you can’t help but notice the tortilla chips get soggy as you excitedly try to pick the meat up with the toppings of tomatoes, chilies, green onions, and sour cream up with the tortilla chips.
Extra tortilla chips would have helped.
The apple iced tea, admittedly a favourite, is instantly refreshing and leaves you satisfied.
The Piña Colada, a mocktail, was a heavy drink to consume, immediately making you long for a nap.
The chunky chicken Quesadilla is lightly sautéed in butter, garlic and a mouth-watering sour cream sauce folded inside a flour tortilla with melted cheddar cheese.
They really did save the best for last. It is wisest to stick to El Toro’s popular dishes from its extensive menu.
The prices for a meal at El Toro ranges between Tk220 and Tk1,050.
There have been two major slumps in El-Toro’s 27 years of business and they were during the Holey Artisan attack back in 2016 and soon after the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, when customer influx took a large hit.
Due to lack of profits, they are not associated with a customer delivery service.
They have only recently reached break-even.
Manager Mohiuddin Ahmed Dulal recalls how the restaurant has had to deal with bad patches.
“There are days when I’m the chef, manager and waiter - all three at once,” Dulal lamented.
Taqueria Lola
Taqueria Lola is Dhaka’s trendy new Mexican place that embraces a more contemporary interior design.
The design specifically caters to the upscale, tech-savvy netizen generation.
The colour scheme, the floral wallpapers and the geometric patterns adorning the floors embodies the diversity of Mexican culture and food.
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneIt is an easy restaurant to spot with vibrant colors popping through the glass door, and bright yellow circular sign board that has Mexico crossed out, and Dhaka written instead, giving the Dhakaites an instant sense of belonging.
The restaurant boasts contrasting bright colours with its phrase of creating new dreams “in colours that don’t exist.”
In the first two months of the 6 month-old restaurant that opened in February this year, scores of families found a new family dinner space in Taqueria Lola, especially employees at Bank Asia, who found themselves a new eatery at the same building.
Food options at Taqueria Lola consist of a street-style Mexican spread of delicacies.
All items are served on a tray, giving you both the taste of street food, a fleeting feeling of it as well while still in the comfort of being seated at a lavish restaurant.
Among their Tacos, Beef Barbacoa is a combination of some succulent chipotle braised beef, cilantro and green chillies, wrapped inside a flour tortilla served with a lime.
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneIt had generous portions of filling, and the zesty lime that is absolutely a necessity.
The Queso Fundido was in fact a fun little surprise because of the house-made corn tortilla as opposed to a traditional flour tortilla.
Served with queso, a melted cheese dip garnished with pickled jalapeno, cilantro, chilli oil, tomato and Barbacoa.
By using corn tortillas, Taqueria tequila Lola really distinguishes itself from its competitors. The corn tortillas are crunchy and an absolute stand out.
The Hibiscus Elixir, is an exotic drink that consists of hibiscus flower, cinamon, orange, crushed ice, and simple syrup.
While the expectations were high, the taste was a bit of a letdown.
The orange was the dominant taste on the tongue, definitely not a flavour of choice.
The Pineapple Express was a spicy pineapple drink, and a lot more preferable.
The price range for Taqueria Lola is Tk180-395.
The reason behind their mid-level price range is that their locally sourced products are still well within their budget, not assuming the future, but the present.
They only recently started offering delivery service via foodpanda, but deliveries have yet to pick up the pace. They have relatively more dine-ins.
Business manager at Dhaka Restaurants Concepts Tanvir Naser Chowdhury said: “It's nothing easy. Customers don’t only come in for the food but also for the experience. The whole team is working really hard.”
Talitibaaz
Talitibaaz is the first of its kind which blends Bangladeshi and Mexican sentiments.
The nascent two-month old eatery has brought something new, apart from the food and flavors as well.
Taltibaaz operates from a colourful cart adorned in orange, yellow, red and blue on the streets beside the popular Naveed's Comedy Club in Gulshan, imitating the likes of an authentic Mexican street food experience, but served in a Bangladeshi cart.
The greenery across elevates the already pleasant view, and provides a live kitchen experience at the same time.
Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneChef Tasnima Reza Disha is particularly proud of the live kitchen experience.
“Many restaurants claim to be live kitchens, but how many people let you see the whole process? Here, you can see everything,” she said.
Their catchphrase is accessible to all as it endearingly addresses “mama’ while using Bangladeshi jargons like “joss” to describe the tacos. The catchphrase is pasted across the cart to attract customers of all backgrounds to try out a bit of Mexican food on Dhaka's busiest street.
Talitibaaz has a delectable menu combining the likes of Bangladeshi and Mexican flavors.
It includes the popular Baja Bhetki (barramundi) Tacos, spicy shrimp tacos, chicken jhal fry taco, and chicken Al Pastor.
The spicy shrimp taco consists of perfectly cooked pieces of grilled shrimp, cabbage, honey garlic aioli, salsa and fresca, and one that although is hard to pick up, once held is easy to devour in a matter of seconds.
Photo: Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka TribuneAlthough a bite-sized meal, there’s a long lasting taste for hours to carry back home, accompanied with a fizzy Margherita that goes down as a minty fresh treat.
Talitibaaz’s cart is in a price range of Tk100-180 apiece.
It is still running strong on the recent hype and is part of a much larger global phenomenon.
It is too early to understand whether their prices will hike because of inflation, but as of now, they are going strong.
They offer food deliveries via a number of services such as pathao and foodpanda.
However, since the cart is a newer experience, they have relatively more dine-ins.
Verdict
Taltibaaz is the best live Mexican experience available in Bangladesh, with its spice customization catered to the Bangladeshi in you.
It lives up to its hype and the staff serves its dishes with a friendly smile.
El Toro's prices are affected by lack of profits due to its ongoing crisis, showing the cracks inside the restaurant's hardcore traditionalism.
Taqueria Lola’s food quality and prices are very good due to imported corn tortillas.
Even though it is not the cheapest, it has the strongest Mexican ambience.
But, we have a winner!
Still thinking of which one to go to for your weekend evening supper?
Run to Taltibaaz, regardless of whom you take with you, it will be a worthwhile experience.
