If you’re going to sell burritos in the Los Angeles region, you simply can’t health-measure it. Outside of Mexico itself, this is one of the hotbeds for Mexican food, thanks to our obvious geographical proximity to that country, as well as the glorious cultural diversity that we enjoy here.
Tacomiendo is handily located on Inglewood Boulevard, a few doors down from Mario’s Pizza (reviewed in the News last week) and across the street from another Mexican restaurant, El Abajeno, reviewed a couple of weeks ago. So there really is nowhere to hide for the good people at Tacomiendo–they have to be great. Thankfully, they are.
One of the excellent and immediate selling points is the fact that Tacomiendo has a self-service salsa bar. Everything that they have available at it is wonderful too. A good salsa should be alive and zingy, rather than the sort of lumpy tomato paste that you get in jars. The red salsa here has the perfect level of spice tempered by the tangy tomato and tart onion. The green is better still, the spices, cilantro and citrus blending beautifully.
And then there’s the pico de gallo, an often underrated side. The chunks of tomato, onion and pepper create a vibrant concoction that is as good on its own as it is with the chips or eaten with the main meal.
Those chips, by the way, are superb. Crispy, oily without being greasy, and packed with natural corn flavors. Chips shouldn’t be this good without anything on them, but these really are a treat. Add one of the awesome salsas and the chip is off the charts.
We chose to have a burrito for our main meal, and we had it vegan. That meant pinto beans, cilantro, salad vegetables, and rice.
The combination was electric, and far more exciting than a bean and veggie burrito had any real right to be. The pinto beans were aromatic and wonderfully seasoned–earthy and comforting. The veg was mostly salad–lettuce and tomato (yes, tomato is a fruit). It was fresh and crisp, and the cilantro brought the whole thing to life.
The rice provided a nice base; again, it was seasoned perfectly, and it soaked up the various juices like a champ.
Finally, the tortilla wrap itself was tasty but a little flimsy. The whole thing fell apart in the foil, meaning that it had to be eaten with a fork out of a bowl. No matter, the flavors more than made up for the minor inconvenience.
Taco Miendo is located at 4502 Inglewood Blvd., Culver City 90230. Contact 310-915-0426.