Taqueria 27

I found Taqueria 27 on Twitter and made a mental note to stop in since I drive by the restaurant almost every day.  I didn't take the time to check out their website so I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised.  Taqueria 27 does quick takes on some pretty complex ideas, then wraps them in a tortilla and calls it a taco (sometimes it is, sometimes that is a stretch, but it was always delicious).

Our meal progressed from decent to mind-blowing.  We started with the roasted guacamole, which was one option among six guacamoles.  Good flavor with roasted chiles, garlic, lime and cilantro, but it certainly could have benefitted from more of those ingredients as it was super mild.

We also grabbed some house margaritas, which were mixed with blood orange, citrus and agave nectar.  A bit tangier than I'm used to, I really appreciated that they had tried something new (if only slightly) for their house recipe.  If it weren't for all of the other appealing drinks on the menu I would say I'd order these again.  Can't go wrong with a house marg here.

The tequila menu was fairly extensive although you're not going to find anything too exotic outside of the "extra anjeos".  I would love to see some of the reposados and anejos built out with a few boutique options, but was pleased to see some favorites on the menu for sure.

Our tacos all came at once.

I'll work up in order of what we enjoyed.  The fish taco was a grouper that was "flash fried" and topped with slaw, cilantro-lime crema and jalepeno tartar sauce.  This was a perfectly fine fish taco, but I would note that it is deep fried, not exactly flash fried, in grease that was nearing the end of its useful life.  I can't complain because the result was a perfectly cooked fish taco, but be ready for fried if you order fried.

Both of the other tacos we ordered were fantastic and we were split on which was best.  The special that day was a pork skirt steak marinated in sriracha and soy sauces then served with an asian slaw.  I was skeptical about pork skirt steak but it was every bit as lean and tender as the more commonly seen beef skirt.  The asian flavors were cool, but it still pretty much felt like a taco - so kudos to Taqueria 27 for making everything work together without creating a tortilla-wrapped spring roll.  This one was a flour tortilla, and I might go flour on them all next time as it was particularly good.

The last two tacos to mention were the duck confit.  Given the time requirements around traditional confit methods (cooking the duck in its own fat), I thought it was pretty unique to find a taco joint able to create this.  The taco is finished with fire-roasted veggies, leeks and chipotle crema.  By far my favorite item of the night.

The Verdict?  Taqueria 27 is haute cuisine made into tacos that span the cullinary gambit at a reasonable price.  I haven't found the unique mixture of well-executed interesting cooking, price and quick, casual atmosphere anywhere else in SLC (yet).  The environment is fun for a date but also friendly to kids.  The drinks are good.

Note: hopefully this is the last post where you see dreamy photos with a light haze around them - I ordered a new lens for my iphone camera, which should fix the issue.