La Capital Tacos

I had dinner there today, the staff was friendly and helpful. They make their own hot sauces, all of which were delicious and flavourful. They are also one of the few places in Montreal that serve Mezcal, which is a huge plus (I ordered a mezcal variant of an old-fashioned which was great.) I'll probably be back there with friends in a couple weeks, since it seems like it'll be a great spot to have a drink and order food (they had a few solid vegetarian options, which is always a plus). The only downside is that the tacos I ordered were a bit saltier than I expected, but hey, I like salt, so whatever. Definitely worth checking out!

Nestled in between the Chinese grocery stores and the Chinese restaurants one would expect to find in Chinatown, you have La Capital Tacos. It was packed on a Saturday night but we were able to get seats without too much of a wait. I loved that they paid homage to their neighbourhood with a lucky cat, only, dressed in a luchador mask.

My homie Sasher was in town from his gallivanting (yes, I'm calling it that) in central and south America so I needed to see him. OK, he's actually working :) I was already eating with my other homie, Isa, so we decided that we should eat tacos. I'm always in for tacos. Always. I had passed by La Capital many times, wondering wtf a Mexican resto was doing in Chinatown. Well, that's the magic of it, really. Who would've thought they'd put Mexico in China? NO ONE. One of the trick to having a popular resto is putting it somewhere where it has absolutely no competition whatsoever. Hence, Mexico in China. Brilliant!

Good place to meet for tacos and cerveza, it was quite busy but we shared a table with other people. Tacos were good and the ambiance is also pretty cool. If you like cheese the chicharron de queso is a must try.

La Capital Tacos is a hidden Mexican gem in the heart of Chinatown. Don't know why they chose the location, but the owner definitely has some sort of Chinese heritage as you can see Chinese cultural symbols everywhere in the restaurant including Chinese version of the menu, Chinese style dinner ware and even a Chinese buddha of fortune sitting on a table beside the bar.

The restaurant is small and compact, demonstrating a minimalist and no nonsense design concept. There is one giant table on one side and a few smaller tables and plenty of bar seats to accommodate groups of various sizes. The interior of the restaurant reflects a multicultural theme. One side of the wall is of Japanese style wooden panel, another side of wall is of naked bricks. There are various Mexican and Chinese art deco on the walls. The table settings are of western style, simple, clean accompanied with modern comfortable soft chairs.

Rumor has it that they serve some of the most authentic tacos in town, I'm not sure of that nor do I care about that. What I'm sure is after my visit to this restaurant, I can say I had some of the best Tacos I've ever had and probably one of the best in Montreal.

The menu is simple and straight forward. Only the most typical and quintessential Mexican food are available which makes it much an easy job to place order. There are five appetizers and eight tacos dishes all together, five of which are with corn tortillas and three with flour tortillas. With a little help from the waitress, I ordered their basic and signature dishes with Guacamole as the appetizer and two tacos dishes: Pastor and Rosarito.

The Guacamole paste was yummy and fresh, the onion and tomato garnish on top added a bit of flavor to it. The Doritos chips that comes with it seem to be home made, was very crunchy and chewy, definitely more tasteful than those bought from supermarket. But I came to visit them for their tacos, it wouldn't matter much if the tacos aren't good.

Fortunately, I'm even more impressed with the tacos. When it comes to tacos, its two main ingredient the shell and its fillings/toppings are equally important. So I'll judge their tacos from these two aspects. Personally I prefer soft-shell tacos over hardshell, so I'm really glad their tacos are served on soft corn tortillas. The tortillas are soft yet firm and chewy, a million miles better than those you found from Taco Bell.

The Pastor taco is probably their specialty, the toppings are made of marinated pork cooked in a Spit roast, the same way the Lebanese shish and shawarma are cooked which I really enjoy. The roasted pork was tasteful and a bit crispy as well, when wrapped in a soft tortilla, one bite will give you two contrasting tastes, crispiness and softness. The pastor taco also comes with an avocado source, was garnished with onion, coriander and pineapple which gave it a tropical touch and added flavors of spiciness, sweetness and sour.

The Rosarito taco is whole different beast, a giant deep fried beer battered shrimp was served on each tortillas garnished with red cabbage, mayo and avocado source. What's amazing about it is its multilayers of tastes. You got the soft tortilla wrap, the crispy batter shell outside ,then the aromatic sweet creamy beer batter in the middle, and the juicy fresh tasty shrimp meat inside, again a genius creation. For those who always like extra sources, they also have red(spicy) and green salsa sources on the table.

In addition to the amazing tacos, their service is swift and good too. The waitress was helpful, warm, polite and attentive. At the end of my meal, I felt completely full and satisfied, and was already thinking of returning to try some of their other tacos.

Our first encounter at La Capital was a predominantly positive one. We enjoyed the fun, casual feel and service, and were pretty impressed with the guacamole and shrimp tacos. We did, however, find fault with the rest of the food we sampled, which places us on the fence as far as a final verdict is concerned. That being said, this new taqueria is a welcome addition to the city's "low-cost" dining scene.

This is my third time visiting this restaurant and let just say I can’t get enough of it! This is one of my favorite tacos spot in the city. If you’re visiting and looking for something casual with great service and food, this is the place for you! Follow my foodie page on Instagram @wink_foodie

Personally the birria tacos are my favourite along with the frijoles (beans) and chips. The birria is 3 corn tacos and come with a side of birria (think delicious soup). The birria is legit good and is better than most places in Oaxaca (where Birria’s from) I believe all their tacos are made with corn tortillas so most are gluten free. They have a lovely patio for warm summer nights.

Delicious tacos in Chinatown! We had Birria, shrimp and rib eye tacos. Hot sauces are amazing, too! Paloma drink was delicious. Appetizers - we had the black bean dip and guacamole, did not disappoint. A must if you're in the mood for tacos! Service was good 👍🏼

The tacos were okay. I had the birria and they were a bit dry. Our waitress also had an attitude that day, not to mention it was super busy and raining and there was no dry place to wait in line… you get the picture. Margaritas were pretty good. Guac was yummy. Not enough chips tho, had to ask for more.