Taco Libre, Shandwick Place
Edinburgh
THE charm of Taco Libre is not just that you walk into it straight from the kiss-me-quick tourist tat at this end of Edinburgh’s Princes Street. And then momentarily think … uh, is this like actual Mexico man?
It’s also not just about the Colombian waitresses chatting in Spanish to customers, the broken down Spanish Coca Cola fridge, the industrial taco press in the corner – “used every single day”, I will be told.
Though they all help. Nor really is it the fact that Luis Albert Posada is playing above the diner babble on the ropey sound system, El Precio de Tu Error, since you ask and says Mr Shazam.
It’s this: the food is just bloody good. Oh, and in an absolute sea of culinary fakes these days this is surely a real deal. Yeah, it’s a bit, um, untidy too.
Huge tins of chipotle abodabas, green tomatoes, pineapple, all on open display up there; an unused puggy machine to the left of the open kitchen, neon flashing signs, some wrestler tat, skulls – yeah, lots of skulls.
But this is somehow adding to the whole positive vibe of what is down-in-the-trenches hand-to-hand eating.
Look at this. My tiny table in veneer and sturdy metal edging is so close to the next that when I turn with a giant chile relleno in my fat fist, the first wave of hot green jalapeno juices beginning to bite, I realise my neighbours are not only close enough for our elbows to be touching, but for our eyes to actually lock. Eek. Er, awkward.
“Bueno,” I nod towards them, mouth seamlessly changing up a gear to handle the unusual sensations: fresh, soft corn taco then crispy, crunchy fried shell, a sudden very green jalapeno moment inside, spiced minced meat stuffing popping inside that and finally, cooling cheese.
Ooft. It works. Now, this is Edinburgh so some customers are, of course, eating their tacos with knives and forks, yuk-yuk.
I, of course, am delighted to see this and then find myself doing exactly the same with the sopes. Deep-fried crispy masa, that corn flour again, base piled with refried beans, guacamole, salsa, fresh tangy onion, feta, sour cheese.
Honestly? I am a complete slobbering mess by the time I’ve polished off the second of those and moved onto the grilled corn cobs, smothered in mayo, cream cheese and then dusted with more cheese and chilli.
“Could I have some more napkins please?” I say to the waitress, my hands out to keep juices from melting the sleeves of my M&S 100% polyester suit.
This is the same smiley lady who will process my bill later as I lounge at the counter and ask nosey questions about who is behind this place.
“These guys are from Venezuela and Peru,” she and her colleague will say, gesturing at the open kitchen where two taco chefs will look up suddenly and smile. “But the head chef is from Mexico.” Ah. The tacos too are from Mexico, the city though according to the menu. A suadero; seven-hours brisket.
READ MORE RON REVIEWS: The Palm Tree
Two more of those proper corn taco dudes – and I should say here there is something uniquely flavoured about a proper corn taco – chillies, red salsa, onion, lots of coriander.
The meat is piquant, almost limey, the flavours deeply embedded, the whole thing a complete nightmare to eat and yet ... eat it all I do.
Before turning to a pollo asado to repeat the whole slurp, slippery, unput-downable process again.
Yeah. They do the whole Margarita gig, cocktails, Mexican beers yada-yada, too a dangerously seductive package in an easy-osy comfortable setting as the somewhat steamin’ group of young Edinburghers at the table by the door underline.
“Say Chees-ay wot-sat again,” a very loud girl is shouting while roaring with laughter. Normally, and only if it’s not me behaving thus, annoying.
But tonight, in here, everyone is super-chilled. Paying little attention. And I certainly want to linger. Some places just have that ay-caramba vibe.
Taco Libre
3 Shandwick Place
Edinburgh
EH42 4RR
Opening hours: seven days
Menu: tacos, Chile Relenos, Sopes you’ve seen the movie, you know what taco places sell - but this is proper stuff. 4/5
Service: Charming Spanish speaking waitresses float about in a relaxed and friendly way. 5/5
Price: Big, fat sloppy tacos come in at around £8, prices may have gone up for the festival, those relenos were £6. Worth it. 4/5
Atmosphere: Somehow the place manages to have ten times the atmosphere of all those carefully curated fake joints. I liked it a lot. 5/5
Food: Knock out dish of the ight were those stuffed chillis to start, almost a meal, then with proper corn foundations the tacos mopped up in the taste stakes. 8/10
Total: 26/30
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel