OJT EATS | Chale Tacos
Taipei may not be particularly well known for tacos: in fact, there are many people that would say it's very difficult to find good tacos in Taipei. However, we are of the view that once you start looking for them, you can find decent taco spots in the city. This week, we are at the very well reviewed Chale Tacos near Zhong Xiao Dun Hua.
First thing we did when we got there was to get a drink, in this case a horchata. We don't drink a lot of horchata so can't really speak for the authenticity but it was cold, milky, very cinnamon-y and surprisingly refreshing.
Now onto the tacos themselves. We'd ordered 2 carnitas and one beef tongue (it's the one on the bottom right of the photo). The tortillas were made from corn and were really tasty. They had the coarse texture you often get from corn tortillas that we really like. The pork was super juicy and the salsa on top was fresh and a little sharp but with no heat. The beef tongue was super tender and basically fell apart. All of these tacos really hit the spot.
Then it was onto the chips and guac. The chips were clearly freshly fried, super crispy and actually really flavourful. The guac was pretty smooth without being pureed and was perfectly seasoned and spiced. In our opinion, chips and guac are a staple of Mexican food and these were really well done; a perfect accompaniment to tacos and a cold beer.
The last thing we ordered was a chicken quesadilla. Crispy on the outside and super cheesy with big chunks of chicken on the inside. It came with salsa and sour cream in the same bowl which was unusual but we are big fans of sour cream (and we don't see it often in Taiwan) so was glad we had it.
We were pretty impressed with this place and can see it being our go to place in Taipei for tacos. There is another tacqueria here though called Pang's Tacos that we are looking forward to trying though and given its reputation, could well take that title from Chale at some point. We will keep you posted.
Chale Tacos, No. 16, Lane 190, Section 1, Dunhua S Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City
Cheers, JL
