Category Archives: Mexican

People have been telling me to go have tacos at Doña Cata for well, much longer than I care to admit, considering that I just went there for the first time last weekend. But even though I’m devastated to lose out on a year’s worth of tacos, it was worth the wait. They are exquisite.

I ordered one each of the the Al Pastor, Longaniza and Barbacoa de borrego tacos which are marinated pork meat with pineapple, cured pork sausage with chili and lamb respectively. They come in a no-frills basket with chopped onion and cilantro and you can mosey up to the salsa bar to choose your topping from 10 different homemade sauces.

They were so tasty! A little messy, to be sure, but all the best foods are. Tender, spiced meat balanced beautifully in flavour and temperature with the cold cilantro and onion and a little squirt of lime made it just exactly right. Try some roasted chilies on the side for extra smoky flavour.

Doña Cata is often voted Vancouver’s best Mexican, best tacos, etc, and Vancouver Magazine recently rated it best in the Americas. I’m astounded that such a small shop way up Victoria has managed to command this kind of attention, but I don’t disagree. The steady stream of happy customers more than the wall of accolades is proof enough that they’re doing everything right.

I know that Doña Cata’s has moved to a larger establishment recently and while I had not seen the old taquería , this one managed to be both homey and festive and…fun! The pink and turquoise walls, Mexican kitsch and friendly, happy staff felt like we were just on the verge of a party or some kind of fabulous family gathering. I love food and am often beside myself when getting to try out a new place, but there were a few times during lunch that I actually caught myself grinning. Of course, that could also have been the margarita…

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Dona Cata Mexican Foods
5076 Victoria Drive, Vancouver

Approaching summer makes me think of tacos and salsa and, ok, margaritas, so on a sunny day last week when I met a friend for lunch, I found myself suggesting Mexican. Specifically, La Casita in Gastown.

A cute little hole in the wall with kitschy decor (check out the chairs-as-cacti, below), La Casita has been around for a while, but never seems to make it onto the radar of top Mexican restaurants in the city. And, while we had a tasty and festive lunch, I would say that there’s a good reason for that.

It was a little soon after my morning coffee for tequila, so I started with a Horchata, an iced rice drink infused with flavours of cinnamon and vanilla and we munched on the chips and salsa that arrived with it.

For lunch I chose something that the waitress said was a “popular combo” and that was probably not a great idea. Because first of all, popularity does not mean quality and secondly, because I don’t particularly like chimichanga’s. My fault entirely. Combo #5 comprised 1 beef chimichanga, 1 chorizo quesadilla, rice, beans and salad, for $14. There was nothing wrong with it, but the quesadilla was a little dry and then the other half of it was a chimichanga. The beans and rice and salad were excellent,  however, which leads me to believe that I would have been very happy with a veggie burrito. Ah well, next time.

The main advantage here is that with a huge space and an off-Water Street location, you can get decent food before a night out without waiting around for very long.  There’s no patio, but a summer lunch is also a nice option because it’s quiet and light and again, not that busy. Service is polite but not outstanding.

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La Casita
101 West Cordova, Vancouver