So, I finally made it out of my hotel after a good few days of awful jet lag. Where was the first place I was going to go to? Holbox… I already decided this way in advance, as it has good write ups for the city, I decided to go and check it out. The drive was long, I am not good at navigating my way around LA as it is so huge. I love to walk to different areas and here you just can’t do that. You won’t survive without a car, and you need to be prepared for long journeys/traffic just to go from one restaurant to another if you are venturing outside of your area.
Holbox is set up in a kind of ‘food mall’ This is typically LA, completely normal. I took a seat at the counter after going to the till and placing my order. As I had come all this way, I was dam sure that I was going to order lots of different things to try. Firstly, some tortilla chips were placed down in front of me with some salsa in a plastic tub. We are in very casual territory here. I came primarily for their tacos; this is what this place is known for, and I am a taco lover on a taco mission.
First up was the smoked kanpachi taco: House smoke baja kanpachi, local queso Oaxaca, salsa cruda, avocado & peanut salsa mâcha. We have Mexican authenticity here using unashamedly superb Californian ingredients, all on handmade tortillas. The portion was generous, the kick of spice coming from this was powerful. You can clearly see that it was made with care and attention flavour wise. The presentation wasn’t pretty but most importantly it tasted better than it looked.
Taco de pescado al carbon- (Mesquite grilled baja kanpachi, guacamole, pico de gallo, morita sauce). The skin came looking worse for wear, which was a shame, more could have been done to prevent this. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be crispy or not, it was half hanging off. Nevertheless, the taco tasted well balanced, and the avocado was nothing like we get at home. The product itself, fantastic.
Taco de pulpo en su tinta- (Braised & fried Gulf of Mexico octopus, calamari ink sofrito). A nice idea with the calamari ink sofrito, and the octopus was tender. Another generous sized taco, I am really appreciating up until this point the handmade tortillas. They really make the difference between a bad taco and a good one.
I couldn’t finish my lunch without taking the Baja shrimp taco. (Classic crispy battered shrimp, crema, mayonnaise, salsa roja, cabbage, pico). The shrimp was perfectly crisp, everything tasted fresh on the plate.
I glanced further at the menu and saw that they had homemade churros with chocolate sauce. I just couldn’t resist those…. Even though I felt quite full I took them anyway and said to myself that I would only eat two. I ended up finishing the whole plate. They were the best churros I had in a while.
Not being unusual for LA, I seemed to have stumbled in on a day when they were doing some filming here with the chef, this was quite interesting to watch. I had a front row seat at the theatre with my tacos.
Overall, I did enjoy the rustic nature of the food I ate, the ingredients were super fresh, vibrant, lively and they are doing everything homemade (Not just the tacos) They keep the menu small and focus on quality. (The way it should be). It might not be the most complex food, simple and rustic is what they deliver, but I can’t say that I didn’t have a good lunch. The caveat to this might be the location- would I drive all this way just to come here for a very casual lunch at a counter? My answer might be no. But based on the food alone, I have to say yes, I would give it another shot.
