Posted 11 February 2007 - 09:47 PM
Tried here tonight.
It's a pretty tiny, brightly lit taqueria right off Lombard just shy of Greeley. (Maybe 20 blocks west of Interstate.) They have a TV going, as is required. Murals on both of the side walls. There are numbered pictures of dishes on the wall behind the register and in the menu. It's mostly Portland taqueria and Western Mexico basics with things like tamales, enchiladas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, carne asada, soups, plus some mariscos.
The soup selection is probably the largest: full meal soups like shrimp caldo, menudo, carne en su jugo, birria de chivo, and pozole, plus soups of the day which include carrot, broccoli, mushroom, corn, lentil and bacon, pasta and vegetable, etc. Meat selection includes asada, al pastor, carnitas, pollo, cabeza, lengua, and chorizo.
We got two tacos, one of asada and one of al pastor at $1.50 each. (A plate of 4 tacos is $5.) They're pretty large for a taqueria, almost twice the size of many taco trucks. I don't think tortillas were made by hand. The asada was pretty good. It looked like skirt or hanger steak pounded really thin. It was nice and crusty and heavily seasoned, perhaps a bit too much. The al pastor was not good, imo. Not only was it chunky and a bit dry, but it tasted like salty jerky to me. My guess is that the marinade was all vinegar and salt. We didn't finish that taco.
We also got two soups, the carne en su jugo ($5.50) and the pozole de pollo ($5). The carne en su jugo came as a medium sized bowl of tender pieces of beef and bacon, I think, in an intense broth. The beef was really nice. Perfectly cooked. There were some connective tissues in there as well, some of them right at the melting point. If I had to guess, I would say the soup is braced with Knorr. It's fairly salty and has a little bit of that flavor. It's certainly common in Mexican home cooking. On the side were caramelized onions, cilantro, and chopped onion. They also served it with several house made corn tortillas that were a bit too thick, but still good. I enjoyed it, but I've definitely had better.
The pozole was fairly large and had tons of shredded chicken. There was way more meat than there was hominy. It was a light red broth with a moderate spiciness. There was also shredded lettuce in the soup. They provide cilantro and onions on the side and give you the choice of chips or tortillas. This is very filling. It's not as good as some other taqueria pozoles, imo, such as La Bonita's or Ole Frijole's, and a far cry from the upper end pozoles at places like Autentica or DF, but still worth getting. I'd like to see some avocado and chicharron as an option. Instead, I added some of their smooth guac to my soup. I'd also prefer cabbage to lettuce or at least be able to put the lettuce in myself so it didn't get so soggy.
btw, they started us with chips and salsa. The chips were burnt. The salsa wasn't like what has been complained about. Maybe they realized people weren't liking it. Instead, this was a pretty standard tomato based salsa, tasting most strongly of canned tomatoes. Still nothing to get excited about. The standard taqueria salsas at the fixings bar looked better.
They also gave us a taste of their cream of corn soup. It was damned good. It had creamed corn, corn chunks, and sauteed fresh poblanos. Damn good.
I'd definitely return if in that part of town. I don't know if it's worth travelling across town for, though. They need to get the salt under control if I'm complaining. But I'd like to try more dishes.
Las Nayaritas
2727 N Lombard
Portland, OR 97217
503 286-3119
The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what it was. ~Brillat-Savarin
Nick Zukin,
Kenny & Zuke's Deli
sfspanky 
gustoeater, on Feb 5 2007, 08:53 AM, said:
ZenBoy 
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