30 Days of Tex-Mex: Day 12: Taco N' Madre on Oltorf

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Day 12: Taco N' Madre on Oltorf

OMG OMG OMG! Taco N' Madre is amazing!!

This big red truck can be found at the corner of Oltorf and East Side Dr. I've driven past a million times on my way to El Tacorrido and thought it looked just like every other taco truck. I did stop for breakfast tacos once and they were amazing, but for some reason I just never thought to go there for lunch or dinner or afternoon snack or randomly just to gorge myself on amazing tacos. But I was oh so wrong about that.

Bistek Taco

I asked the very inviting server what are some of the most popular items on the menu and he named the bistek and the fajitas. I went for a bistek taco. The tacos are small, but for me that's a good thing because I often find that at most places, one taco isn't enough but two is too many. Bistek, presumably a combo of the words beef and steak, is a thin, fried, rich beef, sometimes served in strips, but in this case it was chopped. The taco had an ample quantity of bistek and was topped with cilantro, queso fresco, and a hefty slice of avocado.

Barbacoa Taco

In appearance the bistek taco and the barbacoa taco are very similar. In this case the topping difference is that the barbaoca has onions, but no cheese or avocado (but I'm sure the highly accommodating chef with allow you to add whatever ingredients you want to yours). I squeezed on some lime, slathered on a scrumptious red salsa, and goodness gracious was the barbacoa good. As I have previously made clear, barbacoa is one of my favorite things. This barbacoa was rich and flavorful but not a bit greasy.

But now what I really want to talk about. I've saved the best for last: the horchata. Pronounced without the H, horchata is a creamy beverage made all across latin America and in Spain. It can be made with almonds, sesame seeds, but in Mexico (according to Wikipedia) it's made with rice. At Taco N' Madre the horchata is made from scratch. It's creamy but light and refreshing. It has a light vanilla taste, just the right amount of cinnamon, and none of that chalky, protein powder taste that many not-from-scratch horchatas have.

If you live in South Austin I would make Taco N' Madre a weekly adventure and if you live elsewhere, it is definitely worth a frequent trip.

www.facebook.com/TacoNMadreATX

Taco N' Madre - 628 E Oltorf

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About this Blog and Its Author

Tex-Mex is a daily ritual in Austin, TX. We Austinites eat breakfast tacos, salsa, enchiladas, and guacamole, as much as Italians eat pasta and Koreans eat kimchee. That's why the prospect of leaving all this scrumptious Tex-Mex behind, made me, Cecil, a 10-year resident of Austin, and a lifelong Texan, fearful for my tastebuds. I'm moving up to Western Massachusetts with my husband at the end of August and I want to be sick of Tex-Mex when I get there. Then, at least for a little while, I wont daydream about cilantro and lime mingling with barbacoa or ceviche.

And so this blog was born. I am not endeavoring to create a "best of" list, nor am I even trying to hit up all the most iconic Tex-Mex restaurants in Austin. I will eat (at least) 1 meal per day for 30 days at a different Tex-Mex, Mex-Tex, Mexican fusion, or legit Mexican restaurant. Inevitably there will be some readers who say "I can't believe she didn't go to X restaurant!" or "such-and-such place is so much better than where she went." There are so many amazing (and mediocre) Tex-Mex joints in Austin, there is no way I can go to all of them. I am going to go to 30 restaurants that strike my fancy. Many of them will be well-known Austin hot spots, and many will be divey holes in the wall. Some will be phenomenally delicious and, alas, some will fall short of greatness. This project only promises to be a great adventure, accompanied by lots of beans and rice, so I hope you will read along and perhaps go sample some of the deliciousness yourself.