Cheap eats: La Popular Taqueria

THERE'S nothing Tex-Mex about the food coming out of this vibrant cantina, writes Jessica Galletly

La Popular Taqueria in Port Adelaide. Picture: Matt Loxton

IT’S pronounced “esca-beh-che”, the young woman with a thick Spanish accent tells me after I sheepishly read out loud, “esca-besh”.

“In Spanish, we pronounce everything,” she says.

“You could learn Spanish in half an hour.”

The woman, Diana, as I later learned, is from Mexico City and forms part of the friendly team at six-week-old Mexican cantina La Popular Taqueria.

It’s a bright and casual diner, with wooden bar stools and tables, naked bulbs that hang haphazardly from the ceiling and a great big cartoon-style logo on a teal-coloured wall.

But there’s a lot of heart in the place, too. Diana is all too happy to share the background of the dishes, including the traditional process behind the 30-plus ingredient mole – but more on that later.

Inside the La Popular Taqueria in Port Adelaide. Picture: Matt Loxton

Co-owner Daniella Guevara makes everything from scratch, including the maize flour tortilla dough, which is run through a machine similar to a pasta maker to both flatten, and cut the dough into a round taco.

And there we have the hero of the menu. There are seven tacos on offer, along with a range of other picky bits.

First up is the frijoles – black turtle beans cooked down into a comforting, purple sludge finished with a little grated cheese ($6). There’s plenty for two or three people to scoop up with corn chips.

That escabeche I can now pronounce is the perfect side dish of pickled jalapenos and vegies that adds an element of freshness to the slow-cooked beans and meats, and is savoured over meal ($4.50).

Before long, it’s tacos to table. The pork (cochinita) is a favourite, the meat marinated in spices including achiote to impart its red colour. It’s cooked slowly in aromatic banana leaf until it’s shreddable, mixed through just-enough hot habanero sauce and finished with spritely rounds of pickled red onion ($8.50).

Absolutely. Delicious.

Vegan mole and pork tacos, with a side of frijoles and chiles en escabecha at La Popular Taqueria in Port Adelaide. Picture: Matt Loxton

If there’s one thing that’s the star, it’s the mole – the sauce famously made, among myriad other ingredients, with cacao.

In Mexico, we’re told, women get together to make a dry mix in bulk days before a big celebration, where they then blend it with liquid to serve. It’s a similar deal here. Daniella melds together dozens of spices, chillies, nuts and raisins to ultimately create a rich brown sauce with layers of flavour – first a subtle sweetness, then smokiness, earthiness and satisfying savouriness. It’s traditionally served with chicken, or their vegan version is served with potatoes ($6.50).

My only complaint is that it’s only 1pm and hard to justify a tequila before going back to work. Next time, it’ll be dinner – and I’ll be bringing more friends for a real celebration.

La Popular Taqueria

ADDRESS: 226 St Vincent St, Port Adelaide

OWNERS: Daniella Guevara, Kor-jent Van Dijk

CHEF: Daniella Guevara

FOOD: Mexican

PRICE: $2-$8.50.

DRINKS: Licensed – including range of tequila. Also traditional softies.

OPEN: Lunch and dinner Wed-Sat; lunch Sundays

ATMOSPHERE: Cantina

CROWD: Young folk

TRY: Mole

TIP: Share a side of chiles en escabeche

SCORE: 8.5/10