Mission Taco

On our recent trip to San Francisco, well the States in general, I always steer toward Mexican food. Okay fine, I always steer toward Mexican food but I'd heard quite a lot about the Mission District in San Francisco and particularly how good the Mexican food is there, so you know, I had to check it out...for the blog and such (looks side to side). Through recommendations from friends and Yelp, we Uber-ed down to La Taqueria.

Stupidly we got there at noon on a weekday - the lineup was snaking around the inside perimeter of the place. Oh well, more time for us to get the lay of the land and figure out how much food we could stuff into our belly (side note: American portion sizes scare me so I was quite cautious and equally sad that I couldn't try everything....my daily struggle). As we eyed everyone's meals and stalked potential perches, we finally agreed on the chips and salsa, carnitas taco, the chorizo taco and the carne asada burrito.

First things first, I couldn't stop eating the chips; I ate them pre-taco, pre-burrito, mid-taco, mid-burrito and post-taco, post-burrito. Enough said. First up, the chorizo taco. (Note: All tacos are held up by two tortillas - winning already!) The chorizo was piled sky high and the subtle flavour was a great balance with the pico de gallo; this one was my favourite. Taco #2, the carnitas was a "super" taco, which means that on top of the regular toppings, it had sour cream, cheese and avocado. This wasn't bad but I think the "super" part drowned the flavour of the meat a bit but sadly this was our own doing (womp, womp).

On to the burrito, which I'm sure weighed as much as a baby! What's special about the way La Taqueria does their burrito is that there is no rice. Why someone would want carbs in carbs is beyond my understanding and the rice just fills you up and makes you sleepy, which pretty much is the end of your day. Anyway, I digress. The beef, refried beans and avocado were perfectly proportioned that nothing overpowered each other and it wasn't greasy at all. So much so that the aluminium foil it came wrapped in was clean as a whistle when we were done with it! Huzzah!

It was a perfectly refreshing lunch that was filling and light on the wallet without the bloating sensation. Couldn't ask for anything more.

From Quebec City to Calgary

Our last night in Quebec City was spent at L'affaire est ketchup, a tiny fabulous restaurant outside of the old city and we struck up a conversation with the two diners at the next table. One of them happened to be John Robarts, Operation Manager for the Creative Restaurants chain and we held on to his contact info in the off-chance that we might visit Calgary someday. Well, that day arrived and off we went to the mountains! With 5 restaurants to choose from, we were spoiled for choice; after a conversation with John and a quick scan of the menu, we zeroed in on Posto Pizzeria & Bar. The space is contemporary and warm with an open kitchen (love, love, love). I don't say this quite often, but everything on the menu sounded delicious from the goose prosciutto to the turducken meatballs - argh, I wish we had a bigger party or, better yet, I wish I had a bigger stomach! After a few drinks, we narrowed down the list to one pasta and two pizzas. The first pizza was significantly meat heavy with sausage, salami, smoked pancetta and calabrese.

Not being a huge fan of meat-heavy pizzas, this was surprisingly not as salty but, unfortunately, a bit basic and I couldn't distinguish all the meat from each other. Thankfully, the next one was outstanding. I present, the chicken, almond pesto, goat cheese and red pepper pizza.

I loved this one; it was so flavourful and the smokiness of the wood-burning oven with the chicken was just stellar. It was light and tangy and took me back to summer. Finally, for the pasta, we chose the black pepper linguine with mussels, leeks, tomato, proscuitto and chilli.

Mamma mia! This one's got a kick to it that will linger on your lips. Thankfully, the chilli doesn't overpower the delicate mussels and adds a little extra bite to the broth. One thing I wish we had on the table was some bread, so I could soak up all that extra goodness on the bottom of the bowl. If it was socially acceptable to drink from the bowl, I would have been on it!

I didn't think Calgary had a food scene on arriving there, but Posto definitely made be a believer. See you soon Calgary!