Meet the Plateau’s new taqueria, T&T

Chorizo tacos

For years, authentic Mexican fare was scarce in Montreal, a town where brightly painted Tex-Mex-style eateries serving cheese-drenched enchiladas and giant margaritas still seem to dominate the scene. But over time, (mostly) Mexican-run restaurants like Manana, la Bonita, El Rey del Taco, Grumman 78, Ta Chido and a growing list of hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop spots are filling a void for Mexican (or American) ex-pats and foodies seeking the real deal.

Conversely, the Concordia-adjacent Burritoville and the Main’s Burrito Shop pack their wraps California-style, but as satisfying as all that guacamole and rice and beans and cheese is, minimalism has its virtues, especially when the air is thick enough to drink.

T&T Tacos and Tortas opened up on the corner of Rachel and Clark only a few weeks ago, and what they offer is simple and solid: small, soft-shell tacos, tortas (sandwiches) packed with a choice of meats or grilled veggies and churros for dessert.

T&T is licensed, so a mojito and negroni were the first items we ordered when my group of four sat down to peruse the menu. The mojito was made with ginger ale instead of club soda, adding a tad too much sweetness to the cocktail, whereas the negroni was perfectly concocted, with that key hint of orange rind offsetting the syrupy vermouth, which in turn helped the medicine go down — this is a three-ounce drink, after all.

With no starters or complimentary nachos to gnaw on, we dove straight into tacos and tortas. There are four tacos in each order, laid out on wooden cutting boards with lime wedges and bowls of habanero, tomatillo and red sauce to be drizzled or poured over the contents of the wrap. We ordered the classic pastor (marinated pork and grilled pineapple, though we struggled to find the latter in the mix), chorizo and pescado. The pieces of white fish in the pescados were battered, and while this initially set off alarms (fish sticks in a taco?!), the batter was done in-house and the fish was fresh, soft and not overcooked. The crunch of the batter, and the tablespoon of creamy coleslaw in each taco, gave the pescado an uncommon weight and texture, and a rich flavour. Regardless, I don’t doubt that this will be a sore point for some fish-taco connoisseurs.

The ground chorizo went over well with group, though generous dollops of sauce were needed to kick up both the heat and the texture of the meat, which seemed a tad dry. The hit of the night was easily the pastor, each nugget of pork rich with its natural flavour, tart marinade accents and finishing kick of sweet pineapple.

But let’s not overlook the torta. There’s a pastor torta, as well as pulled porked, breaded beef filet and grilled steak with black beans and pico de gallo, but we had two orders of the vegetarian variety, with eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and a little feta. That’s a pretty basic token veg sandwich, but somehow it all came together beautifully, due to whatever subtle mystery lube and seasoning coated the veggies (by my two bites, I’m thinking fresh oregano and olive oil) and, moreover, the fresh, slightly fluffy white bun.

Part of the beauty of a relatively light Mexican meal is that there’s always room for churros. One order gets you three thin, hand-rolled donut-like sticks — not the fat, ridged, chocolate- or caramel-filled kind you may be used to — coated in cinammon and sugar and drizzled in either chocolate, strawberry or dulce de leche. You can opt for one of each, which is what we did, and they were all delicious, particularly the fresh strawberry and lucious dulce de leche.

T&T wasn’t perfect, but in the end we all left satisfied. It’s so early in the game that a few minor fixes and additions to the menu could make T&T a popular Plateau go-to before the summer is out. ■

51 Rachel W., 514-518-5331