Taco-licious

La Matraca is a fine addition to the slowly
growing Mexican food scene

by MARK SLUTSKY

Tacos! How I love you—and how misused you have been by cheesy Mexican restaurants over the years. But I have to admit to a deep-seated affection for that gloriously inauthentic iteration of the taco, the “Old El Paso”-style in a hard-shelled tortilla stuffed with fried ground beef, shredded cheese, sour cream and salsa. That’s the taco I grew up eating at summer camps and BBQs, so when I first confronted the authentic kind, a rough corn tortilla topped with finely cubed meat, some onion and coriander and a spritz of lime juice, it required some mental adjustment.

The authentic Mexican taco, however, is a truly wonderful thing, and at its best, it’s an art form, and one we see precious little of in this city. Like any town, we have a handful of Tex-Mex joints—it’s not hard to find a burrito or a quesadilla in Montreal, and I guess Taco Bell is slowly moving in via the West Island—but the real deal is harder to find, though there have been more and more authentic restaurants opening in this city as of late.

Still, nothing has ever come close to what I’ve tasted on trips to Los Angeles and San Francisco, let alone, I imagine, Mexico City (where I’ve never been). But that’s the city where the people behind new St-Denis joint la Matraca (named after a sort of Mexican percussive noisemaker) hail from, and their goal of a “No Tex-Mex!” restaurant has been realized in this bright, colourful and inexpensive place. La Matraca is not an atmospheric restaurant or cozy hideaway; in fact, it has a bit of a feel of a fast-food joint or pizza place, white and well-lit with a large open kitchen. That’s fine, though, because this is fast food, but in the best sense of the phrase: fast, inexpensive and simple, which doesn’t need to equal “bad.”

Mexico City is, to those who know and love the stuff, the home of al pastor, which for my money is one of the finest things you can do to pork. Al pastor is marinated in chilis and spices and sometimes citrus juice (depending on the resto) and cooked in a stack, like shawarma or gyros. At the top, there’s generally a big hunk of pineapple, and the sweet sweet juices drizzle down onto the meat. Done right, it’s absolutely as good as it sounds.

So all this to say I was happy to see pastor on the menu at la Matraca, although their claimed specialty is suadero, a grilled, smooth-grained cut of beef marinated in lime juice. They also offer straight-up steak, chuleta (grilled white pork) and chorizo meat.

The meats can be served a variety of ways, but I went for the tacos. You can order individual tacos for $1.99–$2.85 each, or plates of three for $5–$7. You can also get them alambre or gringa style, grilled up with cheese and veggies and served on tortillas—it’s a tasty mess of a meal ($5.50–$8.50). They’re also available in tortas, Mexican sandwiches on a crusty roll, with or without cheese and in a variety of combinations.

So how are they? And most importantly, how is the al pastor? Well, while I don’t think I’ll ever get Mexican food in this city that can rival what you might find in California and Mexico, I have to say, they were pretty darn good. The al pastor tacos, topped with diced onion and cubed pineapple, hit that sweet/savoury spot, and I liked the chipotle-flavoured and spicy salsa.

I also enjoyed the drinks La Matraca offered. While there’s no booze, the agua de horchata (a rice-flavoured sweet drink) was scrumptious, and next time I’ll try the agua de Jamaica (made with Jamaican flowers, both $1.75).

La Matraca is a fine addition to Montreal’s tiny but ever-growing real Mexican food scene. It’s fast food, yes, and it won’t blow your mind (and some will probably complain at the lack of sides like beans or rice). But it does its own thing well and is worth checking out.