TacoJoe: Birria and Shrimp Tacos Near Guang Hua Digital Plaza

As you might expect, Mexican food isn't common in Taipei. There are plenty of taco shops in Taiwan, but they are spread out, and as in many countries outside Mexico, quality and flavour can be hit or miss. I also spent quite a few years in Mexico, so when I have to pay US$3-5 per taco rather than $1-2, it hurts me deeply.

I wanted to check out cameras this week, and there are some used camera shops near Guang Hua Digital Plaza. I had heard good things about TacoJoe nearby, so I figured I could do some shopping and risk being disappointed by tacos yet again. After checking camera stores and getting depressed over the prices, I walked over to TacoJoe, ready to have my heart broken twice in a day.

TacoJoe is down one of the side alleys with a lot of electronics stores, just south of Guang Hua and Syntrend. They seemed to be takeout only, but when I ordered, they asked if I wanted it here or to go. I said “for here,” but I wasn't sure where to sit, so I assumed it was at one of the metal tables down the lane a few steps away, although they didn’t seem like part of the restaurant.

Photo by Kalen Johnson

The tacos are NT$125 each, so almost US$4.00 each. They have combos of NT$310 for 3 (US$9.72), NT$620 for six (US$19.44), and NT$930 for nine (US$29.16). They all looked good, but I figured I could skip the fried chicken and fried fish; I ordered the other four: carne asada, camarón (shrimp), al pastor, and beef birria. They were ready in 7 or 8 minutes.

I got a tray with the three tacos in one large container and the fourth in a smaller container. I looked around a bit, confused about where to sit. Then the lady behind the counter helped by pointing to the side of the building and telling me there was an upstairs area. Phew. So I headed around and went upstairs to grab a table.

I sat down and was getting a little excited. Not only does buying a taco box bring each taco down to NT$103.33 (US$3.24), but these tacos were actually a decent size, not the tiny street taco size that can still be quite common at this price point. (I’ve been to Pang Tacos, and I’ve debated writing a review. Their tacos are good, but the prices are… very high for what you get: NT$370 for two tiny birria tacos and a little bit of soup).

I started with the carne asada, and this one deflated me a bit. The carne asada I ate in Mexico was mostly about the beef: enough salt and ideally some smoke from the grill, letting the meat and the salsas shine. Here, the guacamole tasted like it had no salt. The cilantro and onion were welcome, and the beef was fine — not bad, not great, but again, not enough salt.

So I moved on to the camarón. Having lived in Puerto Vallarta, I found that seafood tacos were just as common as carne asada and other meat tacos. After the carne asada, my expectations weren’t high. But this one really surprised me; the shrimp was very tasty, not overcooked, and nicely flavoured with Mexican spices. The pico de gallo and cream sauce were a little spicy and rounded out the taco. This was my favourite of the bunch, and I’d definitely come back for it.

Third was al pastor. Pineapples are out of season now, although I’m not sure whether they use fresh pineapple when they are in season; the pineapple here was clearly canned. Not inherently bad, but combined with the house zucchini-lemon sauce, which, like the guacamole, seemed underseasoned and lacked flavour; I got almost no hit of acidity when tasting it by itself. It made for a slightly bland taco. The orange salsa, I’m not 100% sure what it was, but it tasted fine; and the meat was also acceptable: not heavily seasoned, and certainly not cut off a rotating vertical spit as they do in Mexico - not that I was expecting that. Compared to the carne asada, it was better, but still far behind the camarón taco. In terms of value for money, this was the heftiest taco of the four by a noticeable amount.

By the fourth taco, I had actually forgotten what I ordered. It had the same zucchini-lemon salsa as the al pastor, and the taco had closed on top, so I didn’t even really see what was inside. I took my first bite, and it immediately hit with birria flavour. Birria was one of my favourite tacos in Mexico: crispy tortillas dipped in fat and fried on a flat top, plus the super savoury consomé soup with onion and cilantro you dip in and sip while eating; it’s such a fantastic way to eat tacos. While TacoJoe doesn’t provide the consomé or the fried taco shell in consomé fat, they nailed the flavour. With that first bite, I knew immediately it was birria. Honestly, that’s quite an accomplishment, especially since the ingredients that go into birria aren't common here in Taiwan—my second favourite taco of the day.

I’ll say that TacoJoe is a pretty good spot for tacos. My expectations for tacos are somehow very high and very low at the same time: I’ve eaten and hope for traditional Mexican tacos; I don’t expect anything near that outside Mexico. With that strange standard in mind, I’ll say TacoJoe does very well; I would definitely go back for the camarón and the birria, and I’d like to try the fried fish taco next time. I also love their logos and images, very trendy Mexican style. Full, and happy that the tacos hadn't broken my heart, I went back to camera shopping, ready to drain my bank account.