Mexican Food, Korean Style

Mexican food, or at least its Americanized, cheese-drenched iteration, is nearly impossible to find in Korea.  Since Ric and I were used to weekly visits to La Carreta or Pancho Villa’s when we lived in Lenoir, the lack of comida mexicana in our lives is definitely an issue.  While tortilla chips and salsa are readily available, most of the time our needs for tacos and burritos are best satisfied at home.  Even though the love of my life is an ace in the kitchen, sometimes my desire for things like sour cream or a mojito drive us to seek out Mexican restaurants.  After many, many meals that were varying degrees of disappointing, we have come to this conclusion–Pancho Villa’s in Lenoir, NC, needs to open a Busan branch.

However, since the likelihood of that occurring is slim-to-none, we present, for your reading pleasure, four brief reviews of Mexican restaurants in Korea that had some redeeming qualities.

We’ll start with Busan:

Artista:  Though it has a cool ambiance and serves a stiff margarita, this is my least favorite of the four on our list. They served us potato chips with our salsa, and, like most Korean Mexican, the salsa tasted more like spicy spaghetti sauce that what I’m used to consuming. Also, their burrito didn’t feel like anything really special; it tasted not quite as good as the one Ric makes at home.  The highlight of our meal there was watching the waitress walk across the street to get the chef (who was having a beer  They get high marks for a cool vibe, the awesome enchiladas, and a margarita that packed a wallop.  However, in terms of satisfying our craving, not so effective.  The restaurant is located in the Jangsan/Jungdong area.  Vegan Urbanite has a review and directions here.

Santos Tacos:  This is the best Mexican food we’ve had in Busan so far.  While the salsa was still kind of tomato-saucy, my chimichanga was fried awesomeness.  Ric’s bulgogi burrito was also pretty good.  While there were some distinctly Korean faux-pas (like the lettuce being cooked with the other vegetables before being put on the dish), it was well-worth the trip and is a good value.  Real sour cream, cheese sauce (disappointing–just skip it), and other condiments are also available at very reasonable fees.  No $3 sour cream here.  The mojito here was delicious as well.  Eating here does require a  little patience, though.  We’ve had to wait a pretty substantial amount of time for our food both times we visited.  And, in true Korean fashion, the food comes out as they finish it, not all together, so you should go with a friend and split two entrees so that you don’t have to take turns watching each other eat.  Getting there:  From Seomyeon exit 7, walk a couple of blocks until you see the sign for Guess Who.  Turn left there.  It’s another block down on the left above the Wa Bar.

We discovered early on, though, that Seoul was a far richer foodscape as far as Mexican was concerned.  Both of the places we ate at there probably could’ve held their own in America taste-wise.  However, at $30 for both of us (sans alcohol), these meals were definitely pricier than most Korean places.

Tomatillo:  Located in Itaewon, Tomatillo is an awesome alternative to Seoul’s shabby Taco Bell.  The food is fresh and well-prepared.  They have all the standard Mexican food options, with a Moe’s-esque menu that allows you to choose meats and side dishes. They also have chili cheese fries–one of our favorite American guilty pleasures.  The atmosphere there is comfortable and casual.  The salsa is awesome–and spicy.  More info and directions here.

Dos Tacos: The best Mexican food we’ve had by far in Korea was at Dos Tacos near Cheonggye-cheon Stream. It’s literally a tiny hole in the wall in an alley we stumbled upon totally by accident, but the food was awesome, and the sodas had free refills.  The prices were also quite reasonable, and the salsa was awesome!m  We hear that they are part of a chain, so there are probably more locations we should check out.  Their web site is here.

And, of course, just as I’m getting ready to post this, I stumble upon this article about the ten best Mexican restaurants in Seoul.  Maybe we need another trip to  Seoul after all….. I think I’m craving enchiladas.