Amelia’s Kitchen Tacos Review
Recently, I have been on a mission to find the best authentic tacos in the Bay Area. Although I’m not some sort of taco expert, I have been to countless of little taquerias—in many different forms—and would love to share what aspects I believe contribute to a good taco experience. From the balance of components to the texture of the meat to the number of tortillas used to the overall eating experience, there are MANY factors that can make or break a taco. While I’m sure that there is still a great number of taquerias nearby that have amazing tacos that I just haven’t tried yet, Amelia’s Kitchen currently ranks at the top of my list and holds a special place in my heart. In this review, I will be examining four different factors that contribute to my love for this little taco truck—service, balance, flavor, and the overall eating experience.
By: Armaan Sharma
***This review is solely based on my order below
Two pollo asado (grilled chicken) tacos and one chorizo (Mexican sausage) taco with extra salsa verde and a cup of horchata
Service: Although only two people work inside the truck and they constantly have orders, they pump your food out very quickly. Not only does this eliminate the wait, but it also keeps your tacos from getting cold and soggy, which is very important for flavor. Additionally, the man who serves you is extremely nice and receptive to requests. He’s always more than happy to give extra salsa verde and even entertains your mom who tries to converse in broken Spanish! I remember one time, I dropped my horchata and went up to him to ask for napkins, and he gave me a new one for free (I didn’t even ask)!
Balance: I find that out of most taquerias in the Bay Area, Amelia’s does an excellent job with balancing the different components of tacos and presenting the overall dish. They have two small tortillas that provide a sturdy base; a hearty but not excessive portion of meat; a generous amount of salsa rojo, salsa verde, and diced onions on top; and cilantro to garnish. They also give slices of lime and radish on the side. Now, you may be wondering why I’m just listing the parts of a taco, but the parts and their ratios really contribute to both the flavor and the general eating experience.
Flavor: Although logically, it may make sense to start at the base of a taco with tortillas, I would like to first discuss the meat—what I believe is the “make or break” element in the dish. In Amelia’s case, the meat most definitely “makes” the tacos.
Let’s start with the pollo asado. Aside from in Mexico, most taquerias that I have been to only offer pollo concido (shredded chicken). This is problematic for me because I find that shredded chicken tends tends to be extremely bland, and the texture is not what I’m necessarily looking for in a taco. Although some may prefer shredded chicken, in my opinion, it’s an outlier in the rest of the taco. This is because it’s very stringy and soft in nature, and when I bite into a taco, I expect the meat to stand out by its roughness and chunkiness. From a flavor standpoint, it makes sense for the meat to be bland. If you marinate large pieces of chicken and then shred them, most of the flavor will be on the outside and in the skin. But the outside only makes up so much of the meat, leaving the rest—the part that counts—virtually flavorless. If you combine that bland taste with the underwhelming texture, you have a taco where the meat brings very little to the table. I would say that this type of meat would break a taco. But let’s look at the other taquerias that DO have pollo asado. In these restaurants, I find that more order pollo concido than asado, leaving pollo asado as this add-on—there for the sake of having options. Therefore, because of the lack of customers, slacking off on this type of chicken is extremely common and not very harmful to the taqueria. As a result, the chicken still tends to be bland (in this case because it is not seasoned well) and the texture tends to be REALLY chewy (mostly because it is overcooked).
Despite the lack of high-quality pollo asado out there, Amelia’s is the reason I don’t fret too much. Personally, I think the cooks do a phenomenal job with seasoning and cooking the meat. One possible contributing factor to this is that they only serve pollo asado, meaning that they can perfect their recipe for the arguably better form of the meat. Their version of this meat is made how I like it—chunky, but small enough for it to be tender and flavorful in each piece. Additionally, it is spicy and bursting with flavor in a way that I can’t put into words, but not overseasoned. Although I find it extremely difficult to pin down a specific flavor that you get out of Amelia’s pollo asado, the orange in the marinade is an extremely prominent flavor, of course standing alongside onion and garlic.
When you combine this component of the taco with the rest, you really do get a flavorful, delicious sensation in your mouth. Before we go into the other components, let’s talk about chorizo.
Chorizo is a type of sausage that comes from Mexico and is usually found in ground form in a larger dish. You can find ground chorizo in breakfast scrambles, tacos, burritos, etc. Personally, I find that chorizo is more difficult to mess up—at least compared to pollo asado. However, this observation may stem from asado being significantly worse than chorizo in most places, when the truth of the matter is that correlation does not equal causation. Anyways, I would say chorizo carries this really earthy, spicy, smoky flavor. It’s a flavor combination something that you can’t really imagine until you try it. The thing with chorizo is that while most places have all these three major flavors, the balancing of them is usually off. Amelia’s is a prime example. While I still love their chorizo, it isn’t the best I’ve had. I find that they emphasize the earthy and smoky elements and lack the spicy. And while the salsa remedies this, a better balance could definitely be achieved. Another downfall I’ve found with chorizo, in general and with Amelia’s, is that it is typically very oily, impacting both flavor and the experience of eating it. However, while this critique may have turned you off of trying chorizo at Amelia’s or anywhere, the magnitude of the discussed issues is not very severe at all. So while there are definitely improvements to be made, the taco as a whole and even the meat itself still taste pretty darn good.
Now that the meats are out of the way, let’s move on to the other components of a taco—I mean, there has to be more to make it a taco in the first place, right? Circling back to the base, the tortilla is something that you can’t really skip in any taco. I know I said earlier that the meat is a “make or break element”, but that was in terms of flavor. In terms of structure and just definition, omitting the tortilla really WOULD break a taco. But from a flavor standpoint, it is important to start with corn versus flour tortillas. For authentic tacos, you’re usually going to see corn tortillas used. This has to do with the abundance of corn in ancient times, and its influence on Mexican cuisine throughout history. Anyways, corn and flour tortillas have very different tastes and textures. A corn tortilla has a more earthy flavor and really does taste like corn. Its texture is rougher compared to flour tortillas and is almost a bit chalky (not really). A flour tortilla is smoother and has less of a distinct flavor. You could easily substitute a roti (Indian “flatbread” used to eat a variety of vegetable dishes, curries, etc) for a flour tortilla, but would be in a whole lot of trouble if you did the same with a corn tortilla. However, because they are more unique and niche to Mexican cuisine, corn tortillas are generally more challenging to perfect. They dry out or get soggy very quickly, and can thus be too hard or soft. They also break apart more easily because they have less gluten compared to the flour ones, meaning that the right ratio of ingredients is key. While Amelia’s doesn’t make its own corn tortillas, as most places in America don’t, the brand and heating time matter. I find that Amelia’s doesn’t heat their tortillas for too long, as opposed to some places that do and end with really hard, dry tortillas. Additionally, from experience, Amelia’s tortillas don’t break apart and crumble as easily as those I’ve had at other taquerias.
I would say that the next most important element from a flavor standpoint is salsa. There are many kinds of salsa, but you usually see two main types—rojo (red) and verde (green). Salsa rojo is probably the one that people are most are familiar with, containing tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, garlic, lime, etc. This salsa is usually not too spicy, but has that bit of a kick you need in a taco. It carries those very fresh flavors that you need to balance out the richer, more earthy ones you get from the meat and tortilla. Salsa verde, on the other hand, is spicier, and to me, serves as a flavor booster. This is because it is primarily made with tomatillos, green chili peppers, jalapeños, lime, and onions. Obviously, each of these salsas has different variations and there are many ingredients that I have left out, but I just included some of the main ones to convey the general flavor. Amelia’s is great with salsa—they always put a generous amount of each when you order a taco and they give extra when asked for. I find that their salsa is better than most because it has the perfect spice level and is a great consistency. It isn’t liquidy, nor is it unusually chunky. But overall, I have to say that salsa is generally pretty good in authentic taquerias and Mexican restaurants, as a lot of emphasis is placed on this component in many different Mexican dishes.
I don’t want to get into the weeds with onions, cilantro, or lime, because they are pretty much standard. However, I will say that the amount of diced onions Amelia’s puts on their tacos by default is better than most because you really want the flavor of onions to come across in a taco. I think that, because onions have a really strong flavor, most taquerias are very conservative with their portioning. But really, you want that strong flavor and freshness to be carried through.
Overall Eating Experience: The overall eating experience is generally a combination of all the above factors. Service is key because if you have to wait for so long for a few tacos and your requests aren’t met, you aren’t going the appreciate the food—even if it’s good—as much. But onto the more important factors, balance is crucial for a good taco-eating experience. As discussed, corn tortillas are preferred from a flavor standpoint, but that comes with greater risks of collapse. Therefore, Amelia’s serving their tacos with two tortillas is wise, as they prevent their tacos from becoming taco salads. The amount of meat and “toppings” given is also extremely crucial because if there is too much, eating the taco is a pain. I’m sure you’ve had this experience at least a few times, when you’ve taken a bite out of a taco and everything falls out. This also impacts flavor because you don’t get the right amount of meat or any component in each bite. With Amelia’s, I find that most of what’s inside stays inside, which might seem like a very small victory, but is actually extremely important when you think about it. Of course, flavor impacts your eating experience. To be very vague, you don’t enjoy eating something that tastes bad. I’m sure you can already tell that I get overjoyed every time I eat Amelia’s, and that’s mostly because of how good it tastes!
I really like tacos—everything about them fascinates me. Writing this article was exciting for me because I got to discover my love for this dish even more. Now, as I’ve already stated, I by no means consider myself a taco expert. I don’t know how to make a good taco and I’m absolutely positive that someone can tell me hundreds of new things about the dish that I wouldn’t have known. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the elements of a taco and the attributes that are important to me when I eat them. Eating tacos makes me happy, and that is why Amelia’s Kitchen is so important to me. It is the only place that I have come to have very few critiques about, and serves up reliably good tacos. However, despite this, my love for tacos ensures that I don’t stop here—that I keep looking for the best tacos in the Bay Area and keep developing my views on the subject.