La Taqueria
La Taqueria
Authentic Mexican cuisine
53 Castle Street, Belfast
Hidden almost in plain sight on Castle Street, just off from Belfast’s busiest thoroughfare Donegall Place, lies Belfast premier authentic Mexican eatery. Coming up on its second year in business, La Taqueria was founded with one goal in mind: to deliver real, authentic and fresh Mexican food to tables in Belfast. For decades there had been, this cuisine had zero presence on our streets, and the arrival of the Tex-Mex giant Boojum only added o the confusion and misrepresentation of Mexican dishes as a whole (Newsflash - BURRITOS ARE NOT MEXICAN).
La Taqueria offers a varied and exciting menu, with vegetarian and vegan options available for this inclined to avoid the meat dishes, with flavours and tastes that I had never experienced before. Fresh, decadent dishes with varied textures and sensations display the full variety of options available for those who wish to try them. However, while the food is more than enough to carry the house, the expertly crafted drinks menu is almost on par in both variety and taste. A diverse menu of cocktails with handmade garnishes and salts (I recommend the Mescal Margarita with chilli salt. Mind.Blowing.) and a selection of Mexican beers for the unadventurous. Truly something for everyone.
I arrived at 5.30 PM and was greeted by Adam Lynas and Joe Goudie, who directed me to my seat before we chatted briefly about where La Taqueria came from, and why Belfast of all place?
Owner Adam Lynas explained “I had been living in Montreal for nine years when I met my girlfriend. She was from Mexico and she was studying in Canada. When her visa ran out, I travelled
to Mexico just to visit her and from the first day of Mexican food, my eyes were open. I experienced what real Mexican food was.” Throughout the afternoon, Adam would often use the word ‘experience’ when describing the food, describing Mexican foods as something that needed to be actively, not passively, enjoyed. Adam ran his own bistro in Montreal and began to notice that his menus were becoming progressively more Mexican as the weeks passed. He went on to say “I realised that this is what I wanted, this was the food I wanted to serve, so I decided to bring it home to Northern Ireland because there was nothing like authentic Mexican food here. Boojum was okay but it’s Tex-Mex, it’s not a scratch on the real stuff that we serve here. I wanted to show what people were missing”
“When I came back I contacted Andy Ray, the owner of Mourne Seafood. We had done some work together in the past and had a good working relationship. I approached him with the idea of a small, inexpensive pop-up but he loved the idea and wanted to invest. From there, we were able to bring in Joe (Goudie), who managed Home for five years, who we were interested in working with, and everything just kind of fell into place.”
On Mexican food, Adam became notably more animated. There was a clear love and respect for the food that they make in La Taqueria that only comes from handwork and dedication. The food, he informed me, “is unpretentious and unembellished. There are no rules or pomp and it's very uncomplicated. I was very bored with European food, you had to reinvent the wheel to do anything new. Mexican food was good the way it was, and there's no need to understand it, it will just be tasty. Mexican food is misrepresented more than anything and I wanted to do my part to fix that.” He went on the stress the impact Mexican food has on first timers - “It’s an eating experience like no other. The main dish is the meat and the filling while the carbs are more the side dish”
One of the things stressed was the freshness of the food, which Adam assured me was paramount. Most of their tortillas are procured from a local company that uses volcanic rock grinders to create their flour, while they also create both normal and vegetarian-friendly tortillas in-house. “Most Mexican food over here is reheated like school dinners whereas ours is made to order. Our tortilla chips are never more than an hour old,” as Mexican food stresses freshness and flavour above all else.
Adam went on to describe the process in the kitchen, indicating that there was more science to this than I first thought. “All our ingredients are marinated independently, all our dishes weighed to ensure that you get what you're paying for.” We spoke further about the menus: “Mexcian food is perceived as a lot cheaper, usually because of Tex-Mex. Context is everything, and our quality reflects our price.” I went on to ask for a recommendation where Adam had a short laugh to himself before telling me that there was he had too many favourites. He stressed his love of Molé, a Mexican only dish made from a complex mix of 20 or more ingredients. We settled for a signature chuck steak and salsa Quesadilla and the new vegetarian-friendly cauliflower, courgette and cheese taco. Sceptical as I am of vegetarian dishes, I was completely blown away by the taco, which was as exciting as any meat dish I’d ever had. Normally bland vegetables had been seasoned and marinated to excellence, with each bite thoroughly textured and dripping with flavour. The Quesadilla was smooth like milk chocolate, flavoursome, tender and covered in a variety of salsa that gave an eye-opening and exciting kick. I now got what Adam was talking about, as the variety in spice, in flavour and texture, was absolutely overwhelming and something unlike anything in European or American cuisine. Following immediately after came an order of Churros, a traditional Mexican snack food. Unlike the ones served at food stalls, however, these were crispy and sweet on the outside, but milky and fluffy on the inside. Not filling but also deceptively heavy, they were a fantastic accompaniment to the overpowering wave of flavour I had experienced for my main dishes.
At this point, Adam left me and I spoke briefly with Joe Goudie, the resident Tequila expert. I asked him where the drinks menu originated from and where the inspirations arose from, to which he responded “I love Tequila… having not actually been to Mexico Elizza as well for the authenticity and we build the recipes from there.” I mentioned to Joe that Adam referred to him as a ‘student’ of Mexican food, knowing the same if not more about Mexican food than all the res too the staff. To this, Joe gave a quick laugh and referenced his addictive personality as the reason he is able to go ‘full throttle’ at his job and learn as much as possible. We spoke about his looming trip to Mexico and how Joe expects his thirst and expertise to only grow and help the business upon his arrival. Much like Adam, Joe stressed the breakdown of misconceptions around Mexican food as their main goal. Unapologetically, Joe stressed the no-nonsense approach to La Taquerias menu - “We just kind off tell people, there are no burritos, fajitas or crispy tacos in Mexico, that's an American dish. Also, Mexican food is perceived as being quite cheap and it is not. You wouldn't expect a big feed in a French restaurant for a fiver you know? And there's the same, if not more love and hard work that
goes into making the tortillas, the dough, investing in the marination, so once you feel the love that we… put into the food and the service here, once you get that across I think people just kind of love it.
(yet *laughs*) I take inspiration from books that I've read, other places that have really good Tequila and matching them to flavour profiles that I like. Then we all, as a team, try it and we use Adam’s experience, especially with
It was here, once again, that I was completely won over by the drive of the staff at La Taqueria. More than respecting their craft, they care. Deeply. And you can taste it in any of Joe’s handcrafted cocktails or any of the authentic, more-ish recipes to come out of the bustling Kitchen. Despite the uncomplicated nature of traditional Mexican dishes, there is zero waste at La Taqueria. Everything isolated perfectly, presented attractively and tastes mind-blowingly good. Some people may have been sceptical of Mr Lynas’s decision to set up in Belfast, but we should all be glad he did. La Taqueria is a flavour experience unlike anything else in Belfast, so go experience it.
Authentic Mexican cuisine
Hidden almost in plain sight on Castle Street, just off from Belfast’s busiest thoroughfare Donegall Place, lies Belfast premier authentic Mexican eatery. Coming up on its second year in business, La Taqueria was founded with one goal in mind: to deliver real, authentic and fresh Mexican food to tables in Belfast. For decades there had been, this cuisine had zero presence on our streets, and the arrival of the Tex-Mex giant Boojum only added o the confusion and misrepresentation of Mexican dishes as a whole (Newsflash - BURRITOS ARE NOT MEXICAN).
La Taqueria offers a varied and exciting menu, with vegetarian and vegan options available for this inclined to avoid the meat dishes, with flavours and tastes that I had never experienced before. Fresh, decadent dishes with varied textures and sensations display the full variety of options available for those who wish to try them. However, while the food is more than enough to carry the house, the expertly crafted drinks menu is almost on par in both variety and taste. A diverse menu of cocktails with handmade garnishes and salts (I recommend the Mescal Margarita with chilli salt. Mind.Blowing.) and a selection of Mexican beers for the unadventurous. Truly something for everyone.
I arrived at 5.30 PM and was greeted by Adam Lynas and Joe Goudie, who directed me to my seat before we chatted briefly about where La Taqueria came from, and why Belfast of all place?
Owner Adam Lynas explained “I had been living in Montreal for nine years when I met my girlfriend. She was from Mexico and she was studying in Canada. When her visa ran out, I travelled
“When I came back I contacted Andy Ray, the owner of Mourne Seafood. We had done some work together in the past and had a good working relationship. I approached him with the idea of a small, inexpensive pop-up but he loved the idea and wanted to invest. From there, we were able to bring in Joe (Goudie), who managed Home for five years, who we were interested in working with, and everything just kind of fell into place.”
On Mexican food, Adam became notably more animated. There was a clear love and respect for the food that they make in La Taqueria that only comes from handwork and dedication. The food, he informed me, “is unpretentious and unembellished. There are no rules or pomp and it's very uncomplicated. I was very bored with European food, you had to reinvent the wheel to do anything new. Mexican food was good the way it was, and there's no need to understand it, it will just be tasty. Mexican food is misrepresented more than anything and I wanted to do my part to fix that.” He went on the stress the impact Mexican food has on first timers - “It’s an eating experience like no other. The main dish is the meat and the filling while the carbs are more the side dish”
One of the things stressed was the freshness of the food, which Adam assured me was paramount. Most of their tortillas are procured from a local company that uses volcanic rock grinders to create their flour, while they also create both normal and vegetarian-friendly tortillas in-house. “Most Mexican food over here is reheated like school dinners whereas ours is made to order. Our tortilla chips are never more than an hour old,” as Mexican food stresses freshness and flavour above all else.
Adam went on to describe the process in the kitchen, indicating that there was more science to this than I first thought. “All our ingredients are marinated independently, all our dishes weighed to ensure that you get what you're paying for.” We spoke further about the menus: “Mexcian food is perceived as a lot cheaper, usually because of Tex-Mex. Context is everything, and our quality reflects our price.” I went on to ask for a recommendation where Adam had a short laugh to himself before telling me that there was he had too many favourites. He stressed his love of Molé, a Mexican only dish made from a complex mix of 20 or more ingredients. We settled for a signature chuck steak and salsa Quesadilla and the new vegetarian-friendly cauliflower, courgette and cheese taco. Sceptical as I am of vegetarian dishes, I was completely blown away by the taco, which was as exciting as any meat dish I’d ever had. Normally bland vegetables had been seasoned and marinated to excellence, with each bite thoroughly textured and dripping with flavour. The Quesadilla was smooth like milk chocolate, flavoursome, tender and covered in a variety of salsa that gave an eye-opening and exciting kick. I now got what Adam was talking about, as the variety in spice, in flavour and texture, was absolutely overwhelming and something unlike anything in European or American cuisine. Following immediately after came an order of Churros, a traditional Mexican snack food. Unlike the ones served at food stalls, however, these were crispy and sweet on the outside, but milky and fluffy on the inside. Not filling but also deceptively heavy, they were a fantastic accompaniment to the overpowering wave of flavour I had experienced for my main dishes.
At this point, Adam left me and I spoke briefly with Joe Goudie, the resident Tequila expert. I asked him where the drinks menu originated from and where the inspirations arose from, to which he responded “I love Tequila… having not actually been to Mexico Elizza as well for the authenticity and we build the recipes from there.” I mentioned to Joe that Adam referred to him as a ‘student’ of Mexican food, knowing the same if not more about Mexican food than all the res too the staff. To this, Joe gave a quick laugh and referenced his addictive personality as the reason he is able to go ‘full throttle’ at his job and learn as much as possible. We spoke about his looming trip to Mexico and how Joe expects his thirst and expertise to only grow and help the business upon his arrival. Much like Adam, Joe stressed the breakdown of misconceptions around Mexican food as their main goal. Unapologetically, Joe stressed the no-nonsense approach to La Taquerias menu - “We just kind off tell people, there are no burritos, fajitas or crispy tacos in Mexico, that's an American dish. Also, Mexican food is perceived as being quite cheap and it is not. You wouldn't expect a big feed in a French restaurant for a fiver you know? And there's the same, if not more love and hard work that
goes into making the tortillas, the dough, investing in the marination, so once you feel the love that we… put into the food and the service here, once you get that across I think people just kind of love it.(yet *laughs*) I take inspiration from books that I've read, other places that have really good Tequila and matching them to flavour profiles that I like. Then we all, as a team, try it and we use Adam’s experience, especially with
It was here, once again, that I was completely won over by the drive of the staff at La Taqueria. More than respecting their craft, they care. Deeply. And you can taste it in any of Joe’s handcrafted cocktails or any of the authentic, more-ish recipes to come out of the bustling Kitchen. Despite the uncomplicated nature of traditional Mexican dishes, there is zero waste at La Taqueria. Everything isolated perfectly, presented attractively and tastes mind-blowingly good. Some people may have been sceptical of Mr Lynas’s decision to set up in Belfast, but we should all be glad he did. La Taqueria is a flavour experience unlike anything else in Belfast, so go experience it.
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