2.19 Hot’s Cantina
Posted on June 2, 2008
Filed Under Extra Hard Core, Mexican | 4 Comments
When my old boss Mike wrote to me a couple of weeks ago to tell me about Alligator Tacos in the valley, I was immediately sold. Big vicious remorseless reptilian taco? I’m so there! Hot’s Cantina is in Northridge, inconspicuously occupying a single storefront in a mall. It seemed like this place is all about the ridiculously large nachos and tacos. (Nachos, by the way, were the size of costco pizzas.)
Boy, there was a lot of tacos. 8 kinds of chicken, 7 kinds of pork, 9 kinds of beef, 9 kinds of seafood, and even 3 kinds of vegetarian. Oh, and there’s a small section labeled “Exotic.” I’m here for that. Alligator, duck, shark, kobe beef and lobster, and crayfish.
Salsa and chips. The pico de gallo is so chunky and fresh I couldn’t stop eating it. The hot salsa was good as well but I liked the pico de gallo better, I’d like to think that it’s healthy because it’s fresh veggies. Nevermind the deep fried chips.
We started with a small salad. The dressing was quite strong, mustard based, which was good but a bit overwhelming.
Sweet potato fries. I’ve never had bad potato fries, but then maybe it’s also hard to make it stand out. This was good but wasn’t outstanding.
Ken-ee Tacos. Steak, garlic, tomato, jalapeno, lettuce, cilantro, topped off with hot sauce. It’s flavorful and had a good spicy kick from the hot sauce, but you can tell it’s the marinade that made this taco special.
Chorizo taco. ($4.50) Lean chorizo, sweet grilled onion, cilantro, tomato salsa. I don’t know how lean this chorizo is. It’s not like it’s dripping lard, but it sure tasted great — as if it’s loaded with pork fat.
Tofu taco. Fried marinated tofu, secret spices, cilantro, tomato, avocado. The tofu is not bad, actually, it had a pleasant texture and a bit of crunch on the outside. I could’ve gotten by just eating this, but then who’d eat the alligator they had kept in the kiddie pool out back? I kid.
Kobe beef taco. ($9) Well, not real kobe, but it’s american waygu beef. Close enough, I’d say. Tender, juicy, big and chunky. At $9 it’s pricy but the sheer amount of good meat is almost worth it.
Bayou taco. ($6) Crayfish, green onions, yellow pepper, tomato, cajun seasoning, cilantro. I liked this one but it didn’t really jump out at me. It’s a little fishy but is missing something definitive. If you fed this to me without telling me what it is I would’ve guessed all over the place as to what ingredient was used.
Alligator. (6) Battered and fried chunks of alligator along with the usual toppings of green onion, yellow pepper, cilantro. Alligator is a little more chewy than chicken and had a good flavor. One might describe it as a little fishy, but I’m going to venture out a bit more and say that it has a earthy, muddy aroma to it. Very good flavor, I’d definitely order more next time.
Overall it was a very pleasant experience. The service was excellent and the atmosphere is friendly, cozy and chill. The food’s a little pricy but the quality shows it. The variety of tacos is incredible, and I got to try alligator for the first time, which was very exciting. Do go and try some variety of tacos, but save room for that alligator, I liked it a lot.
Hot’s Cantina
18673 Devonshire St
Northridge, CA, 91324
(818) 368-0123