Korean Tacos from Mexican Seoul, and a Quick Look at “Takis Blue Heat”
We check out Mexican foods with a twist – from an excellent food truck to a less-than-excellent bag of tortilla rolls.
There are those who claim Korean tacos are a bygone fad, and to them I say, “Good day to you.“ Who cares what is or isn’t in style? Good food is good food, and Northeast Seattle’s Mexican Seoul is just that. Good. Great, even.
The permanently placed truck recently opened by Project 9 Brewing, where they deliver a pun-filled menu. “Seoulful flavors” and “al paskor” make me snicker, but then, I’m an easy target.
Mexican Seoul gets most everything right, with a particular focus on balanced flavors. The base, from tortillas to protein, is traditional Mexican fare, but with a Korean twist. The aforementioned “al paskor” is probably the most illustrative example, where, at first glance, the meat looks like regular “al pastor” until a bite reveals a soft gochujang marinade. It’s sort of an uncanny valley, but in a good way. Toss the meat on double corn tortillas, add a selection of toppings from the kimchi-salsa bar, and you’ve got yourself a multi-cultural meal.
With the toppings, you can be particularly creative, mixing east and west. Helpfully, Mexican Seoul has a legend that shows everything from spice levels to recommended accoutrements. As I was in the mood for something with a kick, I assembled “The Firecracker” – pickled jalapeños, chipotle gochujang, and a spicy poblano sauce. Flanked by cilantro and onions, the flavor profile was on equal footing with anything that could conceivably be served straight from the truck.
The “Vampiro” is a creative variation on the street taco, with the addition of crispy melted cheese to give the tortilla a proper crunch. That might sound minor, but it adds more to the taco than you might expect.
Right now, Mexican Seoul’s ordering system is online only – you scan an on-prem QR code, which takes you to the menu. Pick your items, pay, and you’ll get a place in a virtual line. Keeping track of where you are is easy – the website shows your current spot – and you’ll receive a text message when your order is up. A no-interaction process, in other words, and any introvert’s dream.
Fashionable or not, who cares? Mexican Seoul delivers a high-quality take on Korean tacos, the type of goodness no one should deny themselves.
Find Mexican Seoul at 1409 80th St NE or on the web.
Meanwhile, from the Weird and Not Particularly Wonderful Files™: Takis Blue Heat
It wasn’t so much the promise of spiciness that drew me to Takis’ new ”Blue Heat” tortilla rolls, but rather their liberal use of disclaimers.
“Hot chili pepper artificially flavored tortilla chips.” I get it. I’m sure there are marketing rules requiring “artificially flavored” to be displayed somewhere or other. But the wording and placement? There’s something bizarre about putting it right next to the picture of (literally) radiation-blue tortilla chips.
“Enlarged to show detail” also seems superfluous, as the picture of two tortilla rolls takes up roughly one-quarter of the bag.
180 mg of sodium might not sound too bad until you realize a serving is defined as one ounce. This is an eat-all-or-nothing bag, and at 3.25 ounces, 585 mg of sodium is not great.
As for the chips, they were what I expected them to be – the same semi-spicy chips as your standard Takis, covered in a thick layer of blue dust that will leave your hands stained blue. It’s sort of like you’ve walked hand-in-hand with Cookie Monster.
The Soda Fountain doesn’t seem to be a super-frequently updated newsletter, but I feel a certain kinship with its mythbusting takedown of 7Up’s origins.
If you want to reminisce over a similar Awesomeness article, look no further than my savage takedown of a Norwegian candy bar.