Written by: Mahnoor Fatima
Posted on: May 04, 2021 | 
| 中文
Boxes of Chicken Chipotle and Hot Cheetos Taco (photo credits to Tacostan)
The people of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have been rejoicing over the arrival of home businesses that bring a new and diverse taste to both cities. This comes during a time when outdoor dining is closed altogether, but people still want to try a variety of delicious cuisine. Tacostan is one particular home business that has been making fresh homemade tacos to order, bringing the much-needed and in-demand zest for Mexican cuisine to the Twin Cities.
Tacostan’s menu is quite straightforward, but with considerable variety, with a serving of two tacos each. The tacos come in either a hard-shell or a soft-shell, with the options of Beef, Chicken and Vegetables. Additionally, one can pay extra for Sour Cream and a spicy Siracha Mayo. Those who are particular about their toppings can also opt for the ‘Build Your Own Taco’. However, we chose a Chicken Chipotle Taco with a soft shell, a hard-shell Beef Taco and a Chicken Cheeto taco with a soft-shell.
Build Your Own Taco (photo credits to Tacostan)
For the delivery, customers need to order, pay and set up a delivery date and time beforehand. They might also have to wait for a few days, depending on the customers who have ordered beforehand. While people can pick up the meal for themselves, a third-party transport like Careem also delivers the food to one’s doorstep. Our tacos arrived in neatly presented boxes with Tacostan’s signature puns on the word ‘taco’ on them.
Firstly, came the Chicken Chipotle, which was a small soft tortilla with marinated chicken, a pico de gallo sauce of tomato lettuce, spring onion and cilantro. The ingredients were fresh, light, and combined with the sauce for a tangy yet satisfying taste. Our only qualm was that there wasn’t enough filling or sauce in the taco to truly savor the dish.
Close up of the Soft-Shell Tacos
The hard shell taco was probably the most enjoyable of all three. The crunchy homemade taco shell enveloped the moist beef and fresh bed of iceberg lettuce, spring onion tomato, onion and corn with a dollop of Sour Cream. The crispiness of the tortilla combined beautifully with the ingredients, adding a little sweetness to the fresh and slightly tangy salsa. One definitely wished there were more than just two hard-shells.
The next best taco to the hard-shell was the spicy Hot Cheetos taco. Wrapped in a soft tortilla, the marinated chicken was topped with the same pico de gallo toppings with an extra tinge of corn and crushed hot Cheetos. This taco was more tart, courtesy of the Cheetos, and the spicier taste was a welcome change from the nearly identical toppings in the previous two tacos.
Close up of the Hard-Shell Taco Filling (photo credits to Tacostan)
With our meal under Rs. 2000, we concluded that this meal was well worth its reasonable price. However, the issue of small portions remained a consistent problem, and one is willing to pay a little extra to have sides or perhaps diverse sauces with the taco. In addition, it would be interesting to see other variants like fish and shrimp tacos that can bring in a more diverse palette than in the current variety. In the future, I would definitely want to order again from Tacostan, and try the famous Hot Cheeto Hard Shell taco as well as the Build Your Own Taco box.
The Flaming Hot Cheetos Hard-Shell Taco (photo credits to Tacostan)
Amid the lockdown, when it is difficult to come by new restaurants, this new trend of home businesses specializing in a few dishes is a good development. It assures that the authentic flavors and ingredients are highlighted and new dishes introduced to customers’ keen on trying out new cuisines. Tacostan’s strength lies in its ability to get the Mexican flavors right in order to make a good taco.
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