Taco Valley (Korean-owned Mexispew)

[zaphodbeeblebrox 0]

On Wednesday night, I braved eating at Taco Valley, the new Korean-owned eatery on Klang, just west of the Top's parking lot. The restaurant is very attractive, looking almost like a sushi bar, and is well-located. It seats about 24, and there's an additional table outside giving a nice view of the action on Klang. The menu is sparse, with only five choices: fajitas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas and nachos. All come with a choice of beef or chicken.

 

The reason for the small menu becomes obvious, when you look at the kitchen facilities. There's a stove, a grill and a microwave, but there's almost no preparation area, and no back kitchen for prep work. Any prep work must be done on a little counter next to a sink towards the rear of the dining area. The menu choices are all based on about 17 ingredients: beef/chicken, Mexican rice, white rice, kidney beans, bell peppers (red, green and yellow), jalapenos, green onions, Spanish onions, cheeses, sour cream, flour tortillas, corn tortilla chips and salsa. Basically, the menu items are variations on these ingredients (the burrito has no cheese and comes with Mexican rice, the taco has no rice or cheese, the fajitas have white rice, the quesadilla and nachos have no rice).

 

I ordered a chicken burrito and nachos (they ran out of beef - I could tell they had some large parties in the restaurant before I ate, as the tables still had not been bussed). The good news is the burrito was surprisingly good. The grilled flour tortilla had a great texture, the salsa and jalapenos gave it quite a kick, and the Mexican rice is very good. No refried beans however, and this makes the burrito similar to Sunrise, but I thought it tasted a little better. As the burrito was quite spicy, it was nice to have some sweet taco sauce as a condiment to balance the heat. The nachos, unfortunately, were an abomination. In addition to the real cheese, the nachos were topped with some processed American cheese. While this might be acceptable at a cinema or ballpark, it is not acceptable at a restaurant.

 

I did like the paintings of the classic rock musicians on the wall, and the music in the restaurant is good classic rock. The burrito is 120 baht, and I would go back for a burrito snack. Unfortunately, I wouldn't say this is a restaurant for dinner, and, while the service was good, you might wait 10-15 minutes for your burrito. I'm not sure it's worth waiting that long for a snack.

 

[DaveBarth1956 0]

Has anyone else eaten there... It looks good although 100 bah for a taco seems a little pricey. Please share your comments.

[glynbuk 29]

Thanks for the report and pics Zaphod, looks good

[BigusDicus 9,829]

It good to see you doing reviews again.

[joekicker 53]

Hard to imagine anything that says "Mexico" more than Kurt Colbain and John Lennon.

 

Thanks for the good review and particularly the photos, which really help to put it into context.

 

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[joekicker 53]

Has anyone else eaten there... It looks good although 100 bah for a taco seems a little pricey. Please share your comments.

 

Again, we run into the dreaded imported food problem. Thailand doesn't have wheat. You want flour, you have to pay. Most Mexican restaurants in Thailand either use rice flour or only have corn tortillas, which they have to make from scratch. 100 baht for a wheat-flour tortilla just isn't that much. It's just like you have to pay fair baht to get a decent loaf of bread - while the doughy crap in the supermarkets is all cut with rice and tapioca flour and starch.

 

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[gazza701 0]

I saw Taco Valley as i arrived in Pattaya and decided to check it out one evening as i love Taco Bell whilst in Florida.

And too be totally honest i wish i had not as the choice was very limited and after looking at the menu which took 15 seconds decided to get up and leave. We also noticed the prices were what we would pay at home and came to the conclusion that tequila reef wins hands down in the mexican department.