Chingon Cantina y Taqueria - Brisbane

TL;DR: Mexican street food done as it is often touted as the best way - rustic, no-nonsense. Each component is giving the best care that it can, making all their tacos delicious, fresh and tasty. Everything here is either from scratch or imported from Mexico giving it an edge over many of the lunch-time favourites for burritos. To think that this is so hidden that I have passed by it many times without even knowing, and that is its biggest draw. A big favourite from all the way down south in Melbourne, the name here has been changed to "Coyitto" and is much in the vein of the laneway lifestyle that is both synonymous with Melburian dining and starting to become more commonplace in Brisbane. It has the same general outlook of the original counterpart, but this time around it is owned by the guys next door. This is tucked right away in Eagle Lane, somehow right in the middle of everything but then overlooked and hidden from everything at the same time. We are on to a good find here. For the longest time, Australia as a whole has not been able to know what the proper taste of Mexico represents but in recent times the tide has changed - and here is one more example. Although I have yet to venture down this lane - and I have walked by it numerous times as well - it is only going to be a matter of time before I take this turn, and the good food found here is a good reason why. Again, we bring ourselves to the trusty old UberEat app and the lunch-time hunger arriving. This time around at work, it was a tad more erratic than usual for the week so getting something in to eat was a bit more of an ad hoc maneuver. One of the best features for the app is for it to locate places which will come to your location in under 30 minutes total so that was where I found myself looking. Cycling through the selection that was on offer again, this looked like the best and was something different than what had been recently done. So, just a few taps here and there and it was all good to go. And the service comes up from around there, less than ten seconds after the alert that they got the order. No matter how good these delivery services are, one thing that pops up on the odd occasion is an outdated menu. This was the case, and since it was already paid for a substitution was proposed and all was good. That is on the restaurant's end, and was a rare case to know about the service through this particular avenue of delivery. When it comes to UberEats end of the deal, it was all good and quick as well. It is a Mexican place, and on that front think of it like a taqueria. That is about it, with half a dozen different options, and then some chips and salsa for snacks on the side with a few more options. Drinks then come along, and everything is imported from Mexico. There is a range of classical-style cocktails, a whole heap of tequilas, wines and beers. Putting this lot together with the other lot, you essentially have some bar snacks as their focus. Well, guess there are not other options for food here but the tacos. With them being relatively cheap, and each one of them sounding as delicious as the last, I went and got three of them. From them, I got an al pastor (pork), de pollo (chicken), and de camarones (prawn). All three of them were mighty tasty, which was helped by each one being distinctly different. They were served in a blue corn tortilla, which is a definite indicator that the Mexican is at a high level of quality. Starting off with the al pastor taco, the pork was char-grilled and marinated with achiote, served with pineapple and a capsicum salsa. This was a good mixture of the tart and the sweet together, with the pineapple being juicy and solid, the capsicum also having a sweet flavour and the achiote creating a more smokey taste with the tender pork. Mixing it with the crema and cheese is what made it, and the other two, some of the most solid and rounded tacos to be found in town. Then we get onto the prawn one, which had about three or four big suckers that each were tender, sweet and moreish in flavour, mixed in with a spicy chipotle crema - contrasting creamy with the tangy - and smooth guacamole plus the sour tartness of lime to really bring out the flavour of the seafood. It is the bias with prawns, but I reckon this might have been the best of the three. And last but not least would be the chicken one, which off the bat contrasts flavours of sour citrus with sweetness having respectively orange and honey as the baste for the char-coaled chicken. Add in some crunchy slaw and a bit of pico de gallo, and this is pretty simple one but it works with each component being of the utmost quality. So we have three in a row, already being a good sign for this place. When it was said that the menu was out-dated, on the UberEats app one item that was there to be gotten on the side was a half dozen jalapeno poppers, which is what I ordered to come with one of the tacos. Those weren't available on the updated menu, therefore the woman on the other line offered a substitution which was their "Elote en vaso" - or a salsa made from corn cut off the cob, and then mixed with lime, a chipotle crema, and cheese. It was really good. The corn was crunchy and juicy; this was possibly even sweet corn, which would make it a whole lot better as is. The different flavours also helped, with citrus and spice plus the tart cheese mixed throughout it, making a dynamic and colourful side dish. If it weren't for the aforementioned substitution, this is one dish I wouldn't have thought of trying - and I am glad that I did. This can easily hang up there with some of the best Mexican places that I have been to, even in trying one or two places in the United States. Though with that being said, we are talking about a simple snack shack here so it is hard to compare it to a restaurant with all-round quality put into mind. Still, that does not mean that there is an absence of much effort and a good dining experience available here - because there certainly is. Quite a bit of the time, the real good find is found without actively looking for anything specific which makes the impact of how good it is come out of nowhere - and from there you realise just how good it is. This was the case with Coyito, and they offered some of the tastiest tacos that I have ever had. If there was a bit more than I could gauge about this place - maybe the ambiance of the location, or other foods on offer, or something - I could justify giving it a higher score than a mere 4.0 which it stands on (it needs to really be substantiated when it goes much higher than that in my belief). As it is standing at the moment, Coyito does what it aims to do really well and that is something offering a different sort of quick snack from the competition - with a price that is hard to argue with. If these are the sorts of taquerias that are around the United States, than that return visit is one I look forward to even more than before.

TL;DR: Mexican street food done as it is often touted as the best way - rustic, no-nonsense. Each component is giving the best care that it can, making all their tacos delicious, fresh and tasty. Everything here is either from scratch or imported from Mexico giving it an edge over many of the lunch-time favourites for burritos. To think that this is so hidden that I have passed by it many times without even knowing, and that is its biggest draw. A big favourite from all the way down south in Melbourne, the name here has been changed to "Coyitto" and is much in the vein of the laneway lifestyle that is both synonymous with Melburian dining and starting to become more commonplace in Brisbane. It has the same general outlook of the original counterpart, but this time around it is owned by the guys next door. This is tucked right away in Eagle Lane, somehow right in the middle of everything but then overlooked and hidden from everything at the same time.... read more

Fantastic Tacos! This is a great little Mexican restaurant right behind Eagle Street - nice atmosphere and delicious food. They also have a wide variety of Mexican cocktails and beer which are all worth a try.

I had the Carne Asada taco and a Ceviche taco. Both were good, though the Ceviche was a bit boring. The guy running the place talked to me a bit, because of my accent. He is very proud that the corn tortillas are homemade. I have had better tortillas, in Mexico and Texas, but not over here. I liked the taste, presentation and atmosphere, but honestly, 7 dollars for a small taco is ridiculous. I’d be back if he dropped the price, for example 3 for 15 at lunch.

Casual - yes I'd read reviews that this offered good Mexican fare. So ventured in finally. I don't get up tight about counter service as long as the food stacks up. Think Mexico - chilli & lime would be the first flavours to hit you. Nope. And forget the online menu because much of the dinner menu and specials were unavailable. Options very limited. Had to find a plastic fork & napkins from the next table even though we were some of the first into the place for the night. The staff were friendly, but I wish them luck. Generally disappointing. Probably ok as a lunch joint.