When driving near a taco truck, roadside taco stand or Mexican meat market, a mysterious Star Trek Tractor Beam latches to my car and draws me in. Such was the case with Tacos El Rey at the NE corner of Cloverdale and Ustick in Boise. The last time I stopped (on a Monday) it was closed. There wasn't any sign as to their times of operation. Tacos El Rey does have other locations in Garden City, Caldwell, Nampa and Meridian.
The three tacos in the sampler were Cabeza (beef cheeks), Barbacoa (BBQ beef) and Carnitas (pork). The amount of meat was excellent on two, fresh street taco tortillas. The toppings were the appropriate onion and cilantro. The cabeza was delicious as was the barbacoa.
I asked the young lady in the truck for their choices of salsa. She said green (tomatillo), red, something I forgot and habanero. Whoa! Habanero salsa is the real deal.
It was an orange colored thick salsa (likely habanero and crema) and a very gingerly put 5-6 DROPS on the next taco. With other salsas, I normally just slop it on until it drips out the tortilla. Habanero adds pure heat and little flavor to the taco. The meat and toppings came through AND THEN the heat came later. WOW. My taste buds exploded with glee and my scalp was instantly electric (or at least sweating). I repeated the process with the 3rd taco and the effect doubled. This would definitely kill off a hipster.
30 minutes later, my scalp was still tingling, so I know there is new hair growth as a result. I will return to this truck, likely for a barbacoa burrito, of course with a request for the recipe for their habanero salsa. read more