Moose and Poncho

Haskayne 1.0 invited me to join them for tacos. Gillian said my recent Instagram post inspired Divine Offering, Lasagna, Big Mac, Minnie and Zoomhahaa to check out Moose and Poncho. For this post, let’s listen to a song I heard playing that evening – “Havana“ by Camila Cabello.

This is my second time at Moose and Poncho. Here’s my advice. Ask for the best selling soft tacos and load up on the array of condiments. The first time I visited, I enjoyed my tacos. However, the second time I visited, I was more liberal with the sauces, which really kicked up the flavour.

Soft tacos are $3.75 each. The feature taco of the day – tongue – was $4.50. Big Mac said he was glad he splurged for the tongue taco, as it was his favourite of the bunch. One of the owners, I’ll refer to him as Taco Guru,  recommended getting three tacos a person.

Grab a fork to eat your food. The generous portion of meat is far too bountiful to wrap the tortilla around the filling. Plus that way, you can load up on all the yummy sauces. I added feta cheese, sour cream, pickled vegetables, and the green and red sauces. I avoided the cilantro salsa.

My favourite taco was the chicharron prensado – crispy pork. Lasagna thought it was savoury and salty and reminded him of bacon.  Minnie said the skin crackled like Chinese roasted pork, but it was juicier with Mexican flavours.

The chicken with pineapple and adobo was far better than L’s favourite places in Cabos and Puerto Vallarta. The chicken was tender and succulent. The use of pineapple was subtle. I can’t wait to take L to Moose and Poncho. So effing good. Excuse my language.

The food was so yummy we didn’t talk until we finished eating. Zoomhahaa said she prefers Moose and Poncho over Native Tongues. I’ve only been to Native Tongues once, and all I can recall are the creamy mushroom tacos.

Gillian ordered a tamale and shared it with us. She liked the texture of the masa. I enjoyed the smokey flavour of the meat. The garnish of pineapple and mole sauce jazzed up the tamale. I would order this in the future.

I shared my churros ($5) with my table.  Lasagna said that there was just enough sugar so that the churro wasn’t overly sweet.  I liked the crumbly, almost cake-like texture. Big Mac liked how the outside of the churro wasn’t as hard as Stampede version. I’d order this again and I avoid desserts.

Taco Guru come over and asked our group how we found out about Moose and Poncho. We responded we saw pictures on Instagram and that his little taco shop is famous in Calgary. Taco Guru laughed the compliment off and said he was happy we enjoyed our meal.

Big Mac said he loves how busy and vibrant Moose and Poncho and thinks it gives Calgary more culture. Yes, having an awesome taco shop in a Chinese mall is pretty cool. I think it’s just what Chinatown needs. A small business bringing in long lineups of people that wouldn’t ordinarily visit Chinatown. Two fat thumbs up! Moose and Poncho makes it on my list of best restaurants in Calgary.