Another La Vanguardia Review

I recently went to La Vanguardia for lunch. After reading numerous reviews, most of them bad, I just had to see for myself. The interior is sparse and loud but that doesn't bother me. I like concrete floors and noisier spaces. Service was decent, but given the lack of patrons, it seemed a bit slow. My friends and I started by trying the Mega Borracho salsa while deciding what to eat. While the salsa was good (not great) 5 bucks for a small serving and bowl of tortilla chips seemed really steep. It’s when we ordered more that my friends figured out you get charged $5 for each serving. Extra salsa and chips can get spendy.

For lunch I had the Carne Asada @ $10, my friends ordered the Camerone Mojo de Ajo (sautéed prawns, $10) and the Crispy Shrimp Tacos @ $6 for 2. My Carne Asada was pretty good. The skirt steak was cooked correctly but the flavors didn't blend together like you expect with Mexican food. The flavors were very compartmentalized, each standing on its own rather than complimenting each other. The prawns were deemed good and probably the best of the 3 dishes. My friend said she liked the preparation; the prawns were cooked correctly, and thought the dish worked well as a whole. The Crispy Shrimp Taco was a bit different. The ingredients are put into a taco shell, the shell is pressed closed and then the entire thing was put in to the fryer. Think Hot Pocket. Don't bite into it when you first get it, its HOT!. It took a some time before it could be eaten without raising blisters. The taco was deemed was ok, but it wasn't what he expected. He also said it was sparse on the shrimp. Lunch for 3 with 3 orders of salsa, 1 soda, and no beer came to about $50. For a taqueria?! OUCH!

While I don’t agree with some of the other scathing reviews of La Vanguardia, I was not blown away by the food. And at their prices I should have been. Overall I’d say the food was decent but it is not a good value.

Shooter says Cha Cha Cha has got nothing to worry about from La Vanguardia.