Velvet Taco in Chicago is one of those new fangled taco joint that have sprung up selling tacos that are a little bit different, a little bit funky or as they describe themselves ‘Tacos without Borders’

I came along to check them out mainly as I had seem some pretty interesting and unexpected combinations such as ‘Spicy Tikka Chicken’, ‘Nashville Tofu’, and ‘Shrimp and Grits’ listed on their menu.

I would really have loved to have had enough room in my belly to try all three of those but I had already seen a ‘Fish and Chips’ taco and a side with a fried egg on it so I think you kind of know what I probably ordered 🙂

Lets just have a look at what I ate to make sure 😉

Tater Tots & Fried Egg

I started off with the Crisp Tots & Local Egg,  a dish that I had spotted on their website weeks ago and one that I had on my goto list for this trip back to my US hometown of Chicago.

Tater tots and a Fried egg on top is just something so irresistible that basically I just didn’t contemplate resisting, it was a futile thought that was in someone else’s mind (someone I do not even need to know)

Officially the menu describes this as Tater Tots and Fried Egg with ‘herbed goats cheese, smoked cheddar, avocado crema, chili butter, and bacon’. That is a lot of fancy sounding stuff which does when mixed up make a pretty exceptionally tasty sauce to coat those crispy potato tater tots

This was a great breakfast dish and it was basically brunch time when I had strolled in through the door so it was the perfect start to the ‘meal’

Fish and Chips Taco & The Cuban Pig Taco

I tried out two of the offerings at Velvet Taco, the “Fish and Chips” – well I just had to didn’t I 🙂 and also the “Cuban Pig” as I really wanted something a bit more meaty (or perhaps fatty)

The one on the left was the “Fish and Chips” that was filled with ‘curry mayo, malted French fries, house shred, beer battered Atlantic Cod, pea tendrils’ in a flour tortilla. This was the one that I was most intrigued about as I love Fish and Chips and was really curious to see how they could fit this into a Taco.

The actual fish itself was a bit bland, it really needed more seasoning in the batter, the curry mayo made it a lot more interesting and I would have liked a lot more to make it really tasty. I would have been more tempted to have added a bit of tartar sauce a more classic condiment. I would have liked a bit more vinegar with the chips which were more like match sticks that fries. It was a really good concept and you know I was kind of glad that it was not too perfect, it was still very tasty

The one on the right was the “Cuban Pig” described as being topped with ‘Gruyere Cheese, Slow Roasted Pulled Pork, Shaved Ham, Peppered Bacon, Grained Mustard, House Brined Pickle‘ on a crisp flour tortilla. This looked a little bit more of a mess, the crisp peppered bacon was the perfect foil for the fatty soft pulled pork and the ham as it added both crunch and classic salt and pepper seasoning. I liked the mustard but fished out my pickle after a couple of bites as I am not really a huge fan.

I will be honest and say that I do really just like normal classic tacos a little bit better, having said that they were both pretty good though. The place was buzzing and was a lot of fun and I would be keen to come back one day to try out some of the other combinations that they have come up with.

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Velvet Taco is located at 1100 North State Street just a couple of blocks around the corner from the el stop at Clark and Division., haved ham, peppered bacon, grain mustard, house brined pickle, crisp flour tortilla