You’re walking down Smith Street and the breeze brings a delightful aroma your way. It smells like spicy tofu, salad, salsa, avocado, and cheese all wrapped up in a tortilla! No, you’re not trippin’; it’s just one strain of the scents that regularly emanate from Trippy Taco. This hole-in-the-wall Mexican eatery is tiny, warm, and sensational.
Trippy Taco first made a name for itself as a vendor at music festivals around Australia. Back then it was merely a humble cart, trying to compete with the usual festival fare (hot dogs and shnitzel sandwiches) by peddling vegetarian and vegan burritos, tacos, nachos, and the like. Trippy Taco has since graduated to a little cubby on Smith Street that is only slightly larger than a cart, but at least we know it’s not going to be pushed away—or worse, roll away!
The menu offers several types of staple Mexican dishes, usually with the choice of either black beans or spicy grilled tofu. The nachos are a veritable mountain of tortilla chips smothered in guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and cheese (vegan diners have the option of replacing the cheese in any dish with soy cheese). Wash your meal down with one of Trippy Taco’s imported Mexican beers or a Mexican soft drink called Jarritos, which comes in piña*, mandarina*, and guayaba*. There are boxes of Corona stacked in the corner, but they probably won’t last long because Corona is the perfect cerveza to accompany Mexican cuisine.
Slip in, pick up a menu at the front, find a table, and order away. Keep in mind that the burritos are massive—so big that you’ll need both hands to hold it. Keep this in mind only because you must leave room for dessert, which could be a chile-chocolate quesadilla or a sweet corn tamalé with ice cream, maple syrup, and bananas. While you wait for your food, choose a hot sauce from Trippy Taco’s impressive sauce shelf, but beware of the habanero chile sauce, which seems sweet for a torturous moment before it burns your tongue right up. Don’t stress too much about which sauce you pick because you’ll undoubtedly return.
*pineapple, mandarin, guava