Cabron

Oh, the never-ending run to find decent Mexican food in Amsterdam…it’s a bit of a struggle. Lately, I’ve heard more and more names popping out with good reviews, but most of the time, they cost an arm and a leg for…tacos? By now, newer restaurants have topped my (also never-ending) list of restaurants to review, so I forgot about older spots, like Cabron.

This restaurant has been open for a couple of years now. Back then, it was a fairly popular choice, but the price-tag was definitely typical of Amsterdam: over 15 EUR for 3 tacos. However, when the Instagram holy algorithm brought an ad for a tasting menu for 20 EUR, I knew it was finally time. Booked a date night, and off to Cabron we went!

We started with Margaritas, naturally. I ordered the jalapeño one, so was expecting a spicy cocktail. It wasn’t. After getting handy and breaking this pepper into pieces, it got a bit spicy – but not what I’d expect from a jalapeño Margarita. Tasty, though. Hayden had the Mezcal one, and it was much better. So, go with that option.

After that, we got our tasting plate. Everything came at once (besides dessert). It’s worth mentioning that this is a promotion they’re running, so usually, you probably can’t order this exact plate.

Here’s what’s on it:

• a quesadilla birriaquesa with consomé – so beef stew, consomé, pico de gallo and cheese. Really, really good cheese that truly reminded us of Mexico. You dip it in the salsa verde, and enjoy e perfect bite. We were both happy with this one.

• taco de baja fish – beer batter fried cod, coleslaw, pico de gallo, aji mayo and coriander. Surprisingly good and well balanced. The heaviness or fried fish & mayo was cooled off by holy coriander (my favorite herb in the world), and fresh pico.

• taco barbacoa de berenjenas – the veggie option, consisting of aubergine, cabbage and avocado lime dressing. Another success! Really tasty bite, and that’s coming from someone that is convinced veggie tacos cannot possibly be good (sorry). It proved me wrong, though.

• taco de carnitas en adobo – slow cooked pork, onions, jalapeño and pineapple. We left this taco for the end, thinking it must be the best one. It was fine, but the meat itself lacked flavor and spices, which was only added by the pico.

Before we got out dessert, Hayden spotted something on the menu that he can never say no to: elote with jalapeño mayo. It was a good dish, flavorful, and pretty looking. The corn was a little bit on the tough side, but that’s closer to what I’m (personally) used to, so didn’t really mind it.

And the grand finale…churros! We actually got excited, because it’s the one thing that we didn’t have while in Mexico. We kept saying we’ll do it tomorrow, and…we ran out of tomorrows. In Mexico. Not in general.

Already chocolate filled, they didn’t come with a delicious cup of hot choco. They were fine – nothing to write home about, but good enough as far as churros go.

And that’s a wrap! The service was very friendly and orders arrived quickly, but it was a bit of a struggle to get their attention. Seemed like one (overwhelmed) person was handling the whole place.

I must admit I arrived with low expectations, because I’m over getting disappointed by Mexican restaurants in Amsterdam. I visited Cabron just a couple of days after going to another tacos restaurant close to Leidseplein, that charges 24 EUR (!!!!????!!!!) for 3 tacos that were just not good. Don’t know where some find the audacity.

This time, I was pleasantly surprised, and it was definitely worth the 20 EUR / person . The fact that it was tasty stays the same, no matter what. But is it still worth it at the full price? Not sure. But then again, that’s just Amsterdam nowadays.

Taste: 8

Value for money: 10 for the tasting menu; probably 8 in general

Location: 9 (Albert Cuyp 166)

Service: 8

Website: https://cabron-amsterdam.nl/