Not quite Mexico City, but hey, we’re not in Mexico City
If you’ve ever wandered down the city centre on a weekend night, you’ve probably caught the brightly coloured storefront of Tres Locos — the latest offering in the line of Mexican restaurants in Iceland and one that’s hard to miss with curbside speakers blaring Cumbia and the smell of carnitas tacos wafting out the door.
Reykjavík’s history is checkered when it comes to Mexican restaurants. There have been a lot of blink-and-you-miss-it spots of varying quality and few have been able to sustain the level of calienteness Reykjavík is missing. In the current climate, we have La Poblana, owned and operated by Mexican nationals who ventured to recreate the authentic Mexico City street food experience. And then we have the Serrano burrito chain and Culiacan — neither of which warrants further discussion. Tres Locos hits a pretty solid sweet spot between an authentic Mexican cantina and the chainiest of chain restaurants (despite the name falling squarely in the “Senior Bingo Bingo’s Tacos” naming tradition).
Instagrammable angles a plenty
It’s a bold and energetic place, and that’s the intention. The music is kept just a little louder than you’d expect (without being ear splitting or distracting), and the decorations are about as subtle as a santería altar. The walls are bedazzled with Day of the Dead motifs, cacti, octopus chandeliers and various bric-a-brac. Providing plenty of Instagrammable angles for the socially conscious. Overall, it makes for a pretty fun place on a Saturday night, as long as you’re gearing for something livelier and more casual.
Justifying the Reykjavík prices
The menu boasts the usual range of Mexican staples, including tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, and tostadas. But Tres Locos explores some ambitious touches like the halibut aguachile with a cashew cream (think: vegan mayo) and more innovative choices like the Arctic char tlayuda. The quality of the ingredients is generally strong and incorporates authentic flavours, so while the place is by no means a budget eatery, they do stay above the fray and go some way towards justifying the usual eye-watering Reykjavík prices.
Many of the dishes are genuinely good. The corn elote was on point and the carne asada tacos were slow-cooked and full-flavoured. The lamb barbacoa was a near miss, as I could have used more of that thumping aromatic baseline of toasted spices and capsicum that makes it one of my favourite Mexican tacos. The tuna tostada was quite tasty, as long as you don’t mind a bit of watermelon on your taco. And the flaming chocolate skull made for a fun visual component, even if everyone was way too full of lager and tacos to actually enjoy it.
I just wish they would dig up a case of old cans of Four Lokos for a special menu item; God I miss those horrible things.
A notch above the competition
Tres Locos is the latest in the arsenal of restaurateurs Bento and Nuno, who also operate the cocktail place Tipsý as well as restaurants Fjallkonan, Apótek and Sæta Svínið — all within a 100-metre radius of each other. While the Grapevine has sometimes been critical of some of their choices in the past, they have long-since proven themselves extremely adept at running an efficient restaurant and turning a profit in a notoriously brutal business.
Whether it comes down to hiring or training, their service level is consistently a notch above their competitors. They invest heavily in marketing, with eye-catching visuals and frequent pop-ups, offers and events to attract punters. The price points have been adjusted to within a fraction of the exact pain point for their clientele, and while the meals are hit or miss, people rarely leave feeling like they’ve been shortchanged.
Even if Tres Locos may not satisfy the purists, it is worth a visit for anyone looking for a lively spot to meet with a group of friends for some solid Mexican-inspired fare.
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