Recently I’ve come to a realization; Mills Avenue is a culinary gem within the city of Orlando. Most of its restaurants specialize in the Asian culinary spectrum with a few exceptions here and there, but wherever the food is being braised, roasted, cured, pickled, etc. it’s always memorable. Hell, there is even a grassroots organization known as Mills 50 comprised of local business owners aimed at preserving the unique urban flavor of this area. When you talk to anyone about the restaurants on Mills though, there is always one that people told me I absolutely have to try; Tako Cheena. This Asian-Latin fusion hot spot has won rave reviews around these parts and it is also the brainchild of the owner of another local favorite, Pom Pom’s Teahouse. So after a couple of years of blowing off going, I decided it was time for me to get off my lazy butt and get my taco fix.
Pulling up to the restaurant, I could not help but chuckle inside a bit. The outside resembles a tattoo shop with its bright red paint and font selection for their sign and beneath the sign it reads, “Dim Sum Good Takos.” Honestly, with a quirky play on words like this on the window, how could you not already like this place? Luckily the quirky, artsy theme does not end with the exterior of the building. The interior is lined with beautiful art that can be purchased as well as a colorful chalkboard menu (always a plus in my book). Even the staff looks like they should be sitting behind a canvas creating masterpieces rather than serving food or cooking and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them did this in their spare time. Like any restaurant worth its salt though, the real star of the show is the food.
For starters, the menu is not an extensive one which generally for me is a plus. I find that big menus sometimes cause the quality of certain dishes to decline and a smaller menu makes it easier to maintain quality throughout a service. The selection offered consists of tacos, hot dogs, burritos, an empanada that changes on a weekly basis, and a couple of desserts. The most extensive part of the menu was the impressive sauce selection. I decided to go with panko crusted cod tacos, a Korean hot dog, and an Indian butter chicken burrito. Needless to say, the waitress was perplexed as to how my one hundred and forty pound frame would survive this eating event.
The fish tacos (my favorite part of the meal) were clean and simple. There were no twenty-six ingredients covering a piece of fish that required a microscope to know it was even there. The fish was crispy and seasoned well, the cabbage added extra crunch, and the sweet and sour onion sauce had a nice creaminess and tang about it that the fried fish needed. Their play on a hot dog was one of the quirkier things on the menu that was far different from what we ate as kids but still somehow brought back a sense of childhood nostalgia. In place of a traditional hot dog they used a Chinese sweet sausage that on its own was a little too sweet for my taste but when eaten with the other components of the dish I enjoyed. There was a bit of cabbage, spicy mayo, sesame seeds, cilantro, and the always delicious mix of fermented vegetables and spices, kimchi.
Next up was the burrito, which if I’m being completely honest was not my favorite. The slightly spicy curry and Mexican crema coating everything was delicious, but the ratio of grain to meat and vegetables was way, way off. The tortilla was filled with chicken, chickpeas, cilantro, and sweet potato but if you wanted to get a nice, uniform bite you had to make your way over a mountain of jasmine rice. I was hoping that maybe it was just my burrito but my friend who tagged along had the same problem with the burrito he ordered. This was disappointing for the both of us since each part of the burrito was actually really tasty and well-made; it was just the construction of the dish that was off.
Overall, I would definitely say I understand why people flock to this Mills Avenue hot spot. The food is cheap (dishes range from around $3.00-$8.00), tasty, and for the most part well executed. They have an understanding of the importance of ambience in a restaurant as well and their artsy décor is welcoming and makes you feel pretty damn cool and hip while dining. So if you are looking for a different kind of quick bite, Tako Cheena’s blend of Asian and Latin cuisine through the use of familiar, everyday foods will certainly do the trick.
Website: http://www.takocheena.com/
Menu: http://www.allmenus.com/fl/orlando/310707-tako-cheena/menu/
