Eddy's Cantina Mexican Restaurant, Tianmu

Made the 45 minute MRT trip from downtown Taipei again last night; I made sure to call this time and check their website for store hours :smiley:
Remember, Tuesdays are closed!

The Cantina is well lit, air conditioned, and has a large flat-screen for sports (or soap operas) behind a small bar. Very comfortable and relaxing atmosphere.

I’m happy to say that the freshness and quality of the food is still mouth-watering good since I last visited the stand with my girlfriend back in May. The added bonus is that they have an expanded menu at the Cantina! For those of you who haven’t been to the Cantina yet, they now have soft tacos, Fajitas, chimichangas, nachos, etc. in addition to the burritos and quesadillas they had when operating the stand. Since I took two friends along with me and my girlfriend, the four of us were able to try a variety of dishes. The burritos and quesadillas have been reviewed in this forum already, so I’ll go into the other things we ordered:

Nachos: hot and crispy, I would guess that they fresh cut the tortillas and fry them. Comes covered in ground beef, Mexican cheese, and jalapenos, with red and green salsa and sour cream on the side.
Soft Tacos: Fluffy flour tortillas (not the corn variety) with the traditional onions and cilantro toppings over the meat (or beans) of your choice. I got Carnitas, which was absolutely amazing… dripping with hearty flavor with just enough spice. Reminded me of eating in Ensenada. I later learned that Eddy uses a slow cooked recipe that takes hours so that the pork is extremely flavorful and tender.
Chimichangas: Packed with beans and meat (Carnitas). Delicious. I’m used to the thick, crunchy commercial tortillas used in Southern California that overwhelm the taste, but these had a thin, light, crispy skin that complemented all the flavors.

We got a pitcher of Horchata to wash it all down. The Horchata also tasted very fresh, with a distinct rice flavor, not overly sweet, and a dash of cinnamon on top.

Pricing: for around 200NT, you get a full meal that includes main dish, chips, beans and rice, and a soda. Will leave you very satisfied, if not stuffed! This is a great value in my opinion, for authentic homemade Mexican food in Taiwan, or elsewhere for that matter. I’ll be back again soon! :notworthy:

Orders came rather staggered in terms of timing, although Eddy later came and apologized even though we never brought it up. They seem to be still working through the growing pains of opening a new restaurant.

Also, with regard to comments about getting more local Taiwanese customers by altering the dishes, I’d hate for Eddy to compromise the authenticity of the food for the sake of the local palate. There are literally dozens of true “local” eateries dotting the street near Eddy’s place that can be chosen from; for Eddy to butcher his food by mutating the original recipes with sugar, noodles, canned corn or whatever, risks losing the established customers that love the current food. I doesn’t seem worth it. Eddy isn’t a Fusion chef. Obviously if Eddy and Jo went from a stand to opening a restaurant in such a short time, they must be doing something right. Or maybe I’m just selfish and need my authentic Mexican food fix!

Oh God, Carnitas! I’m so there. My first trip to the wilds of Danshui in years!

How many tables are there? We should all storm the place at the same time. :smiling_imp:

Kudos to Wacow for punctuating what I and a few others have stated with that nice post.

I do that everyday. :smiley:

BroonAvenidaLopezMateos

Is this number correct: (02) 2628 2838 ? I keep on getting a very confused sounding local when I call.

The business card phone number is (02) 2626-2638.

EDDY! Yo! You’re a terrible typist :slight_smile: You need to change the phone number you have in your signature line.

the travelling time is less than 45 minutes

from Taipei central station to Danshui is between 36 ~ 39 minutes…a little longer during peak hours

leave Taipei after lunch, walk alongside the river, visit the old fort, check out the sunset then walk up to Eddy Burrito for a plate of (two) tacos…the restaurant is on a fork of two main roads and about 350 metres inland from the river shore

“Pricing: for around 200NT, you get a full meal that includes main dish, chips, beans and rice, and a soda. Will leave you very satisfied, if not stuffed! This is a great value in my opinion, for authentic homemade Mexican food in Taiwan, or elsewhere for that matter. I’ll be back again soon!”

actually it’s a little more than “around $200” …one of the lower priced dishes and my fave is the taco…that’s $160 + $60 for the little extras which includes a soda, rice etc then it’s + 10% service charge + tip

if you drink a few beers with your meal, then expect to pay $400 ~ $500 per person including tip…it’s gets busy on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, so get there early, late or book a table

lots of wai-gwo rens that live in and around Danshui go there…the food is good and the vibe is nice

[quote=“taiboxes”]the travelling time is less than 45 minutes

from Taipei central station to Danshui is between 36 ~ 39 minutes…a little longer during peak hours

leave Taipei after lunch, walk alongside the river, visit the old fort, check out the sunset then walk up to Eddy Burrito for a plate of (two) tacos…the restaurant is on a fork of two main roads and about 350 metres inland from the river shore

“Pricing: for around 200NT, you get a full meal that includes main dish, chips, beans and rice, and a soda. Will leave you very satisfied, if not stuffed! This is a great value in my opinion, for authentic homemade Mexican food in Taiwan, or elsewhere for that matter. I’ll be back again soon!”

actually it’s a little more than “around $200” …one of the lower priced dishes and my fave is the taco…that’s $160 + $60 for the little extras which includes a soda, rice etc then it’s + 10% service charge + tip

if you drink a few beers with your meal, then expect to pay $400 ~ $500 per person including tip…it’s gets busy on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, so get there early, late or book a table

lots of wai-gwo rens that live in and around Danshui go there…the food is good and the vibe is nice[/quote]

-I should have been more clear; it takes 45 minutes from ZhongHsiao Fuxing station, or “Sogo” station as it’s better known as.
-I would consider 220NT ($160 + $60) “around 200NT” but of course this is subjective to each person. All inclusive $250 would be more accurate as you pointed out
-Yes, beers will add extra charges. If you plan on having 10 beers then it will be a lot extra. I was just referring to the set meal which includes a drink.
-Agree, besides the great food, it has a nice, comfortable vibe,

Yesterday I received my new ‘custom made’ order from Ed. Absolutely amazing.

I try to avoid white flour bread (I’m a big fan of Mr. Mark’s bakery), and I also prefer to eat wholemeal and/or multigrain rice, simply because it is healthier (although the taste is not necessarily better).

SO, I asked Ed to make a big order of ‘healthy’ burritos. The tortillas are made with wholemeal flour, and the rice is wholemeal (brown) rice.

The rice did not have the strong taste one would expect, Ed explained that he has tweaked his Mexican red rice sauce to overpower the strong taste of brown rice.

A winning combo!

The price is higher, as is expected, but not extravagant. Anyway, the cost is not an issue for me. I’m happy to pay for quality.

I don’t know about Eddie’s, but Amy La Casita is some of the best mexican food I have ever had… been there about 4 times in last 2 weeks.

tango, La Casita is quite good too – there’s a thread on it over here:
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 05&start=0

We made the trek out to Eddy’s this weekend, and had a nice, authentic meal and a pleasant chat with Eddy. The chicken fajitas and horchata were quite good, and we hope to return before long to try out some of the other dishes. The fact that they make their own flour tortillas, Mexican rice and beans makes a big difference; nothing from a can here!

The price was also very reasonable, given the fact that it is all made from scratch and authentic. It cost much less than it would have at TGIF and similar joints, and you’re also supporting a small, owner-run, authentic restaurant rather than a big corporate chain. Eddy’s is a nice relaxing little joint, and if you’re into sports, they have a couch and TV set up in the bar area for viewing.

The illegal fruit picker wrote: [quote]The chicken fajitas and horchata were quite good[/quote]
What does “quite good” mean? A polite way of saying “fairly mediocre”?

What does “quite good” mean? A polite way of saying “fairly mediocre”?[/quote]

:laughing: Trouble-maker! :moon: Have you tried it yet?

Amy deserves some kind of award for keeping the expat community supplied with decent Mex food all these years. I hope that with the addition of Crazy Eddy’s, there will be a trend toward more choices for us.

Any restaurant with 14 pages of a thread definitely deserves a look.

I can’t wait to try Eddy’s!!!

It is harder to find good western food now that Costco barely imports anything (but they still want you to pay an annual fee.) Best to eat at places like Eddy’s and order from 賦錦食品.

Great food! I went there before when it was a stand and totally loved the food. I’ll haveta find some time to check out the new place.

I went to Eddy’s today for lunch. I called before I went to make sure I would not waste 50 minute each way on the MRT. Jo assured me the place was open so I went. I got off the MRT and walked the 10 minute to the new location. The place is pretty easy to find, just in the intersection of Zhongshan Road and Vanhua Road (spelling??), right under the bridge. There is a big sign outside now, so I can’t imagine anyone missing it unless there is a huge bus parked in front of the sign. By the way, the 10 minute walk passed by fast for anyone that is curious, the only thing is there is a huge hill. If you can’t walk the 10 minute, you can easily take a bus or a taxi.

the sign outside the restaurant

I ordered the chimichangas set meal with carne asada. The set meal includes a drink, rice, beans, and some chips. They also provide some salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. The portion is pretty big, and I was definitely full after. The whole thing cost less than $300NT. I don’t remember what it cost exactly, but I didn’t think it was expensive considering any set meal in other American style restaurant cost way much more and smaller portion. I personally really enjoyed my meal, and thought everything was great. The only thing I would have preferred was to have the beans cooked longer to be much more softer. But that is a personal preference, I do understand others who may not like mushy bean paste.

here is my chimichangas

I also purchased a nacho thing to go as a snack, which cost $200NT, which is pretty big portion as well. I have only been to Eddy’s three times because it is just too far for me to take the MRT every time. However, Jo remembered me and chatted with me for a bit. The place is small though, so if you go for a late dinner, you might not find a seat especially if there is a big game on. There is a nice big sized flat screen tv by the bar for people to watch sports.

By the way, for anyone that is interested, Costco does have Haas avocados on sale. I plan to go by and get some to make my own guacamole.

We went to Eddy’s again tonight. The place was hopping as usual.

Any issues there were with slow service have been resolved. We got our food in about 7 or 8 minutes. Service was excellent and friendly.

Eddy has expanded his beverage offerings. My wife had a bottled Nestea, and I had an Anchor lager beer. Fantastic. There is a cider now, and a few other quality beers, in addition to the usual beer and margarita offerings. Jo told me that they are adding new cocktails to the menu next week.

I’ve been buying Eddy’s food for the whole family since he opened his stand earlier this year, and the quality of the food just keeps getting better and better. Eddy has added things like fresh tomatoes to the tacos and burritos, and he’s perfected his sauces and the way he prepares his meats to the point that the chicken tacos I had melted in my mouth.

And now for the big news: Eddy’s is adding ENCHILADAS to the menu next week! :bravo: I’m hungry again, just thinking about it.