What to order at a Mexican restaurant if it is your first time
A Mexican menu can be confusing the first time: cochinita, pastor, tinga, lengua. These are not invented names — each one means a specific meat cooked a specific way. Here is everything you need to order with confidence.
Order tacos to share, not one big plate each
Tacos come in portions of 2 or 4. For two people, the best move is three or four different kinds in portions of two, and share them. You taste more and spend less than ordering one large dish each. That is how it works in Mexico too — everything goes in the middle and everyone reaches.
Which meat is which
Taco Amigo is cochinita pibil: pork marinated in Mexican chilli paste and cooked slowly until it falls apart. Mild, slightly sweet — the safest first taco. Apotitaco is pastor: pork in Mexican spices with pineapple on top. Taco Pollos Hermanos is tinga: chicken in chipotle sauce with sour cream, gently smoky.
Ta con Madre is grilled beef steak. Apotilengua is beef tongue — our grandmother’s recipe. Taco Papi is crispy shrimp. Taco Smurf is mushrooms, beans and cheese: vegetarian, and available with vegan cheese.
Is it spicy?
Not by default. This is the biggest misunderstanding about Mexican food: in Mexico the chilli goes on at the table, not in the kitchen. The dishes arrive mild, the salsas arrive separately, and you decide. Start with a drop on the edge of the taco and see how it goes.
Which tortilla to pick
There are three: classic corn, crispy, and wheat (served as three). The classic corn tortilla is the real one — and it happens to be gluten free. If you want to understand what a taco is, start there.
How to eat it
With your hands. Squeeze the lime, add salsa, tilt your head and eat. A knife and fork will take it apart — a taco is not built for cutlery. Nobody is watching.
Where we are
Amigo is at Ģertrūdes iela 48a, in central Riga. Our chef Alan is from Mexico City. Open Tuesday to Thursday 17:00–23:00, Friday and Saturday until midnight. See the menu or call +371 255 60 957.