La Popular Taqueria

A guide on the wall of La Popular Taqueria shows proper taco-eating etiquette: grasp your taco by the middle, raise your elbow 90 degrees and tilt your head forward.

Good advice when it comes to eating your way through Daniella Guevara’s tacos. Everything at her Mexican joint is made in-house, from the soft tortillas to the chunky guacamole, smooth frijoles (black beans) and crunchy pickled vegetables.

Guevara tops her Yucatan-style cochinita (pulled pork marinated in achiote paste, citrus, herbs and spices) with refreshing pickled red onion. For the daring, the cachete de res (beef cheek) is slowly braised with guajillo, pasilla and morita chillies.

The iced hibiscus fresca or Mexican horchata (rice water) will wash away the heat, or for those after something a little harder there is mezcal and tequila. Margaritas and Mexican beers including Pacifico and Modelo are a given.

Guevara’s cuisine (and the restaurant’s name) is an ode to her home of Sector Popular in Mexico City. The self-taught cook (and marine biologist) has been sharing her cuisine since moving to Australia in 2009, starting with pop-up dinners in her home under the banner of Mi Mero Mole.

Now her base is in the heart of Port Adelaide. And there are no sombreros or burritos. Instead, you’ll find white-tiled walls and colourful plastic plates just like taquerias in Mexico City, and a Virgin Mary statue on the high shelf.