Gallery: our charcoal-grilled tacos in Tulum

This is what comes off the grill. Every photo is one of our dishes exactly as it is served at the taquería in Tulum: same charcoal, same clay bowls, same salsas you will find on your table.

The grilled prime cuts

At La 86 the cut is not chopped: it is served whole over the tortilla. The New York Prime and the Ribeye Prime go on the charcoal until the fat marks, and they reach the table with their own salsa on top and nothing covering them. The arrachera is the exception: diced, then finished with crispy fried onion for contrast. These three tacos explain where the house comes from, the north, where the meat leads and everything else follows. We tell the whole story in the northern charcoal taco.

Taco New York Prime: grilled prime cut with char marks over a corn tortilla

Taco Ribeye Prime grilled with salsa on top, served on a clay plate

Arrachera taco with crispy fried onion and cilantro on a clay plate

Charcoal-grilled tacos

Charcoal is the ingredient that never appears on the menu. The northern-style carne asada, the campechano and the al pastor are cooked over embers instead of a flat top, and that changes two things: the edge of the meat, which browns instead of turning grey, and the smell that reaches the table before the plate does. They are dressed plainly, with onion, cilantro, and either guacamole or pork rind. This is how we work the charcoal.

Northern-style carne asada taco with onion, cilantro and guacamole on corn tortilla

Campechano taco topped with pieces of pork rind, onion and cilantro

Al pastor taco with guacamole, onion and cilantro on a corn tortilla

From the garden and the sea

Not everything in a northern taquería has to be meat. The charcoal-grilled mushrooms cook over the same embers and come out with the same browning as a cut. The tempura fish arrives with purple cabbage and a crisp tempura shard on top that breaks at the first bite. And the grilled avocado, halved, charred over the coals and served with cilantro salad and yellow chile, is the one that surprises people who ordered it expecting very little. We gave a whole article to the mushroom and tempura fish tacos.

Charcoal-grilled mushroom taco with guacamole, onion and cilantro

Tempura fish taco with purple cabbage and a crisp tempura shard on top

Grilled avocado taco with cilantro salad and yellow chile strips

The full table

A table at La 86 rarely holds a single taco. The clay bowls with the five salsas, the limes, the pork rind and the tostadas go in the middle, and everyone builds their own. The chicken taco comes fried golden and crowned with cream and cheese, and it is the one the kids almost always order. That is how it is eaten here: ordering too much and passing the plates around, which is what sharing the table is about.

Table set with assorted tacos, grilled cuts and salsas in clay bowls

Golden fried chicken taco topped with cream, cheese, lettuce and onion on a clay plate

We are in Tulum, with air conditioning and a terrace. If you want to see prices before coming, they are on the menu.