La Diosa by the Bottega Group arrived with a bang earlier this year. Now it’s doubling down with a Taco Tuesday — ¥25 per taco, all day — a new lineup of daily brunch dishes featuring some seriously addictive chilaquiles, and a Birria Grilled Cheese Sandwich that plays for keeps.
Taco Tuesday
Taco Tuesday runs all day, from the first hopeful coffee to the last call for tequila. There are seven tacos on offer for ¥25 each, so you can mix, match, and follow your cravings without commitment.
Outside of this Tuesday sacrament, these tacos come in pairs. The pricing below is for two, so you can see exactly where your money does the most work.
My holy trinity? The Birria y Consomé (¥79), the Al Pastor Trompito (69), and a new contender, the Carnitas (¥69).
The Birria y Consomé is the real deal. They take beef shank, braise it into tender submission with herbs and spices, then shred it and soak it in its own juices. It’s piled into a flour tortilla with melted mozzarella, onion, and cilantro. But the kicker is the smoked chili broth on the side for dipping. It’s got a kick, but one that’s flavorful rather than a punch in the throat.
The Al Pastor Trompito is a thing of beauty. Pork, roasted with an achiote spice rub until it glows a brilliant red, carrying earthy, peppery, mildly sweet flavors. It’s with pineapple for acidity, salsa verde, onion, and cilantro, all on a corn tortilla.
New on the scene, Carnitas Estilo Michoacán features slow-cooked pork cheek, stewed in a house marinade that does the heavy lifting, served with avocado salsa, onion, and cilantro.
The rest of the lineup holds its own: Pollo (¥59), smoked jalapeño pulled chicken with queso fresco; Pescado Estilo Baja (¥73), battered cod with cabbage and avocado crema; Gringa (¥79), achiote roasted shredded pork with mozzarella and pineapple; and even a Quesadilla (¥79) masquerading as a taco, loaded with mozzarella and Colby jack, black beans, pico de gallo, and served with lime sour cream for dipping.
Double down during their daily happy hour, 12pm to 6pm. We’re talking ¥20 for a Corona, ¥40 for a Michelada, ¥40 for house wine, and ¥50 for a frozen margarita.
Though, don’t skip their Horchata (¥35), a creamy, rice-based number (not milk, remember), slightly sweetened and spiked with cinnamon.
New Daily Brunch Dishes
La Diosa also serves a daily brunch menu fromb. It’s a Mexican-inspired affair with eggs, avocado toast, and shareable dips.
Here are two you need to know: the Chorizo Con Papas (¥58) and the Chilaquiles Verdes (¥79).
The Chorizo Con Papas is the kind of simple, comforting dish for easy decision making. Spicy housemade chorizo is fried with potatoes and served with two sunny-side-up eggs, topped with crispy shallots and queso fresco.
It comes with flour tortillas to DIY your own tacos. The star here is the chorizo, soaking its fragrant, aromatic oils into the potatoes.
They offer two kinds of chilaquiles, rojos and verdes. I went with the Chilaquiles Verdes and was not disappointed. Deep-fried corn tortilla chips are layered with salsa verde, braised beef, mozzarella, queso fresco and cilantro, then crowned with a fried egg.
They’ve nailed the layering, so every chip gets sauced, and, most importantly, retains its crunch right down to the last chip. I know they’re different foods, but these are way better than nachos.
New Dishes On The Menu
I’m not usually one to stray from the meat-heavy path. But for once, here’s a salad worth mentioning: The Taco Bowl Salad (¥79), which comes in a fried tortilla shell bowl.
Inside is a legitimately healthy mix of greens, lentils, and roasted vegetables, featuring kale, spinach, refried beans, roasted corn, cherry tomatoes, queso fresco, edamame, black beans, and charred pumpkin, all tossed in an avocado honey mustard sauce. I can see myself eating this for lunch, though I’d probably get a side of guacamole to help polish off that fried tortilla bowl. Old habits.
La Diosa has some seriously enticing dips, including Queso Fundido (¥79), aka the Mexican cheese fondue, and Frijoles (¥89) served with crispy chicharrones. I went with the latter.
The Frijoles is a refried bean and chorizo dip, topped with a blanket of melted mozzarella and queso fresco, served with a pile of crispy pork rinds for scooping. It’s heavy and sinful, and sometimes, that’s exactly what you crave.
And seeing the wild success of their Birria taco, they’ve wisely extended that tender, braised beef shank into sandwich form with the Birria Grilled Cheese Sandwich (¥99). This bad boy is a serving of indulgence.
Stacked with beef shank and a truly hefty amount of melted mozzarella on sourdough, it’s served with that same soulful chili broth for dipping.
La Diosa
Click here for the listing.
