The other night, dia de los muertos night at Zocalo Restaurant I heard the familiar music from a memory, el Mariachis! The music and the attire conjure up the images of mariachis my friend and I hung out with in the wistful Oaxaca city zocalo(town square) 10 years ago, before the ‘reno’ of the square and before the intense labour demonstrations.

I love the bigness of music when its live. Its true, its bright, you physically feel the music. Mariachi Los Dorados played loud, played at various tables throughout their set, serenading dinner goers and even had one diner join in to sing a song. Along with the others I swayed from side to side with the music feeling all warm and fuzzy while sipping on some excellent Patron tequila, one of many that proprietor Tanya has to offer from Vancouver’s largest collection.

The food experience is unlike other Mexican restaurants in Vancouver. The dishes are interesting, not the standard burritos or enchiladas, instead they have dishes like Puerco con Chile Ancho – pork, slow cooked in chilies, spices and oranges, served with warm tortillas. I could eat a lot of this. Or Chile en Nougada – Ancho chili stuffed with turkey breast, nuts and sun-dried fruit. Served with pecan crèma.

Another fav is Fish Tacos with habanero mayonnaise. And for some cheesy goodness, Queso Fundido – queso Oaxaca and Monterrey jack, black beans, Mexican chorizo. Served with homemade tortilla chips. You must of course join the most interesting academy and have a Dos Equis.

They use local, in some cases sustainable, ingredients with traditional techniques all made from scratch.

And the Mariachis; I must find out where they play next, got to get another dose of charro outfits and emotional folk songs soon.