Review: Taco Bell

Reviewed: November 10, 2021

By The Plate

Many people in Orange love their fast food, and so it was no surprise to see long queues at the recent opening of Taco Bell, the latest addition to the Golden Mile (McDonald's, KFC, Red Rooster, Hungry Jack's) on the Bathurst Rd runway into town.

Having given the international franchise a few weeks to bed down, we visited on a wet Wednesday afternoon.

There was a short queue waiting to order, but we moved quickly to that point, and then up to the next stop - payment.

Here we sat for a few minutes while three, then two, staffers stood behind the glass inside the store facing away from us. As the cars banked up behind us, the two then began dancing and one took selfies and/or videos.

I began to wonder if I had entered a parallel universe.

Eventually, the glass window slid open and one of the staffers apologised for the delay.

I ordered two $2.50 tacos with minced beef, lettuce and mass-produced shredded cheese.

They were no more and no less than what you'd expect - the meat had the same type of flavour produced by the pouch of spices you buy in the supermarket.

During the final mouthful it became apparent that I was chewing something that wasn't minced beef, cheese, lettuce or taco. What be this interloper?

Gristle.

The offending chunk of gristle caused significant disappointment.

Gristle in a meat pie, or elsewhere it's not invited, can cruel a meal, or at least take the shine off. As it did here.

At $2.50 for a taco, you can't be expecting the earth, and up until that final surprise I was rather enjoying it in a "I could do this at home for half the price, but there is no washing up" kind of way.

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