It’s always good to find new lunch options in central Bristol. It’s even better to find new lunch options that involve Tex Mex food.
Meet The Woolly Cactus – a brand new Tex Mex catering trailer on the corner of Victoria Street and Bath Street, serving tacos, quesadillas and tortilla chips to hungry diners between 8am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
So-named for the woolly exterior of the van (the website says that knitters should ask about their “Will Knit For Tacos” programme…”), the new “street food” vendor already seems to be a hit in its first week, with a long queue ahead of me while I waited to order my lunch.
The menu is simple: breakfast tacos in the morning, and a choice of tacos (£2) or quesadillas (£4) for lunch, both of which can be filled with spiced beef mince, slow cooked pulled chicken, or twice cooked black beans as the vegetarian option. You also have the choice of five side orders in the form of tortilla chips with various dips, black beans, or the Guadalupe rice, which I’ll definitely be trying out next time!
On this occasion, I did what most of the people ahead of me in the queue did (my usual tactic: if undecided, follow someone else’s lead or ask for recommendations) and ordered the Mucho meal deal (£4.50). With the choice of half a quesadilla or a taco, accompanied by a side order and a soda, it seemed like a great offer – and I was more than impressed.
I went for half a quesadilla and decided on pulled chicken: ridiculously moist and tender shreds of chicken breast with a delicate amount of spice, topped with grated cheese before being grilled and served with little pots of salsa and sour cream. Delicious.
This probably would have been enough for me as a lunch option, but as soon as I saw chips and queso on the menu, it was always going to be a meal deal for me. The tortilla chips themselves tasted fresh and had been kept warm behind the counter of the van, and a generous pot of queso cheese dip – including chunks of tomato and a bit of a chilli kick – was accompanied with a pot of salsa as I had the last of the queso and the pot wasn’t quite full!
It was also refreshing to see that the choice of “sodas” included Coke in glass bottles (which’ll they’ll voluntarily open for you), J20 or a choice of Fentimans drinks – a step up from your usual catering trailer fare.
Although the queue was long and the service a little hurried, it was probably to be expected: I visited in The Woolly Cactus’ first week of trading and it seemed very much like they’re still finding their feet. That said, the food was great and very reasonably priced – I’ll definitely be back.
Find The Woolly Cactus on the Bristol Bites Directory…
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