Hungry for Mexican food, but not wanting to cook at home, we decided to try El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Restaurant in Monterey which turned out to be delicious and really scratched that itch. Remember, we are from San Diego where really good Mexican food/taco shops are on every corner practically so the bar is high.

That said, we highly recommend you check out El Cantaro even if you aren’t vegan. We aren’t vegan, but Jeri cannot eat a lot of dairy which is difficult when cheese is on almost everything. Sometimes she feels like she is missing out, but not El Cantaro. The “steak” nachos were the highlight and AMAZING! I wish I had some more right now! So if you are looking for something to eat in Monterey, we recommend you try El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Restaurant. Don’t have time to read this now? Pin it for later!

Steak Nachos

We saw pictures of these online, but for some reason, we couldn’t find them on their menu so we were really bummed. Luckily we asked anyway and they said they were available! The steak nachos included beans, cheese, salsa fresca, roasted jalapeños, sour cream, and guacamole. As you can see by the pictures below, it looks like a proper platter of nachos with huge amounts of toppings. Remember the steak, cheese, and sour cream are vegan, but we honestly could not really tell the difference. The taste and texture of the imitation foods have come a long way!

Crispy Potato Tacos

Fried crispy tacos stuffed with mashed potatoes. We were intrigued when we saw mashed potatoes. These tacos are topped with cheese, sour cream, salsa fresca, and lettuce. They were surprisingly good as well with the contrast of the crunchy taco shell, but smooth and creamy mashed potatoes inside. Super savory, but a little bland by themselves, so make sure to add hot sauce on top too for more flavor!

Famous Chile en Nogada

This is one of their specialty dishes and sounded really interesting from the description and picture on the menu. Poblano chile pepper stuffed with pea protein ground beef, pecans, and dried fruits with a sweet creamy walnut sauce. Served with rice, salad, and tortillas. It turned out to be a mix of sweet from the nogada sauce with savory from the stuffed pepper. We only had a few bites it was so rich. We finished the rest at home later. This was our least favorite item as it was too sweet for our liking. Apparently, this is a popular seasonal dish in Aug/Sep that coincides with Mexican independence day celebrations.

Conclusion

Looking for some delicious Mexican food in Monterey? How about a great Vegan restaurant? We highly recommend you try El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Restaurant.

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El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Pictures