One idle, sunny afternoon, my siblings and I headed to The Square, the heart of the city of Palmerston North, New Zealand. After a few mundane grocery chores, my sister treated us to a taco lunch.

She has been raving about Dos Locos Taco since I landed in New Zealand. This Mexican food truck has been setting trails ablaze in the foodie scene of Palmerston North. Owned and operated by a very lovely couple of Mexican and South American descent, the business first started off in New York, America’s street-food central.

The stint in America gives Dos Locos Taco an immediate advantage over local competitors. They sure know how to operate the food-truck business and keep people coming back for more. Come to think of it, Palmerston North has actually been starved of authentic Mexican fare till they parked here.

I had a beef and a chicken taco. I love how everything that went into making this taco is exceptionally fresh and made onsite. The guacamole is decadently creamy, the salsa flawless and the pulled beef… that beef taco has to be the best taco I’ve ever devoured in my life! The chicken was good too, but that beef… so moreish, so moist, so full of meaty goodness.

The name Dos Locos Taco reminds me of Los Pollos Hermanos from Breaking Bad (that Mexican accent is so endearing!). If Los Pollos Hermanos was a cover-up for the drug trade, the drug used at Dos Locos Tacos is transparently clear… their infamous Scorpion Sauce! Super spicy with a trail of tanginess, a few fiery squirts is all it takes to really rev up the goodness of these tacos!

I also love the logo design of Dos Locos Taco. Inspired by the Mexican festival of ‘The Day of the Dead’, the artwork is rather Frida Kalho don’t you think?! Soon the truck will be selling Dos Locos Tacos merchandise sporting this stunning masterpiece (and they will have Mexican sombrero hats on sale too!).

We were so engrossed in nibbling away at our tacos, sitting on the fresh, wet grass under the shade of an ancient bark, that we failed to notice the trail of neighboring ducks who had come to inspect on our lunch.

It started with a handful, and when my brother generously tossed out some taco shell at a couple of beaked friends, a whole hound of their kind came clucking at us, quacking, pecking and begging for more!

Wanting to end our pseudo picnic on a sweet note, I got a plate of Dos Locos Taco’s Churros. Like the tacos, these were freshly made on-site. Still hot, deep-fried and crisp, these churros have been stuffed with a cinnamon cream, drizzled with lots of hot chocolate sauce, and snowed down with cinnamon sugar. We had a tough time keeping the ducks off this platter, and had to forgo a whole churro to them!

This was my first experience of Dos Locos Taco. During my month-long visit home, I have passed through town numerous times but somehow I have always manged to miss the truck. Their location and timings change on a daily basis, and the only way to track them down is to look up on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/DosLocosTacoNZ

A day before my departure, I stuffed my face with their very filling Beef Nachos. So glad I could catch this elusive truck one last time before I left. They really are addictively good!