Paloma - NZ

PALOMA

The Long Way Around - BEAR’s Guide to New Zealand’s South Island

Location: The Precinct, 28 Helwick Street, Wānaka, New Zealand.

Paloma Taqueria offers authentic Mexican cuisine. They make their tacos from scratch - from locally sourced whole yellow corn kernels (ordered by the tonne - striving for sustainability). Every single day the team at Paloma boil the corn in pickling lime to remove the skin (nixtamalization), before grinding it into a dough in their fancy grinder all the way from LA. The dough is then rolled through another fancy machine to press it flat and cut it into perfect circles. The circles are then cooked on a grill, ready to be used as tacos! A very fun thought is that the tacos at Paloma are never more than a few hours old!

The house-made corn chips with guacamole are a must-try! Those who know me even an ounce know that fish tacos are my ride-or-die. I make fish tacos myself and am therefore skeptical of classing any old fish taco as “worthy” but Paloma gets a guernsey! The handmade taco really does hit just right - filled with salsa rosso, avocado, and red onion. Pork carnitas also gets a special mention - pineapple, queso fresco and salsa macha.

I must now turn to the drinks menu: five kinds of margarita is an excellent starting point, but in my opinion you can’t go wrong with a classic paloma.

The decor is warm and inviting while also being funky and fun! The service was excellent - we were never without a full beverage.

We stayed for hours and ordered taco after taco, and paloma after paloma. I can’t wait to do it all over again on day soon.

Stray beautiful,

BEAR.