We're back out at Indigo Mall for lunch, hot on the trail of new tacos. The Lord's work, really. Indigo Mall, if you haven't had the pleasure, is Swire Properties solution to the underwhelming dinginess that is this little section of Jiuxianqiao Lu out past the 798 Art Thing. With an eye to a prosperous tomorrow, they're rolling back this particular section of stock, dusty Chinese urban uniformity with a stock, steel and marble edifice of "fashion, dining, entertainment, and leisure." It's attached to East Hotel. It's whatever. It's a mall. It's glittering, soothing, and strangely familiar. It works on replication and pattern recognition. You've been before even if you've never been. There's a Gap, an H&M, and a Jack Jones. Seems like a pretty chill mall to hang out at if you like Jack Jones clothes and walking around an M.C. Escher drawing for an hour or two with your brains dribbling out of your ears, all over your Jack Jones clothes. Here's all the new-old-new restaurants in this place. You've probably seen a few (or most, or all) of these logos before. There's some Beijing hits (Flamme, Hercules), some Greater China hits (Blue Frog), and some international beacons of taste and quality (McDonald's). I went to a taco place called Hffousa Taco. (Pronounced: Af^&%hngouab*34yn.) It looks like this. Strange name. Hffousa. Where have I see this logo before? Oh yeah. I guess the stem IS a bit different... Hey, it's that Mexican restaurant chain from the States. They've got 1600 locations worldwide, and, I think, at last count, approximately zero in the PRC. What do they do? "Food with Integrity"? So, yeah. Along with Chiptole's breezy, hip ethos of organic-ingredients-heathy-living-blah-blah-blah-whatever, this place has also imported the menu wholesale. Here's their "Burrito" on the menu: And here's Chiptole's "Burito" recipe from their website: Burrito Flour tortilla, choice of cilantro-lime rice, pinto or black beans, meat (braised carnitas or barbacoa, adobo-marinated and grilled chicken or steak) or guacamole, salsa and cheese or sour cream. Here's their "Crispy Tacos" from their menu: And here's Chipotle's Crispy Tacos from their website: Crispy Tacos Crispy corn shells filled with meat (braised carnitas or barbacoa, adobo-marinated and grilled chicken or steak), salsa, cheese or sour cream and romaine lettuce. Their "Soft Tacos"... and Chiptole's "Soft Tacos"... Soft Tacos Soft flour tortillas filled with meat (braised carnitas or barbacoa, adobo-marinated and grilled chicken or steak), salsa, cheese or sour cream and romaine lettuce. They also had the a Burrito Bowl as well. It's a pretty faithful reproduction. They've even got the same counter style (see above), fonts, and color schemes. Then again, they're maybe going a bit softer with the organic revolution agit-prop. Hilar. Got some tacos. 46 bones. Came with some sort of prune juice and some prison soup. They were aiiiiiight, man! You could really taste the fuckin' integrity! Anyways, it is what is is. Here's the address if you want to see for yourself. Couple hundred kuai should do it if you really want to go through the menu. Hffousa Taco is at 2/F, Indigo Mall, 18 Jiuxianqiao Lu.