Within 3 short years, the Playa Cabana empire of taquerias has grown to four locations across Toronto. On a busy Friday night, the fiance and I stopped by their original Dupont outpost for a late dinner with a friend. Serving up staple Mexican fare with a non-traditional twist, the menu at Playa Cabana was extensive with plenty of tacos and burritos for every palate.

Atmosphere: As we drove East along Dupont, the stores disappeared and we entered a residential area. Right at the cusp of this change, we spotted Playa Cabana’s lit windows on an otherwise dark street. We arrived 10 minutes before our reservation for 9pm and the place was packed. We didn’t actually get seated until 9:30pm and despite the lateness, there was a constant queue of groups waiting in the small, loud entry way for their reservation time. Walk-in’s were not accommodated. The restaurant itself was small with less than 50 seats and the music was so loud. I was half yelling the entire meal and conversations were difficult. There was a lot of energy in the room, laughs over beer and two birthday celebrations.

Service: Other than the long wait for a table, service at Playa Cabana was pretty standard. Our server came by to take our order and all of the dishes arrived quickly and hot from the kitchen. We had planned on ordering a bucket of Dos Equis but they were out so we went with the other option of Coronas. The beers took awhile to arrive, we were already through most of our appetizers. I would’ve also loved a quick explanation of the 4 sauces on the table, which turned out to be hot sauce and hotter sauces.

Food: Overall, I enjoyed every bite of food at Playa Cabana. The spices were strong, the limes juicy and the cilantro aplenty. That little bottle of green hot sauce was potent and delicious. I ended up demolishing way too many tortilla chips thanks to the fiery concoction.

We started with an order of fresh tortilla chips with salsa and the bucket of shrimp. The chips were crispy, on the salty side and I loved how fresh the salsa tasted. We quickly ate the entire basket and I had moved onto dipping my peeled shrimp in the salsa when we were brought a second basket of chips. It was an exercise in restraint to leave some of the chips and save room for all the tacos we had ordered. The shrimp were cooked shell on, keeping all of the juices and flavour in, then tossed in a arbol-garlic butter. The result was plump, buttery shrimp that had a great kick of heat. I happily ate more than my fair share.

Each order of Taco at Playa Cabana comes in 3s, perfect for our group. We chose four types:

• Baja Catch of the Day Grilled – This was my favourite, I loved the refreshing light flavours, the crunch from the shredded cabbage and radish topping and the chunky fish.
• Tacos de Chori-Queso – Homemade spicy chorizo in a crunchy, griddle corn tortilla. Both The Fiance and our friend had a hard time choosing a favourite between this taco and the short rib. The griddled corn tortilla was definitely a treat and the chorizo packed a lot of heat. The flavours were meaty and woke up your tastebuds.
• Short Rib-Brisket Crispy Taco – Braised beef short also served on a griddled corn tortilla. The brisket was tender and pulled apart with little effort. This taco had a sweeter flavour than the others and wasn’t spicy.
• Carnita Taco – Pulled pork carnita topped with crispy deep fried pork rind, served in a soft shell. The taco was good, but the weakest link of the night. My favourite part was the pork rind topping.

As always, there was room for churros. The deep fried dough was crisp, golden brown, coated in sugar and served with fresh whipped cream, dulce de leche and ground cinnamon. While I liked the food at Playa Cabana, Friday night was a little too loud and happening for me. I’m looking forward to their patio opening and enjoying their menu with a natural soundtrack.

After splitting a burger at Frankie’s, The Fiance and I moved onto the main course at Fonda Lola. The restaurant has been on my radar since they opened at the end of 2013 with rave reviews.

Atmosphere: I was surprised at how small the restaurant was. This could have been because a large party of 10+ was just finishing up their meal and occupied half of the tables. The space was cozy and intimate with natural wood tables that reminded me of outdoor picnic tables. The beautiful patterned blue plates added a festive touch to each table. One thing that stood out to me was how many of the diners were families, some with small children. It was nice to see a “hip” restaurant be so family friendly.

Service: Service at Fonda Lola was friendly and efficient. Our server explained the menu items for us in detail and each dish arrived at a quick pace in succession. During the day, I had tweeted my excitement about finally visiting the restaurant. Half way through our meal, we were treated to two bite size pieces of their famous candied bacon, a truly nice gesture.

Food: Since we had each just eaten half a burger, our hunger wasn’t at peak. This was a mistake as the entire menu looked appetizing. We had to be strategic in our ordering to save room for churros, a must.

For starters, we ordered the Jefe Snack and Trout Aguachile. When I read homemade potato chips, I was not expecting a rolled tortilla with stuffing and deep fried. For $4, it was an interesting dish to try. The Trout Aguachile was sour, much more sour than a ceviche and so good. The fish was fresh, the chips served alongside were addictive and the sour burned my poor chapped lips a little, but I kept eating. Our surprise bite of jalapeno candied bacon was delightful. The bacon was a great balance between sweet, super spicy and savoury. Once I’m done this wedding diet, I’ll be back for a full portion all to myself.

As our main, the Fiance and I split an order of Carnitas, served in a small cast iron pan with 4 amazing soft shell corn tortillas. These tortillas had an intense corn flavour and were a great texture. Somehow, it also seemed like the limes Fonda Lola used were extra fragrant, not more sour but just had a stronger lime taste. I found the carnita meat itself a little dry but I liked the added char from the cast iron.

Even though I was full, I had to try the Churros con Cajeta and Fonda Lola was kind enough to indulge my request for a half order. Again, this is another dish that I need to come back for. The dessert was heavenly with the thick, creamy, sweet sauce and perfectly deep fried dough.

Overall, I can understand why Fonda Lola is always packed when I walk by. The restaurant has a small menu with great variety and serves up Mexican food with bold, authentic flavours. If you’re there with a bigger group, you can order the whole menu, a Mexican Fiesta, for just $150.

During university, Baldwin St. was one of my favourite places in Toronto. After a year of living on adjoining Beverley St., I basically knew every restaurant menu by heart. Since then, the street has evolved with many exciting new restaurants calling it home such as Kinton Ramen and Noodle Face Co, next to familiar favourites like Konnichiwa. My friend and I had a tough time deciding where to eat with all the new options. We settled on Agave y Agucate with no reservations, walking in around 7pm.

I also forgot my camera, apologies for the terrible picture quality. I’ll just have to go back to take better ones.

Atmosphere: Agave has taken over both the ground and top floor of a house on Baldwin St. The majority of tables are located up a narrow staircase on the second floor along with the washrooms. The layout of the first floor includes the bar and a single long bench along the wall with circular tables at intervals. The upstairs dining room was fully booked so we tried to get comfortable on the bench. It was awkward, you have to either sit on the bench, with you back on the wall and crane your neck to talk to your date or have your body twisted at the waist. I ended up sitting half crossed legged, which for a long meal would not be preferred. I loved the 90’s music that played all night and the lighting was dark. The walls were painted rich colours that added to the intimate feel.

Service: The girl who took care of our table was very professional and friendly. She recommended items on the menu, made sure our waters were refilled and was quick to clear empty plates. This was appreciated as the table surface area was small. The tapas style dishes came out in pairs, which was great as it allowed us to sample the plates concurrently and switch back and forth.

Food: To start, I need to recommend the Stiegl Grapefruit beer. It’s amazing. My friend and I split three beers that night including two Stiegl’s and if it hadn’t been a weekday, I could’ve easily drunk my weight in the grapefruit beer. It has a strong citrus flavour but not overly sweet and so refreshing. This is now the drink I will look for on any menu.

As for food, we ordered 5 dishes to split. The first to arrive were the Ceviche Verde and Chile Poblano Relleno, a blistered pepper stuffed with guacamole and pineapple, topped with pickled vegetables with a tomato sauce. The ceviche that night was cod and served with avocado and tortilla chips. The texture of the fish was firm and the colour was opaque. I thought the balance between the sourness and sweetness was perfect in tandem with the chips and avocado. The pepper had a nice spicy kick but was mellowed by the avocado and pineapple. Again, each bite had components of sweetness, spiciness and sourness from the tomatoes and pineapple, that was perfect.

Next up was the Chileajo, mixed vegetables and lentils tossed in a guajillo pepper sauce, and the Tostada de Tinga, pulled poached chicken in a chorizo, tomato, piquin and chipotle pepper sauce served on a tostada with black beans, avocado cream and pickled red onions (phew). Between these two, I prefered the Tostada de Tinga more. I liked the different textures of crunchy and creamy and the layers of flavour. The lentils in the Chileajo had a nice crunch but the dish was on the saltier side. We ended the night with Albondigas Estilo Guanajuats, meatballs poached in a chipotle sauce and served over black beans. The meatballs were loosely packed, juicy and a great final dish. Five dishes between two people turned out to be more than enough and we both left with our belts feeling a bit tighter.

Via Twitter, I heard about a Mucho Burrito foodie event being held for guests to sample items from their menu. Having never been to a Mucho Burrito before, I was eager to check it out as I’m always looking for healthy lunch options.

Mucho Burrito is a Canadian chain of restaurants offering burritos, quesadillas, tacos and salad bowls across the country with 8 locations in the GTA. Each menu item is customizable and prepared fresh to order. I love that their website has a super handy Nutritional Calculator to plan your burrito ahead of time, especially useful while I’m still trying to maintain my new year’s resolutions.

Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge by the restaurant. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

The tasting event was held at their Queen St. location where the BF and I joined 7 others to participate in a blind taste test of two different carnita recipes. While waiting for everyone to arrive, we snacked on tortilla chips and sipped on Jarritos, a Mexican soda. The Jarritos came in some great tropical fruits flavours like guava and passionfruit as well as classic soda and lime. The fruit flavours were very true, sweet with light bubbles. The tortilla chips were served with guacamole, pico de gallo, and medium and spicy salsa. My favourite dip was the medium salsa that was salty and sweet. I thought the guacamole and pico de gallo were too mild in flavour.

We were then presented with two samples of just the pork carnitas, A & B, and asked to rank each and jot down notes. Next, the carnitas were wrapped into a burrito and again we sampled and ranked. I thought it was surprising how much my preference between the two samples changed when sampling the meat alone vs. inside a burrito and alongside a slew of other flavours. Both burritos were solid toasted and stuffed with corn, rice and beans.

The night ended on a sweet note with crispy fluffy chuuros, evenly rolled in cinnamon sugar and dipped in their dulce de leche. I so badly wanted to take some home after hearing others talk about using it as a spread on toast. This might defeat the “healthy” part, just a bit.

In between samples, our host shared Mucho Burrito trivia and handed out 3 pack of hot sauces as prizes. My bottle of Scotch Bonnet hot sauce now resides in my cubicle at work, because I need to add hot sauce to everything. These are also available for sale in stores. Overall, I’d like to try more items from their menu, especially the Chipotle Shrimp burrito and soup.

Check out their Twitter for daily contests and giveaways.

The taco craze taking Toronto finally made it up to North York in November with the renovation of Smokey Joe’s, an old bar with a great rooftop patio just north of Yonge and Sheppard. With an impressive selection of bourbons, daily specials and over 60 tequilas on hand, Estrella is on track to being the new bar in the area.

Atmosphere: I had only visited Smokey Joe’s once and it wasn’t for me. It was nice to see the space re-incarnated with the unique decor and bright colours, there’s even ping pong tables in the back for customers to use free of charge. There are cozy leather booths and lots of wooden tables that can be put together for large groups. I can’t wait for the rooftop patio to open up when the weather warms up.

Service: When the BF and I stopped by, it was still super early for dinner, just past 5:00pm cause we were both hungry and couldn’t wait. The staff hadn’t ramped up yet and we were one of the first customers of the night, which meant service started a bit slow. We weren’t sure who our server was at first and it took some time to get our order in. Our tacos did come out quickly and it was fun to see the guacamole made fresh at the table.

Food: On Monday nights, Estrella offers a $5 taco deal with soup and salad, $5 pints and $5 house cocktails. We passed on the taco special, which was bulgogi in favour of ordering from the regular menu. I did take advantage of the drink special and tried their white sangria while the BF had a bourbon sour. My drink was fruity and easy to drink; the bourbon was quite sour and served with a thick foam topping.

The table-side guacamole arrived in a giant mortar and pestle that was used to mash up the avocado and mix up the ingredients. When I make guacamole at home, I’m very liberal with the cilantro and lime so I thought the flavours were a touch understated. It’s a more traditional recipe and doesn’t mask the avocado. The chips served alongside were crispy and topped with a sprinkle of spice. They were pretty oily but delicious.

On to the tacos. We ordered one of each on the menu except for the vegetarian and oyster ones. My favourite was hands down the Taco de Panza. The fatty pork belly was full of flavour and I liked the pairing of a light, crunchy cabbage topping. Next were the duck confit and short rib tacos. Both were flavourful and I loved the spice in the short rib. For me, the best fish taco I’ve had so far was still at Grand Electric. The offering at Estrella was solid and had great toppings but couldn’t compare. I had high hopes for the tuna and ceviche tacos, but they fell a bit short. The ceviche taco was ok but the tuna taco didn’t have the same kick in flavour as the others and the texture of the tuna made the bite feel mushy.

Ending the night with dessert, we had the pineapple ice cream and churros. The churros were not very good. They were very doughy and uneven, none of the airy crispiness I was expecting. I’m not sure if it was because we ate so early in the night and the oil wasn’t ready, but it was disappointing. However, I loved the ice cream. It was creamy, sweet and sour with little chunks of pineapple. Scrapping dulche de leche with each spoonful of ice cream was a great way to end a meal. The macadamia nuts felt a bit unnecessary. There wasn’t really enough to incorporate into each bite and I forgot about it for the most part.

El Catrin is a brand new Mexican restaurant that opened in July occupying The Boiler Room’s old space in the Distillery District. I was lucky enough to be invited to their media launch “fiesta” for complimentary margaritas and hors d’oeuvres.

Disclaimer: All drinks and dishes were provided free of charge by the restaurant. All opinions expressed below are wholly mine.

Atmosphere: El Catrin features a sprawling front patio, complete with a full bar, private booths and a fire pit. The space was warmly lit, decorated with colourful furniture and plentiful cushions. It would be a great party event venue or for a night of margaritas with friends. The interior of the restaurant is dominated by the two storey wall mural featuring beautiful colours and a strong skull motif, which echoed throughout the entire restaurant’s decor. There are two private dining areas available for larger parties, both fully decorated with the restaurant’s theme and furnished with an extra long dining table.  

Food: The first dish I sampled was the “Vuelve a la vida El Catrin”, which was seafood ceviche on top of a fresh shucked oyster. The bite was amazing. I could’ve easily had a dozen of these. With that start the appetizers rolled out. Servers brought around corn salad in shot glasses, cubetas (a bucket of marinated tiger shrimp), baja fish tacos, pork tacos, tuna ceviche and beef short rib quesadilla (not pictured). We ended the night on a sweet note with two desserts, fresh churros and jamoncillo de leche (Mexican fudge) with bacon walnuts.

My favourite dish was the cubetas. The shrimp were plump, flavourful and was the one dish I couldn’t pass on whenever it came around. I found the pork taco was more memorable than the baja fish with stronger flavours. Between the two desserts, the churros were a bit disappointing and I had to shake off a lot of the sugar topping. The mexican fudge was dense and sweet. I liked the contrast of the saltiness in the bacon topping.

This was a great preview of El Catrin’s menu and I look forward to trying out their full menu, especially brunch which has mexican inspired omelette and pancake dishes.

In following Toronto’s taco trend, a visit to La Carnita is a must.  Their Kensington market location is easily accessible by TTC and my girlfriend biked over from her Annex apartment. She was able to get a table easily before the dinner rush at 5:30 on a weeknight for our catch-up date.

Atmosphere: The restaurant’s pretty spacious with a full bar and a few small tables in the front and larger tables in the back dining area. Sitting next to the bar, my table got a lot of natural light and we were able to the see each order being delivered to the service window. It was a very casual and relaxed feel.

Service: Our server patiently checked in on us a few times to order since we were busy talking instead of perusing the menu. Once we got our orders in the food arrived quickly and when we added more tacos to our order, they arrived just as prompt. It took some time to flag down someone for the bill, but we weren’t in a rush so didn’t try too hard. Again, the pace of the restaurant at the time was very relaxed and they hadn’t hit their rush yet.

Food: None of the appetizers really jumped out at us and besides, we were there for tacos, so tacos we did. We ordered one of each taco from the menu and their daily special mushroom and corn tostada.

Both my friend and I loved the “in cod we trust” taco and had to order a second one. The fish was lightly battered and just melted in your mouth. I also liked the mushroom tostada, which had an earthy flavour and a hint of sweetness. The tuna ceviche was light, refreshing, not too limey and the tuna was a great texture. The tostadas  was crispy and not greasy, we did eat these ones first to avoid having them sit in any sauces for too long.

I felt the chorizo overpowered the toppings in that taco. It was still good but you could only taste the chorizo. The “beef cheek” was sweet and balanced well with the avocado and raw jalapeno topping. The fried chicken in the “pollo frito” was crispy and tender. This taco again was overall sweet, a little heat would’ve been nice. Lastly the “crispy avocado and frijoles” taco was just alright, I would order any of the other choices before this one, but it’s nice to see a non-meat option on the menu.

The hype surrounding Grand Electric has been loud and continuous since opening in 2011. With the warnings from friends about no reservations, hour line waits outside in whatever weather with no guarantee of seating in addition to its west end location, it’s taken me longer than planned to finally make it to Grand Electric. I wanted to make sure I was at the door when they opened for dinner service, on a weekday with sunny weather (just in case). The planning was needed. About ten minutes after we were seated at the bar, every seat was filled up. Next to Guu, Grand Electric is now on my list of restaurants that’s worth the effort to get a table.

Atmosphere: The feeling inside was very comfortable and laid back. The bar was filled with bottles of homebrews (ie. vanilla infused bourbon) for a unique assortment of drinks. I loved the built in shelves behind the bar and the record player in the corner. There was a lot of wild turkey decor. The restaurant feels like a neighbourhood gem, a place to stop by often for taco and cocktail or shot of bourbon.

Service: Our waitress was friendly and suggested the “Jesus Juice” when I asked for a fruity drink. The bar tender was also all smiles and it was fun to watch him mix and pour. All of our dishes arrived quickly and each platter of tacos came with intros to identify them. Just make note that Grand Electric is cash only and they do not split bills (as stated on their menu) so come prepared.

Food: Now for the food. There were only two of us and I wanted to try as much of the menu as possible, this resulted in very full but happy bellies and a long after dinner walk.

For tacos, we ordered the Baja Fish, Beef Cheek and Scrapple first followed by the Pork Tinga and Chicken. I didn’t know what scrapple was before but the BF was super excited to see it on the menu. To my understanding, it’s almost a homemade spam, but the texture was softer and fried. My favourite taco off the first platter was the fish; it was buttery soft and not battered too thickly. Next was the beef cheek, I liked the kick of the jalapeno in contrast to the sweetness of the braised beef cheek. The scrapple was ok, it wasn’t as flavourful as the other two and came with a heavier sauce. Between the chicken and the pork, I liked the chicken better, with a healthy handful of cilantro and crispy texture.

We also tried a few side dishes, the Guacamole and Chips, Chorizo and Brussels and Tuna Ceviche. The guacamole and chips came with a large piece of deep fried pork rind, which was amazing. It was crispy, airy and was fought over. The chips themselves were a little oily and the guacamole was good, but I usually make mine with cilantro mixed in a bit more lime. I loved the Chorizo and Brussles dish, the brussel sprouts were roasted, salted and tasted like chips with a savoury chorizo sauce. The bottom of the dish was very salty, where the brussels were soaked in the sauce. I was a bit disappointed with the Tuna Ceviche, the portion was large but I would’ve liked more lime flavour and the sauce used was very creamy.

We didn’t have any room left for dessert, but next time I will be saving just a bit to try to the key lime pie.