La Capital

My homie Sasher was in town from his gallivanting (yes, I'm calling it that) in central and south America so I needed to see his ass. OK, he's actually working :) I was already eating with my other homie, Isa, so we decided that we should eat tacos. I'm always in for tacos. Always.

 

I had passed by La Capital many times, wondering wtf a Mexican resto was doing in Chinatown. Well, that's the magic of it, really. Who would've thought they'd put Mexico in China? NO ONE. One of the trick to having a popular resto is putting it somewhere where it has absolutely no competition whatsoever. Hence, Mexico in China. Brilliant!

The place itself is very colorful, with some Spanish music playing, brick walls with some pictures on them (including this creepy one). It had a nice ambiance, as if everyone wanted to be your friend. Do YOU wanna be my friend? Yes. Yes you do.

We shared appetizers, because that's what people that like each other do; they share. Cebollitas asadas OR charred green onions with Maggi sauce. I looked to see what this sauce was about and this is pretty much the gist of it: a lot of artificial ingredients, a lot of MSG and some soya sauce. Well, damn it, it tasted wonderful. I didn't necessarily feel like this had any place on the menu, and it was rather awkward to eat, but I still loved the flavors.

Guacamole. I loves me a good guac! It was perfectly smooth, perfectly spicy and perfectly limy. The totrtilla was just a bit too hard for me so, to reduce my consumption, I just put a motha fuck*n pile of guac on a tiny piece of tortilla. It works.

Los tacos! I had the carnitas: pork confit, coriander, onions, radish, grilled tomato sauce. The pork was what I always dread it will be like: dry. Argh. There should be a universal rule. Right? It was still full of yumminess and the coriander added another layer of flavor. The tortilla was the perfect tortilla: it wasn't breaking all over the place like some and I could bend it in every way (what??? I like to do that!). The tomato sauce was quite spicy, but sadly, a bit too much on the blend side.

I got a taste of some tacos el pastor too, because, as I mentioned, we be sharin'! The pork was dry as well. I'm gonna go ahead and give you, restaurateurs and chefs, rules about food that you must ALWAYS abide by: the pork must NOT be dry, the bread must NOT be stale, the shrimp must ALWAYS be cooked perfectly, the octopus/calamari must NOT be squishy and your pasta must NOT be overcooked. OK, I'm sure there are more but this is a pretty good sample. I really liked the onions and the coriander... but when do I not?! It was also on the spicy side, which was appreciated.

We had green sauce and red sauce. The red sauce was just... well, it was a firm no: it tasted like ketchup. Le green was OK but didn't add much to the dishes. Sasher, who spent a while in Mexico, said that this meal was just so so. So, blame the score on him, NOT on the blogger :p (OK, you can blame it on me too)

Deep fried plantain. Mmmmmmm!!!! This was f*ckin' awesome! It was crispy, it was moist, it was sweet! The salty feta on top balanced the sweetness of it really well. And you wouldn't think that, with all this fried stuff, it would still be all fresh and sh*t.. but it was! If it wouldn't make me gain so many calories, I'd have one of those bad boys every day!

Service was very good. We got a table in no time and had water on the table as soon as we sat down. And water was refilled. Many times. I felt good about this. The waiter was wearing one (or eight) too many pwish of perfume, which was not cool. Peeps that work in restaurants should not be able to wear perfume. NO PERFUME.

And now, the scores!

Food: 7
Service: 8.5

There are a LOT of new Mexican restos in town. Must. Visit. Them. ALL. 

Café Frida

I brought my Mexican, Gus, to yet another taco place last week. Whaaaaat? I like me some tacos! This time, it was Tacos Victor's neighbour, Café Frida. Yep, apparently, los tacos y los burritos stick together, with about 4 restos that serve up Mexican goodness in a two block radius.

This place is even tinier than the other one! To get to our table, we literally (and I do mean 'literally') had to hop over a couple sitting at the table next to ours! It was kind of awkward and I really hoped that I wouldn't need to go to the restroom during lunch!

It was such a cute, tiny restaurant! Very colourful! And by that, I mean EVERYTHING was colourful! The walls, the boards, the lovely garlands! It felt so warm, when it was so cold outside. Like a hot cup of cocoa! Ah, warmth. And Frida was everywhere. Seriously, I've never had so many unibrows look at me at the same time. To complete the ambiance, there was some nice Spanish music (I don't think we can say that the whole playlist was composed of Mexican music, so I'm going with Spanish!) playing. I loves me some good Spanish music, I tells ya! I absolutely HATE going to a restaurant where they decide to play the top 20 hits. Ugh.

Tacoooooos! Nopales, cochinita and chorizo! It was my first time trying nopales! Cactus! Whaaaaat! I mean, who can say they ate cactus? Except Mexicans. And perhaps South Americans? Oh, and of course, them desert dwellers. OK, so everyone has eaten cactus except for me! Damn it, I'm always the last one! Anyway, I HAD to have it. First off, I gots to say that the tortilla was perfect. JUST perfect. It was crispy yet still tender. The taco was quite tasty, a bit like I was eating a plant. Oh wait... :) I loved the onions in there that added a nice crunch. I gotta say that the cactus itself wasn't my fave. Shiz, I really wanted to like it. It just didn't talk to me, you know? I like it when cacti speak to me. Aaaand I've officially gone cray cray.

Moving on. Cochinita. Marinated pork with red onions. Pork? Yes. Marinated onions? Ya giiiirl! The pork was uber moist and just melted in my mouth. Mmmmm... melting meat. The onions were delightfully tangy and just fit so well with the pork. Let's face it, when do onions NOT fit? WHEN? Signed: biggest onion fan in the WORLD.

Last but not least, chorizo! Home made, of course! It was spicy and not dry at all (see how much I DON'T want to go overboard with the word 'moist'--which, for you newbies, I HATE!!!) It was very cheesy which is always yummy! Well, my lactose-intolerant stomach would say otherwise but let's ignore that for now. Gus was telling me how, in Mexico, only the cheap vendors would put potatoes in there to fill it up so that they don't have to use as much meat. AH-HAAAAAA!!! Gotcha!!! But seriously, there weren't that many so I definitely did not feel cheated but I also did not necessarily want the extra carbs.

Why not continue eating Mexican goodness? Quesadillaaaas! Ya baby! We had mushrooms sautéed with red onions, red peppers and frijoles. Gus looked really weirded out that there were frijoles (beans) in his quesadilla but did mention that he really liked it. But apparently, they're not supposed to put it in there. BUT it was really good. Dilemmas, dilemmas. It was cheesy goodness, that's what it was! We ate those two pieces in about 5 seconds, tops. That tortilla, again, was right on and the frijoles were perfect in there. They had the right consistency to kind of take up room without taking up too much, you know? You know? The peppers added some sweetness and the mushrooms were wonderful. Hey, simple CAN mean good. A bit o' lime on there and BAM! Awesomeness on a plate!

Pastel impossible. Whaaaaaat. The. F. Half flan, half chocolate cake, merged together. Again... WHAAAAT? How. Did. They. Do. Dis. It was sweet but not too sweet and as someone that is not the biggest flan fan (I mean, who is), it was the perfect dessert. Apparently it's a traditional dessert. Lucky them. Pffff. I wish WE had a cool dessert like this to call 'traditional'. I would just love to know HOW they stick em' together. Ah, the mysteries of life! I actually had never seen this before. Café Frida is now officially THE Mexican connection in MTL. Done.

Service was great. The waitress was all smiles and such a cutie. She spoke to Gus very quickly in Spanish while I tried to understand. Slowing down would have helped. Geez. I would have liked more water at some point but in her defense, we were very hard to get to! I even had to reach out and take plates from her hands because we were in such an awkward area!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5

Service: 8.5

Totes going back. Regresare por mas! You know, it was starting to look like a quest to find the best taco in town, but it's done. Iz over. Café Frida wins :)

Agave

One of my friend's ex just opened this new Mexican restaurant and guess what? I happen to love me some Mexican food. Oh and guess what else...I know some friends who do too. True story. So, this is how, on a very, VERY cold last Sunday, Val, Lea and I decided to head to Laurier Ouest and go to Agave.

We entered and it was completely empty except for one table, but soon enough after that, we were the only ones in there. Duh, it's freaking -30 outside. Sheesh. Anyhoot, we were warmly welcomed by the waitress and chose our table (again, duh). The restaurant itself has high ceilings, about 50 seats and cute hanging lamps. There was something missing though... I don't know...maybe the ceilings were too high? Anyhoot. Music was ok when we got in and then it was happenin'. Maybe it's all the margaritas we drank. Wink wink.

The waitress explained the menu and told us what she liked the most and what was most popular. We shared three entrées (pigs).

But first, ooooobviously we needed drinks.

I had meself a nice little margarita (oh, and then another...hum...cough...gotta warm up on those cold winter nights :) ). It was perfect. Hit the spot. So good, lime-y and refreshing. Excellent. You want a good margarita, you go to Agave. As Nike says, Just Do It.

Ceviche: good flavors and nice little pieces for my tiny mouth. At first I wasn't too sure but after the first bite, it hit me; this was good. The onions and the tomatoes brought in extra freshness and the lime made everything that much better. All in all, a hit. Oh and it was a huge portion too! Well worth that 10$.

Cocktail de camarones: shrimp, onions, and avocado in tomato and lime juice. This was nice. Very fruity, and well seasoned. Just perfect, really. It actually tasted as if there were strawberries or pineapple in there. Again, huge portion!

Mango guacamole. Wait. Mango? YES! Guacamole? YES! What do you do? Put 'em together man! The guac was soft and tasty and the mango obviously added some fruitiness but also a nice texture. 

Oh I almost forgot! With our entrées, we also had tortillas (what, were we supposed to eat those with our hands? You crazy!) and salsa roja AND salsa verde! My mouth was pretty much on fire. But damn did it ever bring me back to Mexico (ok, I've never been, but it's pretty much like I have).

For the main course, I chose tacos el pastor: pork marinaded in pepper and pineapple. This was totally me. I love sweet and savory dishes and this didn't disappoint. The rice (on the left...) was on point, and I know my rice, the pork was really tender and oh-so-tasty, the guacamole was amazing, the pico de gallo was refreshing and went perfectly with the pineapple, the frijoles (black bean puree) was even better than the one my Mexican friend makes (do NOT tell him). Let's just say I was pleased. We were all pleased. AND oh so very full by the end. So full that when the waitress came to ask us if we wanted desert, we looked at her with 'oh-please-don't-tell-us-you-have-deserts' faces.

No desert, but a tequila shot? Sure. Ah, I remember my tequila shootin' days. Or... I guess I don't ( I DO remember saying something like 'no more tequila for Marie' many times during parties...while drinking it). But this one was good. I believe it was tequila anejo, which tasted waaaaaaaayyyy better than what I used to drink! Leave it to a restaurant named Agave to have good tequila :)

The service was great throughout the meal. It IS true that we were the only ones in there, but still. Water service was good, she gave us suggestions, she asked if everything was good. I guess if there's one thing I can say it's that at some point it took a tad too long to get food. But a: that's not technically her fault and b: there was only one dude in the kitchen.

And now, the scores!

Service: 8.5

Food: 9

This is certainly one of my new favourite Mexican resto in town, so watch out, I'll be back. Margarita anyone?

ps: and to make things even better... they have a we-are-a-new-restaurant 15% discount. dsamn!

   

El Sabor de Mexico

I moved to Pointe-St-Charles in November and hadn't really been able to fully discover the area until recently, when it started being all sunny and warm-ish. Last week, I decided to walk to Wellington in Verdun and take a tour! And oh boy was I ever satisfied with all the restaurants on that street!

Man, that street is full of restaurants! And most are quite inexpensive too!!! My kinda place :) As I was getting near the end of the 'fun part' of Wellington, I saw this cute little Mexican restaurant (new, since January). It looked so cute from the window (except for that huge OUVERT sign!), plus, the menu looked great. And by great, I mean table d'hôte for 11,99$! What what!

So you get in and it's very mexican looking. Is that a thing? All these lively colours and cute table cloths! I was loving it! The place itself is kind of small, about 30 seats and lunch time, there was only one waiter. It's a good thing the place was empty except for a couple, at around 2 PM. Looking at the menu, I was obviously seduced by the 11$ table d'hôte: soup or salad, main (quesadillas, fajitas...), and desert and coffee OR wine.

As a starter, I had the tortilla and tomato soup with some sour cream and crispy tortilla on top. The soup was very nicely flavored, the sour cream added just a touch of creaminess and the tortilla added some butteriness (I SWEAR, it's a word!) and  that crispiness that is always welcomed when you eat soup. The perfect bite was obviously a bit of everything!

Next, it was the chorizo and queso quesadillas. There was also some hot salsa (I like it hot!) and a little onion, and tomato salad with a bit of parsley. As Joey on Friends says in one episode: 'put em' together!'
Hahaha. But seriously, I just opened the quesadilla and added some salsa and some of the salad and it was marvellous! All the flavours were there. The salsa obviously added some spice and the salad and parsley toned it down a bit. The chorizo was nice and there was a lot of cheesy goodness! The only meh thing was that the chorizo was a tad greasy, actually going through the tortilla and onto the plate. Oh and I asked and they do not, I repeat, do NOT make their own tortillas. I was a tad disapointed.

Now, I thought I was going to have a desert, even if I wasn't necessarily still hungry for that but I was then told that, as 'stated' on the menu, it was either coffee and desert or wine. I thought it looked more like coffee OR wine AND desert. But anyhoot, I got a nice big glass of wine and seriously, where is alcohol included in the table d'hôte except maybe in Europe?

Service was great: the waiter came to greet me at the door and I chose my table, and from then on, he was ever so present because, well, there were only 3 clients in the place, including myself. I wasn't served water regularly which kind of annoys me but he answered my questions and came to ask me how I liked every course. I did see him look at his cell once, which I don't think is ok but at least it was only once :)

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5
Service: 7.5

A great new find! If you happen to be walking on Wellington, dso it!!!