Tag Archives: churros

I’m real Fonda these tacos, bros!!!!

Dude, this is body by tacos! If you say tacos, I say “When and where, bro?” So we’re hanging out at Fonda Lola, this funky little joint on Queen West that’s literally right next to Prime Seafood Palace. And hey, this place is pretty small, so it might actually be easier to get a table at Matty Matheson’s meat mansion than at Fonda’s on a weekend — let’s just say you definitely need a reservation.

But when it comes to the menu, we’ve got no reservations… They’re serving up seven different kinds of tacos here, and they only come three (or four) to an order, which means I might need to eat 12 of them. (Wouldn’t be the first time, bro.)

But first, we’re putting the fun in queso fundido, this ooey, gooey cheese sauce that’s like Fondue Gone Loco in Flavourtown. Now, this ain’t my first fundido rodeo, and I gotta say, this one needed to be heated up a little longer — it wasn’t quite hot or melty enough. But did I still eat all of it? Yes way, Jose!!!!!

Now it’s time to kickstart this fiesta with some Baja fish tacos. Dude, this is like a Baja Blast to my tastebuds, bro! Fish is lightly breaded, not too heavy, with a crunchy cucumber and cabbage slaw, purple onions and sprouts on top — there’s like a whole garden in here!!!!!

Up next, it’s cochinita pibil, aka Mexican pulled pork. Pork is chewy, tangy, with just a bit of a kick from the axiote sauce — it’s like Axe Mouth Spray in Flavourtown!!!!

This shrimp taco was crunchy, juicy and more than a little messy — dude, there’s like four shrimp hidden in here, bro! Between the fish and the shrimp, I actually liked the shrimp more.

Their Top Sirloin was like a more typical Mexican street taco; steak, onions and cilantro, with a bit of salsa verde in there. Nothing wrong with that at all!

But even after crushing all those tacos, you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert! We’re talking churro bites, these tasty deep-fried nuggets of goodness served with strawberries and cream, and sides of dulce de leche, berry compote and salted caramel for dipping. Dude, you could put that on a sombrero, and it would still taste good!!!!!!

Big Ass Steak? Dude, this is body by Big Ass Steak!!!!

So, we’re hanging out at Baro, this funky Latin fusion joint on King West. I’ve been here a couple times before, for some legit lomo saltado and a badass beef brisket burger, but when I heard they added a Big Ass Steak to their menu, you KNOW I gotta check it out, bro! We’re talkin’ 29 oz bone-in ribeye (22 ounces without the bone, so I’m told), dry aged for 45 days, and cooked to a perfect medium rare. Get in ma belly!!!!!

And when I said perfect medium rare, I wasn’t kidding. At some places, when the steak comes, it might be medium rare in the middle, but well done on the ends — but that was not the case here, since every piece was perfectly pink. It’s coming it hot with sides of sauteed onions, chimichurri and just a few shishito peppers (Vela, take note!) But you can’t have any meat without potatoes, right?

SIKE! These ain’t French-fried potaters, they’re cassava fries, broseph! Nice ‘n crispy with this baller cotija cheese donkey sauce that really kicks it up a notch! You could put that on a pinata, and it would still taste good!!!!

You know what they say, just another light snack in Flavourtown. I did leave some of the chimichurri behind cuz I thought the meat tasted better without it…

…and of course, we still had room for dessert. These churros come four to an order, so I only ate two of them. And while the steak was much better than I expected from a non-steakhouse, I guess I know now not to order churros at a (primarily) Peruvian place. I mean, I’d still eat these over a flip-flop, but they just seemed a little too doughy, and that caramel dipping sauce was maybe a little bit off. But hey, I still went back for seconds, so there’s that!!!

Build your own barbacoa tacos @ Milagro

Now, you might find “beef barbacoa” all over the place, but when it comes to real-deal barbacoa, it’s dirty deeds, done with sheep, son! So when I found out that Milagro Cantina, this funky Mexican joint just south of King St, was serving up barbacoa with roast lamb, you KNOW we had to check it out, bro!

So here’s the deal. They give you a plate full of lamb, with onions, cilantro, beans and a spicy chipotle sauce, and a basket of tortillas on the side to make your own tacos. I’m not sure if the beans were meant to go in the taco, or just as a side dish, but they went pretty well with the tender lamb, which needed a bit of that sauce to kick it up a notch.

But that’s not all, folks! We’ve also got some queso fundido with chorizo — dude, Queso Fundido was the name of my 80’s Rock en Español cover band, cabron! You got some mad cheese pulls from the queso, a little kick from the chorizo…and I even saved a bit to make this Flavourtown creation — cheesy barbacoa taco!!!

I mean, maybe they don’t put cheese tacos in Mexico — but me, I’d put that shit on everything, bro!

Washed it all down with a Michelada Preparada, which is where they take a Michelada and add hot sauce to the mix. Unfortunately, the hot sauce mostly sank to the bottom, so I didn’t get much of it until the end, when I was basically just drinking hot sauce and water. Ay caramba!

Of course, we can’t go for Mexican and not order churros, bro! These ones came six to an order, about three bites each, with some chocolate on the plate for dipping. Hey, they might not compete with Guy Fieri’s churros — but you can never go wrong with churros, homes!!!!!

Eating all the tacos @ Añejo

May 23, 2022
greedocatucci
0 comments
Anejo Restaurant, barbacoa, chorizo, churros, fish tacos, Mexican food, tacos

So we’re hanging out at Añejo, this funky Mexican joint on King West. Last time we were here, I went to town on this Mexican meat mountain in Flavourtown, which was soooo outta bounds, bro! But you KNOW we can’t go to a Mexican place and not eat tacos — so that’s why it’s time for another visit.

Now, this place has got about a dozen tacos on the menu, but the fancier ones only come in threes. However, you can get their “Tacos Classico” in any combination of one, three or six — and with six different kinds, that means I’m having one of each.

Forget about saving the best for last — we’ve having this one first, son! I’m talking Barbacoa, a super tender pulled beef short rib with crunchy bites of raw jalapeños… I could slam, like, six of these alone!!!

But we’ve moving right along to the Chicken Tinga taco. I usually find chicken tacos to be boring, but this one was a cut above — meat was very tender, although it did not have much of a kick.

On the other hand, the Braised Mushrooms Taco is both the sauciest and spiciest one so far. Not quite as hot as the mushroom birria at Rosalinda… but I definitely needed a few sips of Michelada after this!!!

The Chorizo Crumble was not too dry or too spicy. Basically, it was like ground beef — except it’s sausage. Oh, and a bunch of of it fell out the back…

When it comes to pork tacos, though, I preferred the Pulled Pork. This one gets the job done with a nice little tang, son!!!

Crispy Fried Tilapia was both crispy and flaky. A bit of the house made crema really kicks it up a notch!!!

But you KNOW we’ve still got room for dessert, bro! Last time, I tried the tarta de chocolate, but now we gotta go for the churros. Hot ‘n crunchy, with a whole buncha powdered sugar, and some chocolate sauce on the side for dipping… There’s nothing wrong with that at all!!!

Vegan nachos & tacos and churros… Dios mío!

Now, you KNOW this is body by Mexican food, bro! And while I’ve had a few vegan tacos before, it only happens when I order every taco on the menu and one of them happens to be vegan. But now we’re hanging out at Rosalinda, this funky downtown Mexican joint…where all the food is vegan. So I guess I’ll be eating more than one vegan taco today, bro?

First, we’re starting off with some nachos that are not only vegan, but gluten-free. The chips are definitely extra-crunchy, but they still taste pretty good. Plus, you’ve got pico de gallo, guacamole and some jalapenos on top, which are a few of my favourite plant-based things, right there. The one thing this dish is really missing is cheese, though — while they do have a butternut “queso” drizzled on top (along with a cashew “crema”), it just doesn’t have the same texture or flavour as some shredded cheddar.

Now, I gotta give ’em credit for nailing the texture on these mushroom birria tacos. This is the first time we’ve had birria tacos with the dipping sauce on Triple B, even though I’ve seen ’em popping up everywhere since the pandemic started. Dude, this spicy mushroom stew is hearty enough that you don’t really miss the meat here. But these are some of the most expensive tacos I’ve seen in Toronto — 2 for $19 or 3 for $27. Dude, I could get 27 tacos from Latin World for that price, bro! (Not sure if I could eat them all, though…)

But since we only had three tacos here, that means I’ve still got room for dessert. And even though their Drunken Pineapple was my nickname from that time I went to Hawaii, I still had to go with the churros. I mean, I’m not sure what part of churros aren’t vegan to begin with, but these ones were pretty on-point, just a little on the crunchy side, though. You’ve also got dulce de leche on the inside, and chocolate sauce on the side, which makes for a pretty solid one-two punch in Flavourtown!!!!!

EATING LAS VEGAS: Trash can nachos & cheeseburger tacos @ Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho

Now, I had already been to Guy Fieri’s Las Vegas Kitchen & Bar, but when I heard that he opened this funky Mexican joint at the Rio, you KNOW I had to check it out, bro! Guy Fieri’s El Burro Borracho is only open for dinner, and they don’t take reservations, so I totally had to be first in line…well, actually third in line, but good enough?

I walk into this joint right when they open the doors to the tune of “Breaking the Chains” by Dokken, followed by “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” so I already knew this was gonna be a good night!!! Soundtrack is all 80’s metal — Judas Priest, Tesla, Accept, Quiet Riot… Better start charging me rent, cuz I think I might stick around!!!!!!!

Of course, the main reason to come here is for the Trash Can Nachos, which come inside an actual trash can (or at least a coffee can; I ordered the small version). These chips are topped with beans, jalapeños, pickled onions, pico de gallo and two types of cheese — cotija and queso — plus you can pay extra to add meat (I went with carne asada). Now, while its presentation is TheBomb.com, you end up with some chips that get all the goodies, and others that get nothing at all. Hey, these are no Sneaky Dee’s nachos, but still not bad, bros!!!

Up next, we’ve got some cheeseburger tacos. Who else but Guy Fieri would combine cheeseburgers and tacos, bro??? Ok, so these are basically your typical ground beef tacos, topped with a whole lotta queso — but I’d still put it on a flip-flop!!!

Of course, even Guy Fieri knows that no Mexican meal would be complete without churros, bro! And man, these were some of the best churros I’ve ever had (the Mexican chocolate sauce was 2 legit 2 quit!) but there were enough churros here to feed a family of cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis… You KNOW I still scarfed em all down, though!!!!!

Washed it all down with a couple pints of Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. Nice ‘n hoppy, pretty heavy (7%) — soaks up all that Mexican food nicely! I almost died in my pants on the way back to my hotel, though… 😮

Mexican breakfast for dinner, bro!!!

Dude, I loves me some Mexican for breakfast… this is body by chilaquiles, bro! But you don’t see it on the menu too often in Toronto — last time I had chilaquiles was for takeout during lockdown — so when I saw they were serving em up at El Catrin, this funky joint in the Distillery District, I had to get me some…even if it was 7:30 in the evening, son!

Now, in addition to your traditional chilaquiles — tortilla chips, cheese, onions and cilantro, topped with a fried egg — you can also add chicken, chorizo…or both. So you KNOW I had to double down, bro! But little did I know, I’d be climbing Meat Mountain — they sure don’t shortchange ya on the carne! In fact, when this dish arrived at the table, I didn’t even know there were nachos under there… And I dunno if it was the chicken or the chorizo, but one of them was pretty spicy!

Now, maybe those chilaquiles would be enough for breakfast, but since it’s dinnertime, I need a bit more. So I also went and ordered a trio of tacos al pastor, fully loaded with seasoned pork, pineapple, onions and cilantro. These were not the biggest or the best al pastor tacos I’ve ever had, but they did make for a pretty decent side dish. 😛

And hey, since it’s breakfast for dinner, I had to wash it down with a Mexican-style Caesar. This michelada mixes Motts Clamato, Worchester-chester-chester-shire, Cholula hot sauce and a little salt ‘n lime with the in-house El Catrin lager. Served in an eight-ounce glass, it’s enough to get you through breakfast for dinner!

Now, I didn’t really have room for dessert after all that Mexican goodness…but you KNOW there’s always room for a churro, bro!!!!!

HEATED PATIO EATS: Eating all the tacos @ Chula Taberna

Now, even though it wasn’t supposed to warm up until Wednesday, Taco Wednesday is sooo NOT a thing, so we headed out on Tuesday to Chula Taberna, this funky Mexican fusion joint in the east end, where they’ve got a heated, tented, two-level backyard patio…and lemme tell ya, the place was packed!

This taberna is serving up five different types of tacos, so you KNOW I had to try them all — but first, we’re starting off with some Mexican street corn.

Dude, this dish is like Elote Gone Loco, bro! You’ve got corn on the cob, topped with queso fresco, pico de gallo, an avacado crema and some cilantro. It’s almost like they put a whole taco on top of this thing!!!

Speaking of tacos, though, we’re diving in first with some crispy fish. You’ve got beer-battered haddock on a house-made tortilla, packed to the gills with guacamole, cilantro, cucumber and cabbage, with some more of that avacado crema on top. Mmm, crema…

Next up is the BBQ beef brisket. Dude, this is body by BBQ beef brisket! But underneath all those red onions, shaved carrots, corn, cheese and cilantro, I’m almost wondering, where’s the beef, bro???

Taco number three is a personal-go-to — we’re talkin’ pulled pork, son! But they also funk this one up with onion, cabbage, cilantro and then these crunchy, ground-up chicharrones… Dude, you could put those on a flip-flop and it would still taste good!!!!

Speaking of crunchy things, up next we’ve got the crispy zucchini taco. Now, the only reason I ordered this one is because I gotta try ’em all, but y’know what, the deep-fried, battered zucchini wasn’t bad. Also, this taco has pretty much the exact same toppings as the Mexican corn, only switching out the crema for an adobo mayo…

And now we’re saving what was probably the worst for last with the chipotle grilled chicken. Even in better lighting, this taco doesn’t look that great, as it’s just oozing with too much donkey sauce. And the chicken didn’t taste like chipotle, or even grilled, bro. Next time, I think I’ll stick with the zucchini!!!

Now, even after cramming all those tacos, I totally still had room for dessert, bro! This tasty churro oughtta do’er, though…

Baby beef short rib @ El Catrin

You know me, this is body by Mexican food, bro! And my motto’s always been, if it’s ribs, make it beef ribs, so when I heard that El Catrin Destileria, this funky Mexican joint in the Distillery District, was serving up El Jefe, a braised beef short rib, you KNOW I had to check it out, bro!!!

Now, when they brought this dish out, I was thinking it was only an appetizer. I mean, this plate’s not even all that big, and it still makes the food looks small! Mind you, the meat was still pretty tasty, smothered in mole, with some nice wild mushrooms and corn…I just wish that there was more of it, though!

The silver lining to this meat cloud was that I definitely still had room for dessert. And they’re giving you not one, not two, not three, but four churros to an order, with three kinds of dipping sauces — caramel, chocolate AND strawberry, son! And these were actually some of the best churros I’ve ever had; nice and flaky, not too crunchy…and that dark chocolate sauce, dude — I would eat that off a flip-flop!

So maybe next time I’ll just skip dinner and head straight to dessert?

I’m gonna slam some Mexican lamb!!!

It’s no secret that I loves me some lamb, bro! Man, I’ve had Indian lamb, Ethiopian lamb, BBQ lamb, lamb tongue, lamb & eggs… even lamb in a taco! But when I heard that Pancho y Emiliano on King St was serving up this delish Mexican lamb dish, you KNOW I had to check it out! Say hello to ma lil’ friend, Mixiote de Cordero!!!

OK, now let’s break it down. What we’ve got here are super-tender chunks of stewed lamb, slow-cooked in a banana leaf, with guajillo chilies, cumin, thyme and garlic, for that little extra kick. It actually kinda reminds me of an Indian curry, with a side of rice and all kinds of veggies — dude, that’s gotta be the most veggies I ate all month!!!!

Washed it all down with a Mexican Bulldog — that’s when you take a margarita, and stick a bottle of Corona on top. The first few sips were equal parts beer and tequila, but once you get to the bottom, it’s really just Corona with ice. I dunno bro, but I think I prefer Dos Equis…

Of course, you KNOW we still had room for dessert! This plate fulla churros comes with all the fixin’s — strawberries, blueberries, sprinkles, marshmallows…even chocolate pretzel sticks! Dude, this is body by chocolate pretzel sticks!!!!!!

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