Mexican food – Page 2

Tasty Mexican Food at Taqueria el Pastorcito

Published on March 13, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1160 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://taqueriaelpastorcitoon.com/

It’s always nice when the name of a restaurant tells you what to order. At Taqueria el Pastorcito, you’ve gotta order a taco, and you’ve gotta order the pastor. Easy enough. And indeed, both are extremely delicious.

I tried a couple of things. I got a chorizo taco, and a pastor burrito.

The taco (which comes topped with onions and cilantro; I skipped the onions) is really tasty, with two very fresh corn tortillas stuffed with an extremely generous amount of nicely browned chorizo. The spicing of the sausage is a bit on the mild side, but there are an array of very tasty sauces on the side that makes quick work of that. It’s a great taco.

The pastor was even better. The burrito was a bit odd; as far as I can tell, the filling was basically just meat and a bit of cilantro. But the pork was so tasty, with a nice kick to it and a whole bunch of the delicious crispy bits that you’re hoping for from spit-roasted meat like this, that it totally works.

The place was packed on a recent Saturday afternoon, and it’s very easy to see why.

Delicious Sandwiches at San Wich

Published on March 11, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 616 Gladstone Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/sanwichto/

Gus Tacos has several locations throughout the city and is reliably tasty, so when I found out they had opened a sandwich shop called San Wich, I was all over it.

Right now it’s take-out only, though they do seem to have space for a decently-sized patio next to the restaurant, so once the weather improves, I’m guessing that’ll be a thing.

I tried a couple of the sandwiches: the beef barbacoa (“Mayo, harvati cheese, beef barbacoa, caramelized and raw onion in a bun”) and the cubana (“Mustard, mayo, pickles, braised pork, ham, harvati and gouda cheese in a bun”).

I really liked them both. The beef barbacoa was absolutely crammed with tasty beef, which was nicely tender without ever feeling mushy. And, of course, beef and caramelized onions are best friends. I skipped the raw onions, and while I don’t regret that choice (raw onions are gross; I’m right and the rest of the world is wrong), I think their crunchiness probably would have enhanced things (too bad they’re so gross — again, you are wrong about this, don’t argue with me about it, just accept it).

As for the bread, the fresh, fluffy roll works perfectly. My only knock against the sandwich is that some kind of acidity — a zippy sauce or some kind of pickle — would have been nice to cut the richness, but otherwise this was top-notch.

I think the cubana was even better. Like the barbacoa, the quality of the various meats was stellar, and unlike the barbacoa, this one was nicely rounded out by the mustard and the pickles, which do a great job of making the sandwich feel less one-note heavy.

I will say, however, that this might have been the greasiest sandwich I’ve ever eaten? The bun was slippery and was dripping the entire time I was eating it. It was like the whole thing had been dipped in a vat of oil. So it might give you a heart attack, but you’ll have a smile on your face when it happens.

I also tried a slice of the tres leches cake; I didn’t photograph this, and honestly, the less said about it, the better. Still hungry after the meal? Get another sandwich!

Amazing Mexican Food at Puerto Bravo

Published on August 29, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1425 Gerrard Street East, Toronto
Website: https://puertobravo.ca/

When you’re eating a place that’s been featured in the Michelin Guide, it kinda elevates your expectations a bit. Not that Michelin is an infallible arbiter of taste, but generally speaking, the restaurants they highlight are above average.

Well, Puerto Brave has a “Bib Gourmand” designation from Michelin, my expectations were quite high, and even still, I was pretty blown away by how good everything was.

I tried a few things. I started with the guacamole (“Avocado, Lime, Cilantro, Jalapeño, Chips,”) and it was fantastic. A lot of guacamole tends to be a bit too oniony for me, with their harshness overwhelming the relatively delicate flavour of the avocado. Here, instead of mixing onions right in, they add zippy pickled onions on top, which is a huge improvement that lets the flavour of the creamy avocado shine through. And the tortilla chips on the side are way above average, with a hearty crunch and a nice toasty corn flavour.

Up next was the carne asada taco (“Grilled Beef, Asadero Cheese, Onions, Cabbage, Radish, Avocado Salsa, Red Salsa”). Every element here just works, with a nice balance of flavours and some seriously tasty grilled beef (a lot of the time with a taco like this, the flavour of the beef is buried by other stuff, but here it’s clearly the star of the show (and extremely delicious)).

Last and definitely not least was the Wera tostada (“Octopus, Shrimp, Macha Mayonnaise, Pico de Gallo, Avocado, Salsa Macha”). Wow this was good. The contrast between the crunchy tortilla, creamy avocado and meaty octopus and shrimp was so satisfying (the octopus, in particular, was almost improbably tender). I think this was my favourite of the three, and that’s saying something because everything was extremely delicious.

Tasty Sandwiches at Gus Tacos

Published on November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 by Michael Nusair2 Comments

Location: 1546 Dupont Street, Toronto
Website: https://tacosgus.ca/

I recently had a couple of tacos from Gus Tacos; I enjoyed them enough that I figured I should come back and try some other stuff. Well I just tried the carnitas torta, and yeah, this place is the real deal.

The menu describes the torta as coming topped with “beans, cheese, guacamole, chipotle mayo, onions, cilantro and your choice of protein.” I skipped the onions, though if you can handle raw onions, I’m sure their crunchiness would enhance the sandwich.

It’s a top notch sandwich. It’s served on a fresh, fluffy bun, and all of the flavours are exactly where they should be. The carnitas (which is basically like pulled pork) is super tasty, with a nice porky flavour and a great texture.

I asked for the sandwich spicy, and it came with a little container of zingy hot sauce on the side. Once I added this to the sandwich, things really came alive — it made a very good sandwich even better.

Torteria San Cosme, a thoroughly delicious torta place in Kensington Market, shut down during the pandemic, which seriously bummed me out. I don’t know if the torta here is quite at that level of amazingness, but it’s close enough.

A Mind-Blowing Burrito at Comal y Canela

Published on November 27, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1692B Jane Street, York
Website: https://www.comalycanela.com/

I’m a bit late to the party here, but I feel like there was a time on Instagram recently where every other post was someone dipping a beefy taco into a cup of soup.

I’m talking about birria tacos, a dish in which braised beef and cheese are crammed into a tortilla, dunked in a beefy soup, griddle-fried, and then served with even more soup for dipping.

You can get this at Comal y Canela, and yeah, it’s good. How could it not be? Tender beef, gooey cheese, flavourful soup? It’s like a French dip sandwich but better, with amplified flavours and textures that are an absolute delight to eat.

The really surprising thing, however? The birria tacos weren’t even the highlight of the meal.

I also tried the michoacano burrito, which the menu describes as “giant flour tortilla with a cheese crust, black bean puree, braised pork, onion, jalapeno, avocado, crema fresca and queso fresco.”

Good lord, that burrito. I don’t want to overstate this, but I think this might have been the best burrito I’ve ever had? I’m skeptical that a better burrito exists. Okay, maybe I’m overstating it a tad, but I really, really enjoyed this burrito.

Every part of it works so well, though that cheese crust (I’m guessing they just take a pile of cheese and let it brown on the griddle) is downright genius. The combination of the gooey, crusty cheese and the ultra-tender pork (not to mention the creamy avocado and literally every other ingredient in this thing) is pure magic. I guess I could do without the raw onions, but there’s so much else going on here that they really just add some crunch.

It’s hard for me to say that this is the best burrito I’ve ever eaten, because I’ve had quite a few burritos in my lifetime, but I can honestly say that I cannot remember eating a better one. It’s that good.