Friday, February 7, 2014

Mexico-Lindo

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Oct 10, 2013
Company: Reservation for 2

On days when I work from the office, I take the Steeles/Tauton road all the way from Scarborough to Oshawa to get home. Whenever I get to the Brock intersection, I always notice the sketchy-looking restaurant on the corner and their busy parking lot. It's not a very attractive restaurant and the parking lot is pretty much on a dirt path along the main road. It also seems like there's a house attached to the restaurant at the back, hidden among the trees. It looked shady, but I figured it must have had decent Mexican food if it always seemed to be full with Durham locals. I looked up the spot and found that it had a lot of raving reviews for the best Mexican food found in the Durham Region. I had to go!
+Will was working in town and I decided to make a reservation after work to check this place out. Most websites/reviews recommended reservations for dinner and knowing how busy I've seen this place, I thought it was the safest bet. We arrived around 6:30 and parked on the dirt parking lot a few meters away from the door, most spots were already taken. The entrance is pretty small and the counter is very close to the door. There are seats to both sides of the door in smaller connecting rooms. We were seated and taken to the right side, most seats seemed to be filled in the smaller room on the left. 

The waiter that took us was a pretty young guy and it looks like its a family run place. The walls were covered in Spanish paintings and knick-knacks you would see if you were on a resort down south. The whole restaurant isn't very big but they try to fit as many people in as they can with tables close to each other. Thus the atmosphere is very lively and filled with chatter. When we sat down, we were given some chips and a small bowl of salsa. The salsa was mostly tomato sauce as it almost looked like soup/watery ketchup. The chips were also very hard and thin, not the best.

To start, we ordered Guacamole which was served with the chips we already had on the table. I think either the Guacamole, the bowl, or both were kept in a very cold fridge prior to serving because it extremely cold when we tried it. The taste was decent, it could have used a bit more lemon IMO but the ingredients were fresh. It was much better when it warmed up a bit.

For drinks, I ordered a Pina Colada and +Will  got a Strawberry Daiquiri. The drinks were rather pricey but they were large glasses. The Pina Colada was very frothy and thick, topped with some nutmeg. The taste was good but a little too thick, almost like milkshake and too much foam. The Strawberry Daiquiri was like a slushie and a bit too sweet for my liking.

For our main dish, we decided to share Chicken & Steak Fajitas for Two. It came with tortillas, sour cream, lettuce, and cheese. We were glad we had the guacamole to add in the fajitas. The pieces of chicken and steak were very large but I was expecting more flavour from the hot plate. The had minimal and bland seasoning, didn't seem very authentic to me. The tortillas came with a bit too less and we had to ask them for more (not sure if we were charged for it) in order to use up all the fillings. The portion was way too much for us with our drinks and app also.
It was a good and filling meal but I was disappointed after hearing about the authenticity. I could have had the fajitas at any restaurant that would have tasted similar. It was also pretty pricey after everything added up, not great value for your money. I would give it a second shot though and try anything with the rice, it looked promising. 

Food: 2.5/5 - Huge portions, pricey, decent food.
Decor: 2/5 - Definitely makes you feel like you're in an authentic Mexican restaurant, not the prettiest outer appearance though.
Service: 2/5 - Nice & friendly waiters, nothing special though.
Willingness to go back: 2/5 - If I wanted something different for the night, I'd go again.
Overall: 2/5 
Website: http://www.mexico-lindo.ca/

Mexico Lindo on Urbanspoon

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