Milagro Cantinas

Date Visited: Winterlicious dinner on Tuesday Feb 3, 2015
Company: Annual Licious meal with the high school girls.

Again this year, the girls were down for a Winterlicious meal in Toronto to enjoy one of the many great restaurants in the city. +Krystal was the one who picked out Milagro, a Mexican restaurant on Queen from looking at their enticing Winterlicious menu. Unfortunately, she herself was not able to make it to the dinner but we gladly still took her up on her suggestion and booked a table for 5. Our reservation was at 6:30 but unfortunately, 4 of us were 40 minutes late coming from Oshawa and left +Clare to fend for herself at the restaurant.

When we finally arrived, our waitress was quick to ask us if we wanted anything to drink. Even though it was Margarita night, none of us took her up on the offer and went straight for the water already on the table. We also got 2 plates of Chips and Salsa for the table shortly after. The tortilla chips were very crispy but also greasy, the napkin at the bottom was covered in oil. You couldn't really tell when you were eating them though, very delicious still. The salsa was also mild, light, and refreshing, very different from what you would get the store.

For my appetizer, I choose the Ensalada Cesar as I heard good things about it here. It was served with a ton of Parmesan on top, whole Romaine lettuce leaves, and a large crouton in the middle... a little different from what you would normally see but I loved how different it was. I think my salad could have used a bit more dressing, it would have made the cheese easier to stick on. The leaves weren't that fresh either, needed a bit more crisp to the bite.

For the main dish, I ordered the Filete Poblano, grilled rib eye steak in a creamy poblano and white wine sauce with diablo potatoes. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the steak and overall heftiness of the meal, there was a lot of food on the plate. The steak was very tender and cooked with perfect grill marks on the side. I had no idea what Poblano was but the sauce was a light but still creamy. The potatoes were in a sauce that was a bit oily but mixed well with everything else. It was topped with a bit of fried onions which added even more flavour and complexity to the dish. There was a lot going on with all the spices which gave me the indication that it was authentically Mexican. When I was finished, I just had no idea what I had just eaten was there were so many new flavours introduced to me .

For dessert, they ran out of the one I wanted, so I went with the Mousse de Mango instead since everyone else was getting the Flan. The small bowl looked to cute when I got it, filled to the brim with a thick yellow paste. The mango flavour was amazing and very prominent. It was almost like a yogurt dessert and topped with some chili spices to give it a kick.

Food: 3.5/5 - Awesome authentic Mexican food at the price we paid, salad wasn't great though.
Decor: 3.5/5 - Very traditional looking, the lady 2 tables away was talking so loudly though.
Service: 3.5/5 - Really happy with the service except it took forever to find our waitress for the bill.
Willingness to go back: 3.5/5 - For sure!! They have a few locations too.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://milagrorestaurant.com/