Cabo Eats: Campestre

Date Visited: Dinner on Monday May 4, 2015
Company: Walk-in for 4

So... it's been a while, but I'm back and ready to hit the restaurant scene again... and just in time for patio season! I was in Mexico the first week of May and had spend the most of the month prior at the gym and trying to eat better in preparation. I was pretty lucky to to be able to try lots of the restaurants in Cabo San Lucas as we didn't stay at an all-inclusive. But instead of blogging about all of those places, I thought I'd just pick one that really stood out to my palate :)

Campestre is the spot where I thought we got to try the most authentic Mexican food, it was filled with locals and located off the beaten path. Our Cabo expect Laura suggested it when we asked for a cheap, authentic Mexican restaurant to check out, and it also happened that two of her local friends work there. It took about 10 minutes to get there from our hotel via taxi into some dirt road streets away from downtown. We were dropped off and entered a fairly large open restaurant with ample tables and even more floor space. It was about half-full for dinner and I didn't see any tourists there. Luckily they still had some english menus. We also got started off with some chips and salsa for the table. The portion of salsa was hefty compared to other restaurants, there was also a spicy salsa that was more liquidy. The tomatoes in the mild one were extremely fresh but light in flavour.


To start, I ordered the Bloody Merry (according to their menu) while the boys got beer and Laura got a Beer and tomato juice combo drink. I hadn't ordered a Caesar as of yet the whole trip so I was very excited to see how it would taste. The drink looked fancily dressed but more importantly it tasted amazing. Almost exactly like a Caesar but with more of a kick of different spices. The prices here were cheaper than anything we had seen before too which made things even better!

Their food menu had a lot of options with some photos to accompany. The one dish that stood out to me though Grilled Steak Tampioueña with Quesadilla, Enchilada, Guacamole and Rice, mostly the photo beside it looked delicious. The plate I got however, looked even better. The steak was perfectly grilled a medium-well (just like how I asked) and extremely tender. It was a thin slice but had a lot of character with some fatty and muscly parts on the edges and tons of flavour. I thought I had gotten a tortilla on top but turns out it was filled with cheese! One difference I noticed from home was that their tortillas are flakey and layered unlike a soft taco shell. Also their quesadillas are mostly just all cheese, no veggies inside. The Enchilada was great too, I could only finish one of the two but I loved the red sauce and cheese on top. The guacamole was a nice addition to the plate as well as the rice, which had a lot more flavour compared to other plates I'd had.

Overall, I was very happy with my choice of dish... even happier the next night where I got to drunkenly finish my leftovers. Like many of the restaurants we visited in Cabo, the service was quite slow, we were sitting a while just waiting for our bills before we could find anyone to flag down. But despite this, they were always accommodating and even nice enough to call us a taxi to pick us up since there was no way we could flag one nearby. I would definitely recommend this to anyone going to Cabo that wants to try a local authentic restaurant, I'd try to come back here anytime I was in the city.

Food: 4.5/5 - Best meal we had in Cabo and cheap prices!
Decor: 3/5 - Pretty cute restaurant.
Service: 2.5/5 - Really friendly, but pretty slow. Little bias since Laura knew our servers though
Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - Totally worth the trek.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: http://www.restaurantcampestreloscabos.com/#_=_

Toasters Family Diner

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Jul 8, 2014
Company: Walk-in for 5

You would think that it was pretty random that we ended up in a small diner in Cambridge one Friday night road tripping up to the Pinery, but it happened to be one thing we could all agree on during the car ride up. We left Toronto around 3:30PM heading to Grand Bend for the weekend and +Stephen remembered the old diner that he used to go to during his co-op term there. We didn't know the name but did some Googling of diners and did locate it... seemed like a pretty legit place to check out. It was really close off the highway in a small strip mall with a huge, plain, black and white 'Family Diner' sign outside. 

The restaurant was a decent size and had a very welcoming atmosphere. It looked like your typical family-run diner and it wasn't too busy so we could eat quickly and get back on the road. They had a good variety on their menu with even more daily specials on the chalk board at the front. We had a nice lady bring us some waters and tell us about the specials. The prices were pretty cheap and we were told that the portions were large also. 

I decided to go for a Triple Decker Chicken Club Sandwich with Fries, our table actually all got a nice variety of dishes... Philly Cheesesteak, Breakfast, Burger... all the options looked good! Our wait wasn't very long for food luckily, mine came out first and it looked amazing! Lots of colour on the plate and just a huge portion of food. The sandwich was crafted perfectly with even ingredients on each corner. The grilled chicken was juicy and tender, but the bacon was a tad soft and not as crispy as I would have preferred. Everything else about the sandwich was great though, it really held together during the eating. The fries were pretty standard but had the perfect golden colour, cooked in fresh oil probably. The coleslaw was also the kind I really enjoy, just simple cabbage but sour and tangy. 

All our meals filled us right up and got us ready to hit the road again. They had those 25 cent candy machines at the entrance also that we had to get some of :), a nice throwback.

Food: 4/5 - Cheap and delicious.
Decor: 2/5 - Kind of a boring for a diner but nothing more than they need I guess.
Service: 3.5/5 - Pretty quick and our waitress was very sweet.
Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Like +Stephen, I would definitely recommend this if I was in the city, lots of things to try on the menu.
Overall: 3.5/5

Website: none

Great Burger Kitchen

Date Visited: Lunch on Saturday Sept 28, 2013
Company: Casual outing for a meal nearby with +Lilian, +Will, and his brother.

+Lilian and I had just come up from Oshawa, and were going to meet up with +Will and his brother for lunch near his place before heading out for our separate plans in the afternoon. We had originally planned to get Thai, but +Will wasn't exactly sure where the restaurant was located so ended up wandering and finding out that it was closed. We were at Church and Front so I suggested Great Burger Kitchen for lunch. I had only gone once before, late at night after St Patty's Day and really enjoyed their poutine, so I wanted to try it again to see if it was as good as I thought it was.

GBK is a promoter of organic and locally sourced food, the beef they use is also from naturally raised cows in Ontario. Their prices are pretty decent considering this. They have a range of different burgers and poutines to satisfy anyone's  preferences. For me, all of options looked delicious. Their menu is right on the wall beside where you order in large font which makes things easy for customers to read, but not so much decide what they want. They also offer a Burger/Poutine of the Day which is written on a blackboard below the menu and outside the restaurant that always looks appealing every time I walk by.

After we placed our orders at the counter, we found a booth to sit at. The restaurant isn't huge but it has enough space as only about 1 out of 5 tables has been occupied both times I've been here. Ours orders were made at a reasonable time by the one server at the counter, and we were called up one by one for our various foods. I ordered the Greek Burger with Feta, Tomato, Red Onion, and Tzatsiki. The bun was grilled lightly and the patty was cooked perfectly, it was just a classic and simple burger (with Greek toppings). The burger tasted great and the toppings were refreshingly fresh. In addition to the burger, we also got poutines to share. We got the Mexican Poutine with Salsa, Cheddar, Guacamole, & Sour Cream. This was basically having nachos, but with fries instead of chips. +Lilian pointed out that this was probably the healthiest poutine ever... due to the lack of gravy. There was a nice surplus of toppings for the fries but they still remained crispy. We also got the Poutine of the Day which had Bacon, Jalapeno, Salsa, & Cheddar. This was somewhat similar to the Mexican Poutine but with more of a kick of flavour. Both were good, but I probably wouldn't get them again in the future, need some sauciness to the poutine IMO.

Overall, this is a great place to come if you want something more than just a fast food burger, and are willing to spend a bit more time and money. I think it's still a great deal for what you're getting here because it's definitely cheaper than going to a sit-down restaurant. It supports the local farming culture and you can tell that a lot of work as gone into making your food for such a small place.

Food: 4/5 - Fresh, natural, and organic! Delicious AND you don't feel as bad eating it. 
Decor: 3.5/5 - Small but local favourite feel to the place.
Service: 3/5 - Good wait time.
Willingness to come back: 5/5 - I'm totally a fan of GBK, definitely would come back! So much more to try.
Overall: 4/5
Website: http://greatburger.ca/

Wine Bar

Date Visited: Summerlicious Lunch on Saturday Jul 13, 2013

Company: Catch-up session with +Will

For a last minute lunch date, I booked +Will and I a reservation at Wine Bar the morning of. The location was close to where we were and it had an entree that I knew that Will would enjoy (pulled pork sliders). I had passed it a few times before, walking on Church down to the Esplanade, but it never really stuck out to me to give it a try. Upon further research, I discovered that it's a tapas style restaurant that uses local and natural ingredients in their dishes. 

We arrived at noon on the Saturday and were one of the first diners there. We were seated in a small dining area near the main window to the right of the door where there were about 6 tables. There was a long bar leading to the kitchen in the main area but I didn't get to walk around to see what the rest of the restaurant looked like. It was quite fancy and authentic though, with a wide assortment of wines at the bar.

They had a pretty cork material menu customized for Summerlicious to match their main menu and every dish had a wine pairing. Upon ordering our meals, we received our appetizers almost immediately. I had ordered the Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Dip. The presentation of the dip was very lovely and they also provided a fancy butter knife to scoop the dip. The flavour was subtle and not as heavy as I had expected. I also thought it would be thicker but it was more runny which made the knife helpful. The crostini's were rather crispy, but it complemented the dip nicely. The pickled roasted red peppers and red onions were delicious too on the side. It was a excellent light start to the meal.

For my main, I ordered the Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich. I'm not sure why there's 'Almond' in the title because I didn't taste anything almond related in the sandwich. The chicken salad was quite refreshing and had a nice combination of vegetables mixed in. The foccacia wasn't as heavy as it's usually made and toasted to a crispy, but not too hard texture. The shoestring fries with the spicy mayo dip was also fun to eat.

To end, I decided to have Creme Brûlée for the first time. I'm not sure why I never had an interest in it before because I do love custard. Maybe because I'm not a fan of the hard syrup texture of the top layer because it gets stuck in your teeth. Despite this, the brûlée was very tasty with strong egg flavour, and the strawberry was a nice complement.  

Overall, this was a very light and somewhat healthier Summerlicious meal that may be good for first-timers to try to introduce you into the fine-dining experience.  I was very content after the meal and felt just a bit better about myself knowing I supported the community :)

Food: 4/5 - Fresh ingredients and well-planned dishes.
Service: 5/5 - The waiter was so attentive and eager, too bad we didn't need much service.
Decor: 3/5 - Nice ambiance and well established.
Willingness to come back: 2/5 - I'd be a little lost ordering if they didn't have the fixe price menu.
Overall: 3.5/5
Website: http://www.9church.com/