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/#_=_

El Catrin Destileria

Date Visited: Dinner on Friday Nov 14, 2014
Company: Reservation for 6 (but actually we had 8)

+Stanley was back in town once again and planned a group dinner to catch up with everyone. I suggested El Catrin in the Distillery District and a lot of people seemed to also been wanting to check out this spot. El Catrin opened last summer and I've been hearing some mixed reviews of all different aspects of the restaurant. Apparently, you can only make a reservation online for 4 people here and we had about 8 confirmed attending. Stanley called in closer to our date and changed our reservation to 6 which we were allowed to do... we had 2 were coming later into the night. I was the 6th person to arrive on the Friday night, and found the entrance a bit confusing...I had no idea the entrance was behind the infamous heated patio. Nonetheless, I searched the area which actually wasn't that huge and found my friends in a half booth/half chairs table. We were luckily able to squeeze another on the booth and fine another chair for our extra 2 people who came later, our waitress was very accommodating even though it was very busy.

The waitress explained the menu to us and said that their portions are a bit smaller because they're for sharing. For us, we just decided to get 2 orders each :). But to start, we got the Guacamole which was made for us table-side and served with unlimited tortilla chips. It was really awesome to see someone mixing the ingredients right in front of us, a little awkward but still cool! The flavour was great, we got it spicy so I couldn't taste the lime as much but I think they have a great recipe. There was also some salsa and limes on the table that apparently were there when my friends sat down but didn't have any chips, maybe they were for tacos? Each of the salsas were different with varied levels of spiciness.

For my first order, I got the Vegetarian Mini Burritos with Sautéed Corn, Zucchini, Tomato, Mushroom, Tofu, and Black Bean Puree.  The Burritos were so small and cute, they almost looked like Taquitos, the 4 pieces were quite a bit of food though and good for sharing and sampling. There was nothing really special about them, just a bunch of cooked vegetables stuffed in a tortilla and grilled. The salsa is what really gave it some life as the vegetables were bland otherwise. I tasted a lot of mushroom and corn but it was interesting as unlike a real burrito, there was no rice or even much bean puree to hold it all together.

For my second order, I got the Tacos (which I've heard great things about)! +Laura, +Brian, and I all got different kinds so it worked out perfectly that we could each try one of the Baja, Gobernador, and Pollo Con Mole Tacos. The first one I tried was the Baja Taco with Crispy Fried Cod and Chipotle Lime Coleslaw, the fish was very tender and light, not too greasy. The coleslaw paired nicely with the fried fish and added all the flavour it needed. It was a pretty decent sized filet, I wasn't very hungry after finishing it. Next, I went for the Gobernador with Sauteed Shrimp, Lobster, Chipotle Aioli, and Black Bean Puree which was my original order. I found the texture interesting, very creamy but with the bean puree, it wasn't all smooth. I was impressed on how much filling you were given in the taco because shrimps were dropping everywhere. The seafood was fresh and cooked perfectly. Lastly was the Pollo Con Mole Taco with Pulled Chicken, Crema Fresca, Cotija Cheese, Xni-Pec, on a Corn Tortilla unlike Flour like the rest. I didn't really enjoy this one, the chicken was a bit dry and dull, and I didn't like the Corn Tortilla either. I was also very full at this point and not sure it I just needed to stop eating...

Lastly, I'll talk about the lovely drinks I ordered. They have an an awesome assortment of tequilas and I couldn't resist trying some of their cocktails. In the beginning of the night I started off with a Watermelon Fire which was very tasty and the name speaks for itself. It was very refreshing and a great choice for the watermelon lover. Later in the evening, I went for the Cucumber Devil. I love cucumber drinks so I couldn't resist ordering this one. It had the flavour I was expecting but also a lot of kick! There's peppers in there so not suited for those who can't handle spice, none of my friends enjoyed it. Also, the drinks all price around $10 so not the cheapest of dinners.

Food: 3.5/5 - Better than I was expecting, I don't think it's as overpriced if you know what to order and have people to share with. 

Decor: 4/5 - Loved staring at that colourful mural all night long, felt like I was in old town Mexico

Service: 3.5/5 - Surprisingly good, very accommodating to our large group and good wait-time between each course.

Willingness to go back: 4/5 - Definitely left with a good impression and would like to return.

Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.elcatrin.ca

Cali Eats: El Toro Taqueria

Date Visited: Late Lunch on Sunday Apr 14, 2014 
Company: Walk-in for 5

After a long walk to Twin Peaks, we ventured back to the Mission District where we started to find a spot for an early afternoon lunch. There were tons of Mexican places we passed by when we were walking around the area so it wasn't difficult to find a place to eat. El Toro seemed like it was a fairly busy cafeteria style place right on the corner of Valencia and 17th, it was very welcoming with colourful signage and windows to look in. It looked like it wouldn't take us long to get food and had a table to sit, so it was exactly what we were looking for... and also some fish tacos for us to try!

Their menu was pretty simple but with lots of options, the foods are all there in front of you to awe at while the servers make your delicious plate of food. I decided to order a Super Prawn Taco Dinner, which ended up being around $8. The taco was only $3.50 itself but I wanted to add all the fixings! They also give you free nachos (which probably never get eaten after having that huge plate) and there's a salsa bar off to the side for you to try their different homemade salsas.

The plate looked delicious and packed with colourful foods, they let you choose the type of beans you want, either black or re-fried, I choose re-fried but I don't really like beans anyway. They topped it off with some shredded cheese and layer it a bit with your rice. There was nothing too special about the rice and beans, very average and just filled you up. There was a salad on the side with an excessive amount ranch dressing which was pretty okay, added some veggies to your meal. Now the taco on the other hand, was definitely the highlight of the meal... there were so many prawns, you could really taste a nice grilled, spiced flavour. They double tortilla'd it so it wouldn't fall apart which really helped but the tortilla was already pretty thick to begin with. It was a gloriously messy taco but was delicious with very fresh ingredients. Their guacamole was packed with zesty flavour and was nice to have with the nachos too. They also give you tortilla with the dinner meal but I didn't want mine.

Food: 3/5 - Prawn Taco was amazing, everything else was mediocre.
Decor: 3/5 - Quite clean and nice place to sit inside for a bit on a hot day and still enjoy the sun.
Service: 2.5/5 - Fast to clean tables, free ice water, few misunderstandings with my order, and busy line-up though.
Willingness to go back: 3/5 - Tons of taco joints to check out in the area, wouldn't necessarily go back to this one but I wouldn't complain either, cheap and easy.
Overall: 3/5

Website: http://eltorotaqueria.org/

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/