For Minji's birthday (and first real outing since she gave birth to her son a month ago), she suggested going for lunch along with Daniel and the kiddos at a new Mexican restaurant in Newmarket that she found on TikTok called La Cantina del Pueblo.
Esquites
Al pastor and birria tacos
Sirloin and Baja fish tacos
Guacamole with chips
We decided to share the esquites and guacamole and then we all got our own tacos. The esquites — sautéed corn kernels with mayo, Cotija cheese, and chili powder — arrived first and was delicious and satisfying as expected. And then it was taco time! We all got two to start; I picked the al pastor (marinated pork with onion and pineapple) and the birria (marinated beef with onion). They give you a tray of extra sauces and toppings (like radish slices, pickled onions, cucumber slices, and lime wedges) to customize your tacos with. And they were also good about putting the cilantro on the side for me and Minji. I was expecting the birria taco to come with broth for dipping, but they don't provide that here for some reason. Overall, the birria taco was decent, but the al pastor taco was better with more flavourful and tender meat.
The tacos here in general are pretty small, so Daniel and I decided to order two more. And that's when we realized that the guacamole hadn't arrived yet. Turns out, our original server didn't input it into their system even though it was the first thing we ordered. Our original server, however, seemed to be busy socializing with his girlfriend/wife/special lady friend (?), so he told the busboy (who was literally still holding a tray and dish rag) to take our order. Thus, we ordered the guacamole again and then our second serving of tacos. He asked if it was for take out, and I said no, it's to eat inside the restaurant. He looked unsure, so between Daniel and I, we confirmed with him THREE TIMES that all of the food was "for here" and even made a hand gesture indicating the table.
Approximately 10 minutes later, all the food we ordered with the busboy? Arrived in takeout containers. I looked at him and said, "No, we didn't want take out. We wanted the food FOR HERE." And he said, "Ohhhhh, I thought it was for take out!" So he apologized and came back with our food on plates. Well, at least he was nice.
After that whole mishap, we finally got to our second serving of tacos. I went with the sirloin and the Baja fish. The sirloin was good and pretty tender, maybe even more so than the meat in the birria taco. But the winner for me was definitely the Baja fish. The piece of fish was huge (almost couldn't wrap the tortilla around it); super soft and plush on the inside, perfectly crunchy on the outside, and paired with pickled onion for a most delightful bite.
Then we got to the guacamole and WOW, if this wasn't single-handedly the most disappointing guacamole I've ever had in a Mexican restaurant, ever. It was basically smashed avocado with a sprinkling of cubed tomatoes. No salt, no seasoning, no lime, no red onion. Literally nothing but the avocado and the tomato. I don't say this often, truly, but I could've made better guacamole at home. We had to get a salt shaker from another table and the extra lime slice that came with our initial tacos to SEASON OUR OWN GUACAMOLE. At least the chips were crispy, I guess?
Between the miscommunications with the staff (and let it be noted that it was NOT BUSY — there were, at most, two other tables) and the general disappointment we had with the missing item and then the mistaken take out order and the completely unseasoned smashed avocado acting as guacamole, I can't say I would ever come back to La Cantina del Pueblo when there are significantly better Mexican restaurants around. (For example, La Mexicanada is literally down the street.) I just can't believe this place has such a high rating.
La Cantina del Pueblo
446 Davis Dr.
Newmarket, ON L3Y 2P2
(905) 898-8484
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