Dining Out: Guacamole & Chips, Carne Asada Taco, Cochinita Pibil Taco, and Chicken Tinga Taco at Wilbur Mexicana

Minji, Daniel, and I spent the afternoon downtown and decided to get some Mexican food for dinner at Wilbur Mexicana. I decided on guacamole and chips to start and three different tacos: carne asada (steak, pico de gallo, queso fundido, and crispy onions), cochinita pibil (Yucatán-style pulled pork, pickled red onions, cilantro crema, and cotija cheese), and chicken tinga (shredded chicken in chipotle chili adobo sauce with guacamole and cotija cheese). The food was excellent, especially the guacamole and carne asada taco, though the chicken tinga has a smoky flavour that is somewhat polarizing, so some people (like Daniel, who described it as tasting like "the smell of a barn") might not be so fond of this one.

Guacamole and chips
Carne asada taco
Cochinita pibil taco
Chicken tinga taco

There are, however, a few things to note. Firstly, the Mexican street corn is indeed seasonal, as it says on the menu. Because when I inquired if they had it, the cashier told me, "No, it's a seasonal item, but definitely come back in the summer for it" — as if summer wasn't HALF A YEAR AWAY and I was absurd to even ask about it right now. Secondly, they do not carry sugar-free beverages. This might be the only eatery I have ever been to in North America that did not carry a single type of sugar-free beverage option. The same cashier told me that the only options for sugar-free drinks are bottled water and beer, and so I very stupidly got the $3.75 bottled water as I am diabetic and take medications that are diuretics. But when Minji and Daniel were ordering — AFTER I paid, mind you — the cashier gladly told them that there are free water refills by the salsa bar and then looked at me and SMIRKED. Suffice it to say, my experience was somewhat marred by this cashier.

Thirdly, all menu items that have cilantro in it cannot be removed as it is already incorporated into an existing component. For example, the guacamole contains cilantro, the crema in the cochinita pibil taco has cilantro, etc. As someone who has cilantro aversion, I will say that the cilantro is blended into the components enough or covered enough by stronger flavours that I couldn't detect it in my food, but for those who are allergic to cilantro, make sure to inquire because it is not always listed. Fourth, seating is limited, so if you're visiting during a peak meal time, you may not be able to dine in, especially if you're with a group. We went around 5:30PM, so we got a table right away, but the place was filled within 30 minutes. Despite all of these points, I would still recommend Wilbur Mexicana if you're downtown and craving delicious Mexican food. Just beware of condescending cashiers.

Wilbur Mexicana

552 King St. W. 

Toronto, ON M5V 1M3

(416) 792-1878

Dining Out: Tacos al Pastor and Tacos de Bistec at La Mexicanada

My friend Chelsea has a lot of dietary restrictions (gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free, etc.) so when thinking of where to go for dinner, she suggested going to her favourite taco place, La Mexicanada:

Tacos al Pastor
Tacos de Bistec

Let me preface this with saying that I have been to Mexico, but I was also 10 and therefore do not remember a goddamn thing I ate there so I cannot compare these tacos to actual tacos from Mexico. But I think this is as authentic as we can get around here (you know, in the Greater Toronto Area), and they were so good, I'd put them on par with my current favourite tacos from Los Tacos No. 1 in NYC. (You can always trust a Mexican restaurant that is run by actual Mexicans.) I think even the most snobby of taco critics could find something to love here. My only regret is not being hungry enough to eat more. On a good day, I could smash ten of these tacos on my own. Or at least share an appetizer or two. 

La Mexicanada

Upper Canada Mall

17600 Yonge St.

Newmarket, ON L3Y 4Z1

(905) 853-7466

Cooking at Home: Mexican-Inspired Shrimp Tacos with Coleslaw and Guacamole

Mexican-inspired shrimp tacos with coleslaw and guacamole
IT'S TACO TUESDAY! This week's recipe: Mexican-inspired shrimp tacos with coleslaw. Swapped cilantro for parsley and added extra guacamole. A delightfully delicious good time. (Also, I gotta say, taco holders are such a great investment.)

Cooking at Home: Crispy Falafel Tacos with Hummus Slaw and Pickled Onions

Crispy falafel tacos with hummus slaw and pickled onions
Crispy falafel tacos with hummus slaw and pickled onions

It's Taco Tuesday! Tonight's dinner kit was the crispy falafel tacos with hummus slaw and pickled onions from Hello Fresh. It's a strange mix of Middle Eastern flavours with the sweetness of coleslaw and honey and the acidity of pickled onions, but then wrapped up in tortillas so you can eat it in the form of a taco. It's tangy, it's garlicky, it's zesty, it's crunchy, and IT WORKS. A totally delightful combo of flavours and textures, and it's fast and easy to prepare, too. But as much as I love tacos, I'd have preferred a thicker flatbread like pita or laffa rather than tortillas to give it some more chew and body and to better support all the filling. Still, I'd deem this week's Taco Tuesday a success.

Photolog 2021: Day 348 of 365

Roasted barramundi tacos with creamy slaw, salsa, and Baja sauce
Welcome to another episode of TACO TUESDAY! Tonight's tacos are the roasted barramundi tacos with creamy slaw, salsa, and Baja sauce from Hello Fresh. I'm beginning to realize that tacos are fail-proof as I've yet to make bad tacos at home, and this was no exception. They were freaking delicious. It was my first time making fish tacos and while I'm pretty indifferent to barramundi, I think this recipe would be excellent with any kind of firm white fish. (To be honest, the slaw and Baja sauce are what really make these tacos sing, regardless of fish.) I'd definitely make this recipe again, obviously minus the cilantro, and maybe breading the fish and popping it in the air fryer. Anyway, these were so good that I ended up eating tomorrow's serving, too. Whoops.

Photolog 2021: Day 313 of 365

Mexican pork tacos with corn, mango slaw, and creamy Baja sauce

It's Tuesday! So you know what that means: TACO TUESDAY! I'm back to Hello Fresh this week with the Mexican pork tacos with corn, mango slaw, and creamy Baja sauce. This is definitely my favourite homemade taco recipe so far. The sweetness of mango and corn, the tartness of lime, the bitterness of the cabbage, and the smoky spiciness of the pork just make up the most perfect symphony of flavours. All the ingredients together created an excellent mouthfeel as well; you got your crunch, your creaminess, and your chewiness. SO GOOD. And easy to make, too. Will definitely be reusing this recipe, especially after an 11-hour work day like I just had.

Photolog 2021: Day 306 of 365

Chorizo tacos with pickled red onions and chili crema

Tonight's dinner kit from Chefs Plate was supposed to be chorizo quesadillas with pickled red onions and chili crema but after a 10-hour work day, I absolutely could not be bothered to turn on the oven, and thus, I added some leftover bell peppers, switched out cilantro (a.k.a. the devil's lettuce) for green onions and turned them into tacos. AND THEY WERE DELICIOUS. 

See, I know how to do Taco Tuesdays.

Photolog 2021: Day 283 of 365

Went downtown with Chelsea and Braden this afternoon. I had asked if they wanted to go so I could stop by a BTS Jimin birthday event before walking around, maybe do some shopping, and eat dinner together. We stopped by Bloom Cafe first for the Jimin event, which didn't really work out as planned, but we did get some drinks to tide us over until dinner. (Bloom Cafe makes an excellent iced matcha latte.) We then spent a couple of hours walking around (I did over 14,000 steps today!), perusing random stores and passing through the Eaton Centre. Looking for a good place to eat dinner (a.k.a. my first meal of the day), we found ourselves heading down to King Street. Chelsea had wanted either sushi or tacos for dinner, and as we were waiting at a stop light, we saw a sign for The Haam, a Japanese-Mexican fusion restaurant that specializes in — you guessed it — sushi and tacos. It was fate. And they have an open patio! 

Salmon Tataki
"Queen" (Front) and "Ladybug" (Back) Special Rolls
We decided to start with the Salmon Tataki (seared salmon with truffle oil, ponzu, arugula, balsamic, and pico de salsa) and two special rolls: the Queen (seared salmon, spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, and garlic mayo) and the Ladybug (seared tuna, avocado, cucumber, kani, honey chipotle, and poblano cream). These were all excellent. The fish was fresh, the textures are harmonious, and the flavour combinations are impeccable. I did prefer the seared char flavour of the Queen more than the smoky tart flavour of the Ladybug, but both of them are absolutely worth ordering again. The Salmon Tataki is especially noteworthy — the truffle oil and ponzu make the flavour of the salmon absolutely sing.

Bulgogi Beef Tacos
For our mains, we got three different types of tacos: the Bulgogi Taco (bulgogi, honey chipotle, guacamole, Chohula, onion, green onion, crema, queso fresco, and cilantro), the Gochujang Barbacoa (gochujang, ancho marinated beef brisket, mozzarella, guacamole, iceberg lettuce, crema, queso fresco, and cilantro), and the Teriyaki Tinga (chicken breast, mozzarella, guacamole, onion, green onion, teriyaki, crema, queso fresco, and cilantro). Okay, firstly, I must note that I normally prefer soft shell tacos, but these ones feature homemade deep-fried crispy shells rather than those prefabricated hard-shell corn tortillas (a.k.a. Taco Bell-style), and these made all the difference in both flavour and fragility of the taco. They are so good, in fact, that they have converted me into a hard-shell taco lover.

GochujangBarbacoa Tacos
My personal favourite was the Gochujang Barbacoa — the flavours of all the components just worked so beautifully together, with the gloriousness of the ultra-tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef brisket. This was truly the perfect fusion food for me. The Bulgogi came in second — it was delicious, but pickled radish or kimchi would've really elevated the flavour of the beef. The only disappointment of the meal was the Teriyaki Tinga. It had many of the same components of the other two — mozzarella, guac, crema, queso fresco — but the chicken was really lacking. It was bland and didn't have any discernible teriyaki flavour, and the texture of the meat was almost soupy. Like, it was literally leaking out broth. These just stuck out like a sore thumb in a meal with so many amazing choices.

Teriyaki Tinga Chicken Tacos

The prices for the rolls and tataki are pretty standard when compared to Japanese restaurants offering similar fare, but the tacos do get on the pricier side at $5.40 per piece. After tax and tip, our bill came out to about $60 per person — not exorbitant, but definitely not cheap, especially considering none of us had any alcohol. Still, this is the average price for casual dining in downtown Toronto, and overall, it was a truly excellent, enjoyable meal and absolutely deserves a return visit. This is all to say that it made our trip downtown today entirely worth it, even if I didn't get a Jimin cup sleeve.

The Haam

342 Adelaide St. W.

Toronto, ON M5V 1R7

(416) 977-7258

Photolog 2021: Day 215 of 365

Pork tacos with pico de gallo
I obviously had to save this particular Hello Fresh meal kit for today because it's TACO TUESDAY! Thus, I made pork tacos with pico de gallo. It was supposed to be paired with avocado salad, but it was literally just avocado and spring mix with some lime juice, so I just added the avocado into the tacos and ate the spring mix separately with some homemade balsamic dressing. But anyway, it was simple and DELICIOUS and super easy to replicate. Only thing to improve this is maybe the addition of sour cream and some hot sauce. Think I might try it with chorizo next time, too.

Photolog 2021: Day 122 of 365

Went over to Chelsea's this evening for my first ever TACO NIGHT!

Taco toppings
Steak taco
Chicken taco
Tacos!

Growing up in a Chinese household meant having Chinese dinners every day, so I was always quite jealous of people having taco nights. Even now that I live by myself, I never thought of making tacos because the concept of eating them at home seemed so foreign. To me, tacos were reserved for Mexican restaurant outings. And Taco Bell. So you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of taco night, especially since I haven't been able to have a taco in over a year. 

We cooked up some chicken and steak, and prepared a bunch of accompaniments: roasted bell peppers and onions, rice with beans and peas, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocados, and shredded cheese. Condiments included corn salsa, hot sauces, plain sour cream, and a sour cream dip made with parsley and lemon. Chelsea prefers hard shell tacos but I prefer soft, so I brought some flour tortillas as well. It goes without saying that the tacos were FREAKING DELICIOUS. I genuinely don't know why I haven't considered having my own taco nights since I usually have most of these ingredients in my fridge all the time and they're so easy to make. But you can be damn sure I will be starting them now. 

Pineapple carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and vanilla ice cream

We spent a couple of hours watching episodes of Letterkenny (the most hilariously random and ultra Canadian sitcom ever) and then it was DESSERT TIME. Chelsea had made an insanely tasty, perfectly moist pineapple carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (essential — never make the mistake of going buttercream instead of cream cheese for carrot cake) the day before, so we had a slice of that with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it was truly the perfect ending to the day. It's these types of desserts that really make me want to start baking. But then I think, "Man, I'd have to actually buy ingredients. And learn how to turn on the oven." And then I give up the thought and just appreciate other people's baking more.

Photolog 2019: Day 341 of 365

Cheesy Gordita Crunch & Beef Chalupa Supreme
Fries Supreme
I had a long, shitty day at work, so to celebrate my resignation (my last day is next Saturday and I am counting down the days), Ying and I got some Taco Bell for dinner. I hadn't eaten there in nearly two years and I felt super-bloated afterwards, but OH MY GOD, IT WAS GLORIOUS.

Photolog 2018: Day 312 of 365

Cheesy Gordita Crunch and Fries Supreme with extra hot sauce for dinner. Because sometimes you just need some Taco Bell.

Photolog 2018: Day 259 of 365

Went downtown with Maegan, Jason, Tuta, and Johnson to do the AIDS Walk this morning, and then went to Wilbur Mexicana for lunch. We managed to snag a table near the back of the restaurant (tables fill up fast here) and took turns ordering. We shared an order of chips and guacamole, and I got myself a carne asada taco and a chicken Original "Wilbur-rito" bowl, which consists of rice, black beans, guacamole (no extra cost!), pico de gallo, lettuce, jack and oaxaca cheeses, and sour cream. There's a massive self-serve condiment bar with seven different salsas as well as sixty hot sauces and lime slices — my top choices are the pineapple-habanero (mild) and the "Suave" (medium-hot) salsas. The burrito bowl was great, but not that different from what you can get at Chipotle or Z-Teca. What really shines at Wilbur is the tacos. The carne asada — which comes with pico de gallo, queso fundido, and crispy onions — was perfection. Jason had the baja fish tacos and Johnson had the grilled avocado and mushroom tacos, and they were all phenomenal. Glasses of refreshing watermelon-lime agua fresca completed our meal and was the most perfect antidote to the scorching heat today. If the continually growing line-up out the door at 4:00 in the afternoon on a Sunday is any indication, the food at Wilbur is tasty, addictive, and has a massive following for a reason.

Photolog 2018: Day 198 of 365

Today's Taco Tuesday (two chicken, one fish) is brought to you by Moxie's. $3 each after 9:00 PM!