Como En Casa: A Mexican Restaurant in Downtown Toronto (Yonge and Wellesley)

April 2014

I visited this restaurant in April 2014 and after reviewing their menu, I asked them what I could order without onions. Their response was “nothing.” Simple as that. Wow. I love food, I eat out often, I have lived in Mexico, eaten Mexican food in Toronto and other cities and countries, and I have never encountered an establishment that could not accommodate the “no onion” request. Other establishments either had menu options with no onions or they made the food from scratch and could omit the onions. But I guess there is always a first. And this restaurant is the first Mexican restaurant to have both poor customer service and inability to accommodate a simple request that most places have no problem with.

June 2014

I returned to this establishment on June 1st, 2014 because my friends wanted to give this restaurant a try. This time I was greeted kindly by who I believe was the owner. He was very friendly and approachable. Since I was already there, I decided to try their chicken tamal combo with a side of rice and beans. Maybe they make tamales differently in Mexico, but the tamales I have had in the past (and I have eaten MANY in my life as it is a staple in a lot of Hispanic countries–I am Hispanic), I have never eaten one where the dough was filled with an array of ingredients. Generally “la masa” (the dough) is made with ingredients that are either blended or with stock, so that the dough stays silky smooth. After you have the dough completed, you make a pocket in it (this can be done several ways) and you fill this pocket with pork (most common protein) or chicken and a few other ingredients (depending on the country) such as a slice of green pepper, a piece of potato, rice, a tomato slice, etc. The point being that the dough is silky, and in the middle you have the filling. This tamal was nothing like that. Also, tamales are often frozen after they are cooked, and to heat them up you boil them. This should not affect the flavor because they are tightly wrapped in a banana leaf. When you serve them, you will be engulfed with delicious smelling steam, and when you cut open the leaf the dough should be smooth and moist, and it should taste freshly cooked. This tamal on the other hand appeared to have been heated in the microwave. If you look at the pictures of the tamal that have posted, you will notice that the dough is not smooth, and it is dry in some parts (often a result from being re-heated in a microwave).

I do want to make a note of the positives

Lovely service
Great ambiance
Reasonable prices
Good downtown location (near Wellesley subway station)
The spicy potatoes were good

The negatives

The food did not look or taste authentic

Oh, and I did not know that in Mexico they put carrots (perfectly cut and even–all equal size–yeh for frozen vegetables :/) and peas in their rice. Things must have really changed since I last lived there.