Tacos, Paletas, and Skittles: Dinner and Drinks in Little Italy
Daniela and I may have turned twenty-five years young earlier this month but the celebrations continued well into October with dinner and drinks at our watering hole - Little Italy. Liz, who was a former resident of the area, recommended that we go to La Carnita (501 College St), a little and yet well-known Mexican restaurant on the southwest corner of College and Bathurst. Neither Daniela nor I had been there before but we were told that the tacos, the paletas, and the drinks were excellent. We thus decided to eat there for the evening armed with rave reviews and eager appetites.
We walked up to La Carnita just before 8:00PM last Saturday and were told that there was a thirty-minute wait time for a table for two. On a different occasion, this piece of information would have been a deterrent to eating at a restaurant but we did not mind and we were glad to be able to catch up on things whilst sitting on the wooden benches just beyond La Carnita's doors.
Contrary to the hostess's estimation, a table was ready for us within ten minutes and, in what felt like no time at all, we were being led through the busy establishment to a table directly in front of the large neon "La Carnita" sign on the back wall.
We were soon handed the food and the drinks menus, which were each half of a letter sized piece of paper. Interesting. In spite of its uniquely compact menu that is the trend for new restaurants these days, La Carnita offered a wide array of appetizers and about six different tacos. We decided to skip the appetizers and ordered three tacos to start: pollo frito (peanut mole sauce, pickled green cabbage & salsa fresca), crispy avocado and frijoles (beans, crispy avocado, chipotle sauce, queso fresco & cilantro), and beef cheek (Ancho braised cheek, lime avocado, green cabbage, pickled jalapeño & crispy shallots).
For such a busy restaurant, the tacos did not take long to arrive. We had just enough time to marvel at the restaurant's kitschy decor and rave about its amazing music (think late 1990's hip-hop) before a small tray containing our tacos were placed before us. We both tried the crispy avocado and frijoles taco first and it was delicious. It had a certain kick to it too, thanks to the chipotle sauce. I then tried the pollo frito while Daniela had the beef cheek. The pollo frito was also quite good. The chicken was crispy and was drizzled by a little honey to create a unique taste and contrast in texture. However, the spiciness of the crispy avocado and frijoles left me wanting more of it. Daniela also favoured the first taco more and ended up ordering two more crispy avocado and frijoles for a second round of taco numiness (yes, numiness).
A whopping six tacos later, it was time for some Mexican desserts! Liz told me that the paletas are to die for so I made sure to order the chocolate peanut butter paleta while Daniela ordered the cookies and cream paleta. When they brought the paletas to our table and when we had our first bites, I can tell you that they were to die for indeed. I had never had a Mexican paleta before and it was certainly one of the most unique desserts I have had to-date. It was also a very messy affair but it was a delicious one at that.
We decided to skip the drinks at La Carnita and opted for drinks at Wild Indigo (607 College St W). We ordered a few drinks each, including "skittle" - the newest addition to the "Business Class" menu. It tasted exactly like skittles. I honestly could have gone for another but was warned that I would feel terrible the day after. I ended up getting the equally satisfying "daddy cool" and a drink from the "Word Class" menu.
We ended the evening with dancing at The Midtown (552 College St). The music was not as good as it used to be but it was a great place to loosen up, relax, and commemorate getting older and having fun in the process. <3
We walked up to La Carnita just before 8:00PM last Saturday and were told that there was a thirty-minute wait time for a table for two. On a different occasion, this piece of information would have been a deterrent to eating at a restaurant but we did not mind and we were glad to be able to catch up on things whilst sitting on the wooden benches just beyond La Carnita's doors.
Contrary to the hostess's estimation, a table was ready for us within ten minutes and, in what felt like no time at all, we were being led through the busy establishment to a table directly in front of the large neon "La Carnita" sign on the back wall.
We were soon handed the food and the drinks menus, which were each half of a letter sized piece of paper. Interesting. In spite of its uniquely compact menu that is the trend for new restaurants these days, La Carnita offered a wide array of appetizers and about six different tacos. We decided to skip the appetizers and ordered three tacos to start: pollo frito (peanut mole sauce, pickled green cabbage & salsa fresca), crispy avocado and frijoles (beans, crispy avocado, chipotle sauce, queso fresco & cilantro), and beef cheek (Ancho braised cheek, lime avocado, green cabbage, pickled jalapeño & crispy shallots).
For such a busy restaurant, the tacos did not take long to arrive. We had just enough time to marvel at the restaurant's kitschy decor and rave about its amazing music (think late 1990's hip-hop) before a small tray containing our tacos were placed before us. We both tried the crispy avocado and frijoles taco first and it was delicious. It had a certain kick to it too, thanks to the chipotle sauce. I then tried the pollo frito while Daniela had the beef cheek. The pollo frito was also quite good. The chicken was crispy and was drizzled by a little honey to create a unique taste and contrast in texture. However, the spiciness of the crispy avocado and frijoles left me wanting more of it. Daniela also favoured the first taco more and ended up ordering two more crispy avocado and frijoles for a second round of taco numiness (yes, numiness).
A whopping six tacos later, it was time for some Mexican desserts! Liz told me that the paletas are to die for so I made sure to order the chocolate peanut butter paleta while Daniela ordered the cookies and cream paleta. When they brought the paletas to our table and when we had our first bites, I can tell you that they were to die for indeed. I had never had a Mexican paleta before and it was certainly one of the most unique desserts I have had to-date. It was also a very messy affair but it was a delicious one at that.
We decided to skip the drinks at La Carnita and opted for drinks at Wild Indigo (607 College St W). We ordered a few drinks each, including "skittle" - the newest addition to the "Business Class" menu. It tasted exactly like skittles. I honestly could have gone for another but was warned that I would feel terrible the day after. I ended up getting the equally satisfying "daddy cool" and a drink from the "Word Class" menu.
We ended the evening with dancing at The Midtown (552 College St). The music was not as good as it used to be but it was a great place to loosen up, relax, and commemorate getting older and having fun in the process. <3
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