Dining in Toronto

Dining in Toronto
I, Mili Jain, am not a critic, foodie, restaurant owner, aspiring chef, promoter or dining connoisseur. I am simply a girl who knows what she likes and what she doesn't, especially when it comes to the social side of life!

I challenged myself (and some unsuspecting friends) to discover our city! To eat at those restaurants we drive by 100 times and never go into. To venture to areas we’ve never discovered and just step out of our own comfort zone. For whatever reason you find yourself here, whether I forced you to follow me or you stumbled upon this page, I hope you will find something that will help create your own adventure and inspire you to try something new.

I challenged myself to try everything ONCE, and to make THE CITY MINE!

And so a non-blogger continues to blog...

Monday, August 6, 2012

La Carnita - Fusion of food, art and music!

Looks like my real life commitment issues are overflowing into this blog as I noticed the last time I wrote was a month ago.  Art imitating life.  Go figure.

I was scrolling through the photos on my phone and realized that I've been to some pretty cool place over the last month and shared them with no one.  Awful.  So here I am on the afternoon of a lazy long weekend Monday trying to play catch up.  Kinda wish I was on a beach instead.

The buzz around La Carnita was absolutely palpable.  The first time I heard about the Mexican pop up was when I went to the Toronto Underground Market Street Food Block Party.  Say that ten times fast.  Their fish tacos were delish and then before I knew it the little pop up resto "popped up" a few blocks down from my office.

Between the reviews from co-workers, crazy Tweets and pictures that literally induced mouth watering reactions, I knew I had to plan a visit.

I showed up with my dear friend on a Saturday night and based on their no reservation policy put our name down and had to wait 45 minutes which I actually expected so it didn't come as a shock.  Once inside it was a sensory overload of conversation, music and abstract wall murals and art. I didn't know whether to keep following our waiter to the table, stop and look at the art on the wall or start two stepping to the hip-hop beats.

We sat down, ordered some kick-ass margaritas and tried to figure out what to eat.  Oh and LOVE the slight references to hip-hop on their menu, ie their list of BALLER CHAMPAGNES.


On the menu for tonight - Ceviche, Mexican Street Corn, Tacos (In Cod We Trust and Chorizo) and a Coconut Paletas.






The street corn was what I was most excited about - I mean look at it! It was drizzled with Mexican creama, queso anejo and arbol and ancho chili powder.  I don't think I actually know what most of those mean but it basically comes down to a creamy sauce with some heat inducing spices.  Delish.

The ceviche was fresh and was a cool, refreshing starter, not something I would get again but glad I tried it.  The tacos literally disappeared before we could even speak.  I had the Chorizo which had a spicy kick to it and the Cod was flaky crunch with green apple and cabbage.

We finished off our meal with a Coconut Paleta (read Popsicle) which obviously didn't even make the cut of a full picture.

The best part of La Carnita is that every time you go back you can go and try something new. The price point is affordable, the atmosphere is buzzing and its a perfect spot for any occasion.

Can't wait till the next time!

For More info visit: http://lacarnita.com/
Or follow them on Twitter @la_carnita