Let's Taco 'bout Mexican Food!
- Janie Phan
- Dec 21, 2017
- 3 min read
Review: Playa Cabana Hacienda
Location: 14 Dupont St, Toronto, ON M5R 2J4
Price: $$ - varies per dish
Website: Mayas Playas Cabana Hacienda
Quick Background:
Mas Playas’ (name of the restaurant group) mission is to take its guests on a journey of creativity and ever-growing passion for hospitality. Each venue is “born out of a desire to take on the challenge of building an exciting, original venue with new and interesting menus. The food is Mexican-inspired, taking into account that each region in Mexico has their own touch on a given dish. Their food is “authentic”, made from the heart using ingredients and culinary traditions form many parts of Mexico.
Review:
First off, we chose to eat at this location of Mas Playas because it was the closest midway point from my house to the downtown core and second, the restaurant is conveniently located a short walk away from Dupont Station. I came to this restaurant at around 7:30pm on a weeknight and like most restaurants, Playa Cabana Hacienda was booming at dinnertime. We did call for a reservation beforehand and so we were seated on the patio promptly. On a weeknight/day, I would assume wait times wouldn’t be as long as weekends, as this restaurant is a hot spot for drinks and food. Service was quick and prompt, as soon as we were seated, our water was attentive and informative when we were ready to order and when we had questions. The menu is small, but just enough to make it not too overwhelming. The atmosphere, both on the patio and in the restaurant was lovely, and gave a sense of home and cosiness.
We ordered 3 orders of the fried pescado (fish) tacos, 3 orders of the braised short rib tacos, guacamole and chips, corn, and drinks. Let me just say right off the bat, food arrived quickly and almost all at once. The corn was amazing. So amazing in fact, that I was very close to waving down the waiter for a second order of it, but I had to resist because the tacos didn’t even come out yet. Although it was corn on a cob, the corn was still both a bit crunchy, but tasted like it was melting in your mouth, seasoned with all the right kinds of herbs. The guacamole and chips were also brought out around the same time, if not earlier. The guacamole and chips is homemade and you can taste how fresh the avocados were and how crunchy and recently fried the chips were.
The tacos both came shortly and man, were the servings generous! Each taco was appropriately sized and filled. These were both just amazing, with my preference more towards the fish tacos (I like crispy better). On the table, they have different kinds of hot sauces, where I believe two of them are actually made in-house, which was a nice touch.
As if we all weren’t stuffed already, the dulces (sweets) were calling my name. We ended up ordering a slice of the tres leches cake, a Mexican “soaked cake”, topped with whipped cream. This place was where it all began. Seriously, every since I tried the cake here, I crave it almost every other week! It is not as sweet as one might think as its soaked with condensed and evaporated milk. My only complaint was that I wish the slice were bigger!
Verdict: My now go-to place if I’m ever heading to or coming home from the downtown core with a feeling for Mexican food - tacos, drinks, and dessert!
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