My husband and I love Mexican food – my husband always jokes that he should have been born in Mexico because he loves it so much. My son on the other hand, is a typical 6-year-old and is very…selective on which food he chooses to eat. In fact, even when we went to Mexico 2 years ago, he would only eat chicken fingers or pizza, and if the restaurant we were at didn’t have those things…well…they would just have to figure it out!
Mexico was, by far, our favourite place to vacation (we’ve been to Cuba twice, Dominican, and California). Everything about it is just amazing – the boardwalk, the people, the atmosphere, the culture, and especially the food! Actually, we loved it so much my mother-in-law was making plans to move there for weeks after we got back (in the end she stayed because she would miss us too much), and my husband and I were trying to figure out how to purchase a seasonal home there.
The thing about “Mexican” food in Canada is that it’s really not Mexican. I didn’t even know (because I was the least cultured person until we started travelling a few years ago), that authentic Mexican tacos are not hard shell! And since we left Mexico, it’s been horrible not being able to find authentic Mexican food that doesn’t have a North American “twist.”
Enter Mexicali Rosa’s. I’ll admit – my expectations weren’t high (especially considering they were here for a very long time when I was a kid and then just disappeared, then came back again - and I'm not sure why), but we had just spent an entire day in Cornwall for our son’s hockey tournament and we were all Hangry.
We called in advance to make a reservation since the last thing we wanted/needed was a half-hour wait for a table. The man on the phone was very polite and charismatic and told us that although there wasn’t much of a wait, he would still put us down - even though our arrival time would be only 15 minutes later.
The first thing I noticed when I got there was the art on the wall in the vestibule. It was a mural of male and female sugar skulls, and the female was holding a taco which I found amusing. And when we walked in, there was a man (dressed in a white linen suit) and a young girl standing at a desk greeting customers. The ceilings were probably about 20 feet high and the waiting area was very large – it all felt very light and airy. The man approached us first, immediately recognized my name from when I’d called, and said there may still be a wait of 5 minutes or so. It was barely 30 seconds later when they were ushering us to our table.
The restaurant is basically split into three areas – the bar area, the lounge area and then a little area at the back. My first thought was that we were being “stuck” there because we had a kid but I noticed not many others had children. It was just a small little area with dim lighting, and comfortable booths. I noticed right away that it was a little loud, but that could have been my hangry talking.
Within seconds, we had a waiter at our table. Immediately, I noticed his Spanish accent, which I thought was a really nice touch, but as he kept talking, he reminded me so much of the dad from Jane the Virgin (a show I am basically obsessed with) and I fell in love with our waiter. I even turned to my mother in law and said, “I love him so much I just want to give him all of my money.” Throughout, he was prompt and very sweet. Since we were all hungry (and a hungry 6-year-old is a dangerous game to play) he immediately brought us two plates of corn chips and salsa and just kept bringing them as they emptied. The chips were warm and salty and so amazing, and the salsa was just spicy enough to give it a kick but not so much that my son wouldn’t eat it.
At first, I found the menu a little difficult to read since I don’t know the Spanish names for a lot of the dishes but it eventually came down to two meals: The Polo Handheld Burrito or Carne Asada Handheld Burrito, but I couldn’t decide. When our waiter came to take our orders, I asked him which one he preferred. He said they were both very good, and that he couldn’t choose between the two either, but that most people ordered the Polo Burrito, so that’s the one I chose.
Our meals came very quickly (we didn’t even have to whip out a game of tick-tack-toe to keep my son occupied) and the presentation of the plates were great. My son ordered pizza (surprise, surprise), my mother in law ordered a chimichanga, and my husband ordered fajitas. I’m not huge on re-fried beans, but I always try everything on my plate (if only to cancel something out before eating the rest) but I ended up eating the beans before even touching the rest of my plate and I’m pretty sure I said, “Oh my God, these are amazing” 3 or 4 times, I even tried to force-feed them to my son.
My son however, watched my husband eat while he waited for his pizza to cool down, and suddenly, asked for a fajita of his own! Although my husband was enjoying them so much he didn’t want to share, he did what all parents do and rolled one up for my son. My son ended up eating 4 of them! When the waiter came by to ask us “if everything is OK,” my son yelled “YES”, surprising all of us since he never talks to waiters. When they ran out of tortillas (the fajita plate itself is enormous, and they tell you they can bring you more tortillas or condiments after if you need some), we called the waiter over and my son, on his own, said, “May I have one more tordido, please?”
The waiter laughed, understanding what he wanted, and brought my son a tortilla. He made his “tordidio” and ate it in 3 bites. The waiter then came back and informed us that since my son ordered a kids meal (which he didn’t touch because he was too full from his “tordidos”), he had a free desert – ice cream sundae, a churro, or deep-fried ice cream. Against my advice (it should always be churro), he ordered the deep fried ice cream. The waiter brought us 4 spoons and we all took a bite before my son devoured the entire thing. Basically, the dish is ice cream but it’s wrapped in a crispy ball but the best part is that the crispy layer has an additional layer of sugar and cinnamon – it’s basically a ball of ice cream wrapped in a ball of churro – I pretty much almost died.
As I sat and waited for my son to finish his desert, I looked around the restaurant. Above us were fairy lights laced across the room as if on a pergola. The room was separated from the kitchen by a 16 foot wall complete with another amazing mural of a sugar skull holding a chicken. And the speakers pumped out authentic Mexican music, not “fake” Spanish music like Ricki Martin or “My Heart Is In Havana.” The whole ambiance was tranquil and felt very authentic; it even made me miss Mexico, to be honest, and I said it to my husband a few times while we were there.
We paid our bill shortly after that and as we were leaving, we were walked out by the the same man who had greeted us. We told him how much we enjoyed the meal and it came up that I had a blog. When I told him I would love to write an article for my blog, he took me to the kitchen so I could take pictures of some of their plates. It was really neat to watch them prepare the meals and get them ready for their awaiting customers.
In the end, we left satisfied on so many fronts: we were extremely full and after a day listening to buzzers and whistles and screaming parents and kids, we left feeling more relaxed, setting the tone for the rest of our evening.
I thoroughly enjoyed our meal and our time at Mexicali Rosa’s and I will definitely be going back there very soon (and perhaps next time I’ll spend some time at the bar enjoying some authentic Mexican tequila and perhaps a Cesar or two!). I definitely recommend this restaurant to families and non-families alike who are looking for something outside the norm. It was truly a great experience!
Please Note: I was not offered any personal profit in exchange for this review - this is 100% a personal experience
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