so while compiling my list of places to eat, i was hit by an intense craving for mexican food. this led to an online search of new restaurants to try. after reading glowing reviews for a little place on jean-talon street, my cousin and i decided on le petit coin du mexique. the write ups emphasized the authenticity and deliciousness of the food, as well as the fact that the place was patronized mostly by spanish speakers. what could go wrong, right? well, let me just say that the high expectations resulted in my being decidedly underwhelmed when i finally tried to satisfy my craving for la comida mexicana.
we got to the restaurant a little bit after 6:30pm. the place was already half full and just kept filling up as we sat with our menus. promising, i thought to myself. however, the spanish-speaking patrons i read about were scarce. we perused the menu, hoping for the promised authenticity.
not quite ready to order when the waitress came to the table, we put in our drink requests. a glass of horchata for me and a bottle of sol for my cousin (her first choice of dos equis had just gotten off the truck and was room temp according to the waitress). everytime i see horchata on a menu, i have to order it. i love the stuff. though many variations in recipes exist for this milk-like drink, the main ingredient is ground rice. i’ve had this drink in different restaurants, some make it fresh and others from store-bought powder. fresh is always the way to go. when my horchata came to the table, it looked like is was freshly made with just a pinch of cinnamon. i was excited! after a first sip, i thought i tasted a bit odd. it wasn’t bad, it just had a different taste than what i was accustomed to. after a few more sips, i figured out what was off… it tasted like vanilla soy milk…
le petit coin du mexique offers a table d’hôte from 5pm to 8pm. my cousin opted for this as it came with soup or salad and dessert. i decided to go à la carte to benefit from flexibility and choice. to start, she had the soup and i chose the mixed entrées. the tortilla soup was a basically a tomato soup with strips of tortilla and a dollop of sour cream. i tasted a bit of it and my first impression was that it tasted like alphabet soup. for me, it was a major letdown. i confess that i have never had tortilla soup before, but i was expecting something more tangy or spicy. is it supposed to taste like campbell’s alphabet soup? my mixed entrées plate was a bit more exciting, but only slightly. the plate came with 4 chicken tacos, 3 sopes (salsa roja, crema, salsa verde), 3 cheese quesadillas, refried beans, and guacamole. the chicken tacos were little rolled up tortillas stuffed with chicken and deep-fried. the chicken was dry and bland. a bit of guacamole and beans were needed to add some flavour. although the menu lists 4 chicken tacos, it was actually 2 tacos cut in half, resulting in 4 pieces. the sopes were little discs of fried masa topped with salsa and cheese. other than the fact that they were a tad salty, they didn’t really stand out. the cheese quesadillas were my favourite items on the plate. they were simple, but i am a sucker for all things cheese. a bit of salsa adds a bit of oomph. the refried beans were good, not too dry. the guacamole was ordinary; a bit more lime and jalapeño would have brought it up a notch. it seems like a lack of flavour was becoming a theme of the meal. luckily, along with the appetizers, came little bowls of salsa roja, salsa verde, and lime wedges. we also got a bowl of chopped onions and cilantro. not the greatest experience with appetizers at a mexican restaurant for me… i also didn’t expect everything on my plate to be deep-fried! it left a bit of a lard-like aftertaste.
on to the mains! i had hoped that this was where the meal would start improving. my cousin went with the enchiladas and i chose some tacos. the enchiladas rojas came with some rice and a mound of refried beans. the chicken in the enchiladas was tender, not dry at all. score 1 for le petit coin du mexique! the tomato sauce was just okay – as with the rest of the meal, it lacked seasoning. my choice of tacos al pastor stemmed from reviews that claimed that the ones here were the best. big mistake… i got 4 opened faced tacos; shreds of pork with pieces of pineapple on corn tortillas. i added some onions and cilantro with a squeeze of lime. the moment of truth came… and it went without any mind-blowing revelation. for some reason, the meat tasted like char siu (chinese bbq pork). i was disappointed to say the least.
the highlight of the meal came in the form of dessert. although my cousin’s lemon cake was ordinary and very sweet, my pastel tres leches was heavenly! is was my first time having this cake made with three types of milk and i did not regret my choice one bit. the super moist sponge cake was topped with mango slices and soaked in milk. after a little googling (yes, i use it as a verb), i found out that the three milks were evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream. at the time, i didn’t care what milk was in it. all i cared about was that my piece of heaven on a plate was quickly disappearing. now on top of ordering horchata every time i see it on the menu, i have to order pastel tres leches too!
no mention of the complementary tortilla chips? well that is because there were none. this is the first mexican restaurant i’ve been to that didn’t serve bowls of chips and salsa on the table while you go through the menu. this isn’t really a criticism, it was just unexpected to not have the expected.
authentic? sure. delicious? not my cup of tea. the food was lacking in the flavour department. where’s the tang, the acidity, the heat? this restaurant definitely did not come close to dethroning el sombrero as my favourite place to get my mexican fix.
le petit coin du mexique
2474, rue jean-talon est
montréal, québec
H2E 1W2
T: 514.374.7448
payment: cash, debit, credit cards
hours:
tue to wed 11h30-21h
thurs to fri 11h30-22h
sat 12h-22h
sun 12h-21h
closed mondays
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By amaranto: from mexico with love 21 Aug ’10 at 3:22 pm