El Trompo

El Trompo
277 Augusta Avenue
Toronto, Ontario

416-260-0097

El Trompo

XX and guacamole and chips.

Mango margarita.

Spicy Tinga Chicken.

Al Pastor tacos.

In her opinion:
Today is Cinco de Mayo and as a tribute to Mexican independence from the French occupation which took place after the American Spanish War of 1846-48, we decided to go for Mexican. Not that I need a reason to go for Mexican!

Although, we have a couple of good Mexican places in our hometown, we decided to head to Toronto and to Kensington Market with its Latin flavours and delicious churros (you bet we visited our favourite churro place - Pancho's Bakery during this outing).

El Trompo was our choice for Mexican cuisine and it was also a lot of other people's pick since there was a line-up out the door and around the sidewalk.  We only waited about 15 minutes to be seated on their patio.  This place was packed. And now I know why.

We started by ordering  an order of guacamole and a XX for Edgar and a mango margarita for me. Our waitress delivered our guacamole and drinks within a couple of minutes of ordering.  

The mango margarita was very nice.  Not too overpowering but nicely flavoured and perfect for the patio.  The guacamole was perfection. Some of the best guacamole I have eaten outside of Mexico. It was perfectly balanced and flavoured.

For our main course we decided to share two orders of tacos.  We got the "Al Pastor" and the "Spicy Tinga Chicken" tacos.  The Al Pastor tacos are described on their menu as a Mexican City style taco. It consists of marinated pork with pineapple, coriander and onion. It is served with lime.  The Tinga tacos are corn flour tortillas filled with chicken cooked in a tomato/smoke chipotle pepper sauce with coriander and onion. It is also served with lime.

Both of these tacos were absolutely delicious.  I especially enjoyed the Al Pastor.  The combination of flavours is outstanding. The sweetness of the pineapple adds an expected punch of flavour. Just excellent. I also enjoyed the flavours of the Tinga. The spiciness was just right. Very good.

I will definitely return to El Trompo. Very reasonably priced and the quality and freshness is outstanding.

In his opinion:
Awww Kensigton Market! Can't think of a better place to spend a spring day in Toronto, especially when we had nothing planned. It was Cinco de Mayo and we were looking for a Mexican place to eat. Since we were in Toronto, Julie thought of trying  El Trompo on Augusta Street. 

This place screams authentic Mexican, from the small tables outside with Mayan drawings on them to the Spanish speaking waitresses. I always like to speak to them in their native tongue. They are usually very happy to respond to me in Spanish, and direct it to my wife that unfortunately doesn't speak it well. Still funny to witness nevertheless.

We ordered a mango margarita and Dos Equis XX beer. Dos Equis is the beer that Mexicans really drink, unlike the famous Corona that most of them despise.

We ordered the guacamole and chips to start and it was amazing. The guacamole was creamy with  tomato, onion and cilantro in it for consistency. It was just out of this world.

The menu is quite extensive and took me a while to decide what to have. "Spicy Tinga" was my choice and I'm so glad I ordered it. Tinga is chicken tacos served in corn tortilla filled with chicken cooked in a tomato/smoked chipotle pepper sauce. The menu says four but it is served with five tacos and they tasted amazing.

We also ordered the famous tacos "Al Pastor" and let me tell you that they are worth the hype. They call these "their speciality", a Mexican City special taco and if that's the case I'm skipping the Mayan Riviera on my next vacation in favour of la Ciudad de Mexico. It's corn tortillas filled with pork meat marinated in traditional sauce but.....here is the kicker...it had pineapple, coriander and onion and trust me when I say that the pineapple ties this taco together as few things can.

The Good: Authentic Mexican in a great neighbourhood, filled with the usual crowd that can recite the menu backwards.
The Bad: Lineups...although they work hard in minimizing them, they are big due to popular demand and limited seating.
The Verdict: A great place to kill your Mexican cravings and just people watch from the tiny patio. Location being in the heart of Kensington Market makes it that more attractive. Great menu with Mexican staples and good selection of tacos.

I give it a 3 olives out of 5 as rating