Patron Tacos & Cantina - Vancouver, BC

It's the Culinary Week of MexicoFest 2012 so Mr. Piglet and I decide to go on a date to get some good Mexican food.  I can't wait to the taste the specials that are supposed to be on!

We are informed by the server that the guest chefs for culinary week aren't coming in until the day after tomorrow.  Fail.  Oh well.  The items on the regular menu look tasty as well so we aren't too disappointed.  After a few minutes of mulling, we decide and wait impatiently for our food...

Chips and Salsa - FREE!

In the meanwhile, we get some complimentary chips and salsa.  Loving the salsa since you can taste all of the ingredients - the tomatoes, the peppers, the spices...  The chips also don't have too much salt on them so you can taste the salsa better.  For a complimentary dish, this is pretty darn tasty.  We finish these off before we even get drinks on our table.

Limonada Fresca - $4.75

Ever since I came back from South America, I've had a hankering for lemonade/limeade.  It's served everywhere in Colombia and Peru and just so refreshing on a hot day.  The version here is just the same - lots of lime flavor and a great break from the heat of both the weather and food.

Burrito with Battered Prawns - $9.75

The shrimp had a nice crunch on the outside even when it was shoved into a burrito.  The rice was well seasoned with a hint of spice and the salsa just cut the density of it.  Mr. Piglet quickly makes short order of it - completely gone in 10 minutes.  I only looked over to watch the TSN Highlight of the Night and when I looked back, the burrito was gone.  The burrito was smaller-sized but still...  I think this dish could be brought to the next level with the addition of a few chips or fries on the side - the plate just looks a bit empty with just a burrito on it.

La Adelita - $11.75

Pastor/Pineapple/Cilantro

The torta arrives at my table and I'm so happy.  Giant stuffed sandwich with waffle fries on the side and I LOVE waffle fries.  It doesn't fit the theme of this place or even this dish but I'm not complaining.  The torta?  Fuhgettaboutit.  So good.  TOO good.  The bread is a bit crispy on the outside and super soft on the inside and there's tons of beans, gobs of avocado, tomato, onions, lettuce and a bit of heat from the jalapenos.  The meat?  Oh man, it's super good and nicely grilled so there's a few more "well-done" bits that have some awesome texture and flavor.  Mr. Piglet eyes my torta hungrily while eating his own delicious dish.  It's just too bad that there wasn't pineapple in it like it was advertised in the menu.  Too late to complain since half the torta has already been consumed by Mr. Piglet in under 2 minutes.  Oh well, next time I suppose and it was still tasty...

The Traditional Three Milk Cake - $6.50

Since dinner was so tasty, we decide that dessert is in order.  We'd had a version of this in Colombia so we decided to revisit our experience by ordering it again.  This was not so bad but the cake needed to be lighter and moister - this one tasted like it had been sitting out too long so it was too dry.  The flavor is very nice, very sweet and creamy and we love that cool light whipping cream on top, but even when the three kinds of milk are poured on top, the cake itself is still a bit mealy.  Colombia wins this dessert round, sorry Mexico!

Come here, eat a burrito or a torta (I do recommend the Adelita or if you're brave enough go for the Patrona), drink a beer and you can't go wrong.  Just make sure you go for a walk afterwards (I also recommend Granville St for a bit of entertainment).  Bon appetite!

Pros:

• Really warm and friendly service
• Awesome torta (even with the forgotten pineapple) and burrito
• Nice to have a complimentary starter
• Reasonably priced and reasonable portion size

Cons:

• Inconsistent service - forgotten items, brought us our check before we asked, brought us our check before we finished dessert, etc
• Dessert was only ok