Birthday FoodFest Part One:
Mex-I-Can
107 James St. NI hit up Mex-I-Can with two lovely ladies on Friday night at about 6pm. I have been here before, but they had not, so I ordered some of the guacamole with our drinks. Because that has to happen whenever you go to Mex-I-Can. It is made in house fresh everyday and is served in a proper volcano stone mortar with an avacado seed to keep the dip green and fresh. I'm told that the one of the owners makes the liquid part of the dip herself, which is what gives it the mild spiced flavour. (Which, of course, makes me think of a little old, Mexican grandmother mixing the dip up in an open air kitchen, very rustic. I'm sure that isn't how it is, but I find the image delightful.) And all of this is served with tortilla chips that are made in house.
After we drooled over (and devoured) the guacamole, our very attentive server brought our dinners. I order the Sopes dish with pork carnitas. I'm not sure what that is exactly, but it appears to be a soft corn pancake think covered in refried beans, shredded pork, lettuce, tomatoes, pico, sour cream, and cheese. It is served with some spicy rice and more homemade tortilla chips covered in more refried beans. This was the first time I had tried the Sopes dish and I confess myself a huge fan, despite not quite knowing what the soft corn pancake thingy actually is. It's delicious and filling, and the leftovers make a delicious lunch the next day.
My dining partners ordered the Enchiladas and the Tostadas dishes. I have never had either of these dishes myself, but they both enjoyed them fully. Even after confessing themselves full, they tried to keep eating to keep the deliciousness going.
Mex-I-Can has been around for a very long time, about 20 years (if somebody knows exactly how long, please tell me, I can't find an answer on the internet. I just know it's been a long time.) They have not spent any of that time on the interior or decor. Don't let this frighten you away! The food is incredible and you'll want to go back over and over!
But all that aside, I think my favourite part of this trip to Mex-I-Can had to be the fact that, while the servers were extremely attentive and knew it was my birthday, nobody made me wear a giant sombrero.
(Another thing I should mention about Mex-I-Can is that none of it hurt my stomach. I have an extremely sensitive stomach and normally mexican is guaranteed to cause me discomfort. Their commitment to fresh ingredients and quality preparation make that concern totally moot.)
Birthday FoodFest Part Two:
Buckeye's Smokehouse
224 Ottawa St. N
Okay, so I realize that this is only my second post on this blog and I've already talked about Buckeye's, but I raved about it so much that my family wanted to go there to try it out. We wound up there Sunday evening for dinner. So I'll skip talking about how much I continue to love the decor and the ability to watch Nashville kill Anaheim and the food network at the same time and just stick to what we had.
For apps the fam decided to share an order of Antijitos and the Beef Tips. The Beef Tips are cubes of sirloin and mushroom caps braised in a sauce made with Coca Cola and served with a spicy-yet-smooth mustard dip. A bit pricey ($12), but I could see ordering this as a main course and just adding a side salad of some kind. The portion size was ample...which was good because we were all fighting over it.
For dinner I decided to try the Uncle Buck with a side of the Mac 'n' Cheese (d'uh). The Uncle Buck is essentially a pulled pork sandwich with little chunks of sirloin and chorizo sausage mixed in. It's all served on a buttered and broiled roll with coleslaw. While I fully enjoyed the flavour of the sandwich (mildly spicy but rich and smokey), and the texture (soft meat paired with crunchy coleslaw), I do have to make one small criticism. It was impossible to eat as a sandwich. The (delicious) sauce that the meat is served in completely soaks the bottom of the bun, making it impossible to pick up. I had to use a knife and fork to eat it. Equally enjoyable, just not as tactile as I prefer my sandwiches. My mother had the Pulled Pork sandwich and loved it, but experienced the same soggy bun issue that I did. My father ordered the jambalaya. He loved it and offered me a bite, claiming that it "wasn't that spicy". As it turns out, my father is a jerk. Very spicy, but with flavour. It's not just intense burning, there's a nice spice flavour to the extreme pain I was experiencing. If you like spicy, you'll like the Jambalaya.
Still don't have a report on the dessert there for you. We went home for ice cream cone cupcakes (and prezzies). These are my favourite birthday dessert but are pretty finnicky to make and I love my mother for doing it every year.
Oh, and as my family had already made me don a sparkly crown for dinner, the staff were nice enough to just wish me a happy birthday and not force extra public embarassment on me. Thanks guys!
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