Mexican Brunch at the Waldorf

I love Mexican food whole-heartedly. My addiction to La Taqueria, my annual Mexican!Burrito!Birthday!Bash!, and my zombie-apocalypse stockpile of refried beans are all evidence of this. Not surprisingly, I was excited to try the Mexican Brunch at the recently renovated Waldorf Hotel. Mexican brunch is a fantastic idea, it has such great potential, which is why I was so sad to see it executed poorly. Maybe things aren't running smoothly yet, or they were having an off day, or our server was missing her frontal lobe; whatever the reason, it just didn't quite come together. The Leeteg room is cool-ish, I guess. The 50's design feels cold and uninspiring. Especially compared to the ultra-rad Tiki Lounge downstairs, (where I can fully imagine having an exotic, albiet blurry, night of festivities).


As for the food I had the Molletes, an open-faced Portugese bun baked with black beans, bacon, and cheese, and topped with eggs. Other than the bacon being both over-baked and burnt, it was generally tasty.

This is the Mexican Hangover Cure, Chilaquiles: crispy corn quarters with cheese, black beans, green and red chile salsas, and chorizo. Even though I fully understand that in an authentic preparation the tortilla-esq chips become softened in the chile salsa; on the menu they are described as being "Crispy Corn Quarters!", and are nothing of the sort. Even if I take into consideration that the color comes from a combination of the red and green salsas, I can't get past the fact that it looks like vomit. The texture of the soaked tortillas was not the least bit appealing and it was an unnecessarily huge portion that inevitably got wasted.

I am acutely aware that I am a terrible blogger; absenteeism, inconsistancy, and digression being several of my major transgressions. Not that I'm saying I plan on being back on pace for a 50-point season, just that I feel like writing again. Here's the thing, I originally planned on eating at all the places on Davie and Denman, (genre by genre) but after 20+ sushi places I was bored. Instead; I preferred to try out new places recommended by friends, or be surprised and taken to a place that I would never have chosen on my own, or I would just go back again and again to the places that I love (ie La Brasserie, Nook, La Taqueria). I also have a tiny problem with self-control. As soon as my food arrives I just mow down, having absolutely no patience for lighting and photos, and thus ruining my attempts to blog about The Red Wagon, Tavola, Adesso, Cafeteria, L'Abbatoir, and so on.

Now that I only have 12 or so months left in the West End, my plan is to create a West End Top Ten. A list of my favorites before I move to Gastown and have a whole new hood to demolish.

Another failed photo op, mid-mouthful into my Reuben at The Red Wagon.