"Cochinita Pibil" with Southern style pork butt in ahciote and orange juice marinade, roasted in banana leaves, pulled and served with fried plantains, pickled red onions and salsa Pancho (habaneros, tomatillo, serrano salsa)

A visit to Milagro sets the stage to start a casual and fun experience with friends and family. It’s where you can share your best social moments amidst shareable plates of traditional Mexican fare and maybe sip some mezcal.

Obviously it wasn’t my first time at Milagro (you’d have to be kidding me!) but it had been a while since my last visit. So when I got the opportunity to come back to try the best that Milagro had to offer, of course, I jumped at it.

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The comfortably casual dining experience at Milagro Cantina Mexicana

Inspired by the flavours and aromas from their Mexico City roots, brothers Arturo and Andrés Anhalt opened the original and flagship Milagro location in Toronto’s entertainment district on Mercer Street. Since then the duo have added two more Toronto locations: Queen West and Yonge & Lawrence.

A refreshing cucumber margarita really hits the spot to wash down the heat from the spicy flavours

A refreshing cucumber margarita really hits the spot to wash down the heat from the spicy flavours

I’m partial to spicy food – in fact I’m partial to very spicy food. So Chef Arturo liberally applies the habanero heat to my liking and then some, so watch out. Luckily spicy food goes down really well with refreshing and strong margaritas that I enjoyed thoroughly like this cucumber margarita.

I’m also very partial to octopus, so the Toastadita De Pulpo hit the spot with its tenderness and vivid flavours marinated in lime with tomatillo and chipotle chillies en adobo.

"Tostadita De Pulpo" with crisp corn tortillas, tender octopus marinated in lime with tomatillo and chipotle chilies en adobo. To the left is the braised pork carnita "Sope Plazero"

“Tostadita De Pulpo” with crisp corn tortillas, tender octopus marinated in lime with tomatillo and chipotle chilies en adobo. To the left is the braised pork carnita “Sope Plazero”

And in the photo at the top, we have the Cochinita Pibil, Southern style pork butt (no, not actually pig derrière) in achiote and orange juice marinade roasted in banana leaves, pulled and served with fried plantains, pickled red onions and salsa Pancho (habaneros, tomatillo and serrano salsa).

In the back row we have shots of Milagrito "Ven a Mi" Mezcal Reposado - it's a light, sweet, smoky mezcal with a light body and creaminess with an orange juice chaser. This really wakes up your tastebuds.

In the back row we have shots of Milagrito “Ven a Mi” Mezcal Reposado – it’s a light, sweet, smoky mezcal with a light body and creaminess with an orange juice chaser. This really wakes up your tastebuds.

Also, with an astounding 20+ ingredients, “Mole Poblano” includes roasted chicken in a Poblano style red mole sauce prepared in-house with chipotle, mulato, ancho and pasilla chillies, peanuts, raisins, almonds, Mexican chocolate and more.

And a big hit of the night was the dessert: Flan De Queso Al Caramelo paired with a stiff sipping tequila Cazadores Añejo, aged 12 months in new, American white oak barrels with hints of vanilla, caramel, apple and black pepper.

Dessert: "Flan de Queso Al Caramelo" traditional homestyle cheese flan with a top layer of burnt sugar sauce

Dessert: “Flan de Queso Al Caramelo” traditional homestyle cheese flan with a top layer of burnt sugar sauce

 

SERVICE
Not only do you get great food and drink, there’s also friendly and attentive service pretty much unanimously agreed upon on every major online review of Milagro that you’ll come across.

And one thing that’s overlooked by a few other restaurants is the social media engagement factor. You can tell that Milagro is active on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, blogs and more. This is important especially now when people go online to research and air their opinions about good and bad experiences at restaurants. Milagro understands this and makes efforts to engage and to ensure every customer is satisfied.

DATE IDEA
Also, how about a date-night idea? Dinner at Milagro, then a improv comedy show at Second City and then depending on how the night goes you could follow it up with wine/dessert/coffee at Buonanotte – all on Mercer Street. Yes, most of you can call me Captain Obvious but the rest of you can thank me later!

Milagro is open daily for lunch at noon, dinner at 5:30pm and brunch on Saturdays & Sundays until 4:30pm.

Check out Milagro’s freshly-updated website at www.milagrorestaurant.com

At the SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque show
In Photos: The Zac Posen Fall 2014 fashion show

Nick Lee

Editor and Photos at BestOfToronto.net