MAIZAL QUESADILLA CAFE
133 Jefferson Avenue
Toronto, ON
M6K 3E4 Canada
Mexican – Lunch/Dinner
$$
I couldn’t have chosen a more perfect place for a lunch in-between being stuck outside in the chilly depths of Liberty Village. With so many quirky spots in this area, Maizal Quesadilla Cafe is one located in the much more quieter side of Liberty, definitely a place I’d get lost for. ‘Maizal’ is Spanish for ‘plot of corn’. Maizal pride itself in their freshly made and pressed-to-order homemade tortillas. I really liked the look of this whole place, and the one server was delightfully sweet. Their dishes are great for sharing – I definitely see this as a place to catch-up with a old friend.
Taking in the thoughtfullyand colourfully illustrated chalkboard drawings, we sat by clay pots of beautifully toned paper flowers and woven placemats. One of the most irritating but exciting things about dining in Toronto, is that, half the time, I have no idea what the menu is serving up. Being led by the mouth-watering description of each, we made our orders.
1. Frijoles $6 (for 2 people)
Refried mashed Black Organic Turtle Beans. Salsa, melted Cheese, and Crème Fraîche on top.
Also available for $10 (for 4 people). The dip quickly got wiped out with the low dip-to-chip ratio. I really liked the combination of beans-salsa-cheese. The amount of Salsa was very light (orange), along with an even smaller amount of creme fraiche (white). The chips were plain and tasted very much of corn, it definitely needed a bigger bowl of dip.
2. Tostada de Pollo ($8.50)
Crispy Tortillas topped with Black Beans, Chicken, Lettuce, Crème Fraîche & Guacamole.
3. Meat Lovers ($15 for 3)
One of each of the Meat Quesadillas – Served with Pico De Gallo Salad and Organic Black Beans:
– Tinga Beef, Oaxacan Cheese and Chipotle-Marinated Beef Quesadilla
– Chicken Pibil Achiote, Marinated Chicken Quesadilla with Pickled Red Onion
– Picadillo, Ground Beef Quesadilla with Crème Fraîche.
This was a great pick to be able to try a variety of Quesadillas that they had. The Pico De Gallo Salad was seriously lacking, along with the beans – but, we had enough in our appetizer round. My favourite of the three was the Tinga Beef, mainly because of it’s cheesiness, there was a lot more flavour. The latter were okay.
Sauces and extra Creme Fraiche – provided upon request
I like the entire feel of Maizal, I would definitely come here again to let my friends experience it. But, for me, it was much too plain. I enjoy a large helping of meat that I can hardly hold. I did enjoy their rustic delicious corn-y homemade Quesadillas though.