Sherman's Food Adventures: Mis Trucos

Mis Trucos

* Restaurant is now closed*

Normally, I have a fairly long queue of posts that will keep me going even if I suddenly fall into a large crevasse. Consequently, there are some musings that don't seem to jive with current events. Very rarely do I post something right away. However, I felt the need to write this post almost immediately to not seem too dated. You see, the Canucks are in the playoffs against the hated Hawks once again for the third straight year. This time around, they built up a 3-0 games lead and seemed destined to finally exorcise some demons. Now, if you haven't been a Canuck fan for long, you have a big surprise waiting. You see, the Nux are cursed. Whenever something good happens, it is followed up with despair and anger - much like a visit to Richmond. Ever since they went up 3-0, they dropped 2 consecutive games in blowouts. Game 6 was in Chicago and honestly, it was too nerve-wracking to watch. Well, not really, I wanted to watch it; but we had existing dinner plans at Mis Trucos. I had purchased a Living Social coupon a while ago which essentially gave us 2 tasting menus for the price of one.

So off we went, Viv and I, down to this lil' tapas place on Davie. Naturally, the place was deader than Charlie Sheen's career when we arrived. Hello, Nux game! No matter, we had the place to ourselves and the food came out fairly quickly starting with the Crispy Bread Wild Prawn with citrus aioli. We really liked the crunchy "toast" wrapped around the perfectly cooked prawn. The prawn itself was not particularly flavourful; but the binding agent (egg) along with the chives provided the necessary flavour. The aioli was indeed citrusy and tart. A nice bite to begin the meal. Next up was the Seared Salmon with preserved lemon and arugula pesto. I took a sample of the pesto immediately and it was nutty (from the pine nuts) and mildly flavourful. I then proceeded to combine everything together into one bite and the diced red peppers gave a nice pop in texture and sweetness while the preserved lemon added a hit of saltiness and some zing. I would've liked a tad more acidity to liven up the dish though. The salmon was slightly dry; yet not totally overcooked.

As we finished up the salmon, a bowl of Mixed Seafood Stew in a fennel, paprika and lobster broth was presented to us. The smell of lobster immediately filled the air and I dug in right away. I would describe this broth as more rustic than refined; yet that suited me just fine. There was a very faint fennel taste which Viv liked since she's not a huge fan of it. The seafood consisted of salmon, halibut, squid, scallop and crayfish with red peppers, fennel and fingerling potatoes. Everything was cooked relatively nicely and we enjoyed the stew to the last drop. Our carb dish came next being the Housemade Tagliatelle with housemade chorizo and wild mushrooms. This was a very good pasta. It was very al dente, which is very good for a fresh pasta. But the star of the show was the chorizo. It was meaty and sufficiently spicy that it helped flavour the rosée sauce. Combined with the ample amount of mushrooms and a pronounced presence of garlic, this was not lacking in flavour.

For our last savoury dish, we were presented with a Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with celeriac puree, roasted leek and arugula salad. The pork was barely (and if you look closely, somewhat pink) cooked and that suited me fine because I hate overcooked pork. I found the honey glaze to be too sweet; yet it was tempered by the wonderful vinaigrette with the peppery and bitter arugula. The roasted leek was perfect. It added a nice herbiness to the dish while the celeriac puree was texturally pleasing. For dessert, we were served a Vanilla Pannacotta topped with a pear compote and candied almonds. I dug right into the silky pannacotta and it was pleasing in texture and taste. It wasn't too sweet which let the pears stand out. However, the candied almonds were far too sweet. We liked the textural contrast with the crunch and all; but a little less candied sugar and just nuts would've suited this dessert fine.

When it was all-said-and-done, we were satisfied with our meal. Of course the coupon helped, otherwise this would've been $70.00 before beverages, tax and tip. Not exactly cheap; yet the food was pretty good. I guess it depends on personal preferences if this would be considered worth it or not. Price withstanding, we did like the food and the portions were alright. As for the Nux game, I made it back for overtime... where they lost. Sucks. Now onto game 7. I still have faith; but I'm going to lose my appetite. Well, not really...

The Good:
- Food is pretty tasty
- Quaint dining space
- The service we got was good (albeit there was only one other table at the time)

The Bad:
- If you're a hungry person, not sure if this would necessarily fill you up; but this is a tapas place
- Menu is limited
- The dining space is quaint; however it is tight

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