Ta Chido Montreal

Posted By Jennifer Ho Aug 18 2012 · 0 comments · Dining Out

This place is honestly the cutest. Maybe also one of the kitchiest but it’s a vibe I can get down with. Action figures populate little cupboard protected by glass (Mexican and other), flashing neon bulbs surround a mounted photo of Madonna and dark doodles on a black chalkboard set the mood. I especially love the sassy facts written on the wall like “Nacho chips are NOT a Mexican food” and “Achiote is a condiment” and “The green sauce is not guacamole”. Word.

You can’t not stare the TV screen at some point during your meal – who knew old reruns of the Pink Panther could be so… captivating? Equipped with a sweet little terrace out front looking onto Parc street, I can see how it can get bumping on a weekend. Cool space, affordable food, nice neighbourhood. What’s not to like?

Cucumber + Hibiscus Margaritas

Scanning the menu for the drinks, we started off with a cucumber and a hibiscus margarita. Coming in salt rimmed mason jars and garnished with thin wedges of lime, the drinks tasted strongly of their respective flavors and were bold in a way that was surprisingly delicious. Definitely could have had more than one. And for $7? Now that is a fair price.

Tinga de Pollo – Chipotle Chicken, Sour Cream and Feta

As we had come ravenous, we ordered a bunch of different things, the first of which to come was the tinga de pollo torta – in other words a chipotle chicken and feta sandwich. The bread was fluffy, soft and warm to the touch. The insides were too and oh so full of flavor. The chipotle seasoning was obvious but for some reason I didn’t really taste the chicken… The creaminess of the sour cream and the saltiness of the feta blended well together. In any case, this one was probably one of my favorites of our meal.

Huitlacoche – Mexican Truffle, Onion and Epazote

The huitlacoche quesadilla was starred and for that reason, we asked our server for its meaning. She told us that starred items were offered depending on the seasonality of the ingredients. We were in luck! The huitlacoche was indeed in season and as she highly recommended it, we went for it. Basically, it was a tortilla with Mexican truffle, onion and epazote filled inside. I can’t say that I enjoyed it that much though. It was definitely an interesting experience – I only found out later that huitlacoche is a fungus that grows on corn and causes it to contract smut disease! But overall, the quesadilla didn’t quite cut it for me. Perhaps it was because the tortilla itself was too thick and doughy, absorbing much of the flavor and leaving little behind for the palate to actually enjoy.

3 Tacos – Pulled Pork, Chicken with Mole and Black Beans

If that wasn’t enough, we also ordered the weekend special – three tacos of your choice: pulled pork, chicken with mole, black beans or potatoes. We went for the first three. Generously drizzling them with spicy jalapeno sauce to imbue more flavor, the chicken was overall better than the other two. They all could have used more garnishes so as to freshen these up a bit more. It would have been nice to have some fresh onion in there or some avocado or even some sort of sauce.

Mexican Lime Pie

Finishing off our feast with a Mexican lime pie, the dessert was a concoction of something like graham crackers broken off in pieces submerged in a slightly sour but still light mixture. Worthwhile to mention that the portion was bigger than you would expect and the perfect amount to share with another person, which is exactly how it played out for us.

By the end of the meal, we were both ready to go to bed. Stuffed to the max, almost groaning with the weight of our newly filled stomachs as we made our way out, we both agreed that we had thoroughly enjoyed our time here. While the food wasn’t necessarily the best, I would definitely go back but keep it lighter on the foods ordered and heavier on the drinks side. Ta Chido (meaning “is cool” in Spanish) lives up to its name.