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| - We've been vegetarians for about ten years!
Huge hype around this restaurant since the people behind it are also behind some of the best spots in the city (Bar Raval, Bar Isabel, Tennessee Tavern, Henry's). I was picturing hearty and tasty Mexican and Mexican inspired food, kind of in the vein of Vancouver's Tacofino Commissary. With TT, they've done such a good job riffing on Eastern European food and offering something even better than the sum of its parts. But this was not the case at Rosalinda! I was surprised to be so disappointed.
The space looks basically identical to Bay Street's Planta, another upscale vegan spot.
We ordered the broccolini, the smoked onion tacos and the chorizo tacos.
Overall, this is exemplary of the kind of anorexic-chic resto craze where people are willing to spend a lot of money on hyperaestheticized vegan food. But what you're actually getting, past the pomp and circumstance (and fake plants!), is just a $15 piece of broccolini sitting on some dressing and a bunch of "tacos" that bear little resemblance to Mexican cuisine. In fact the onion taco tasted kind of like curry. Which is unfortunately a really common thing that chefs do with vegetarian food. Where's the avocado, chipotle, pico de gallo, hoja santa and beans??? I'm all for cuisines that are "inspired by" regional cuisines or approaching them like "fusion" but why is there Japanese eggplant on the menu but no tortilla soup or huaraches?? Just because you put something on a corn tortilla and call it a taco doesn't make it "Mexican food."
The food was fine but way overpriced for what it was (we're never looking for "filling" but we are looking for a flavour and ingredient experience that justifies its cost, which we didn't get here).
They are also charging $9 for a small can of beer, lol.
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