Earlier this year I finally tried some authentic Colombian and Latin food in Toronto and since it is currently Hispanic Heritage Month, now more than ever is the time do my review on this spot. Before reading the blog post below I do want to state this is a review of the vegetarian items I tried and feel free to check out more vegetarian and vegan content on the blog or via my socials by following on Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook! See below of a POV inside and a visual teaser of what you can read below.
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About and Location
El Rancherito has been operating in Toronto for over 15 years serving authentic latin food. The name translates to “little rancher” from Spanish to English and based on the various items they offer I can see a correlation. There are some seats available to dine-in and the girl working helping with my order and providing suggestions was nice. Just keep in mind, you would need to park on the road or find a parking lot nearby as it is a pretty congested area.
Price
As you can see by the menu the price isn’t too high but not really cheap either. I will say that most if not all of these are made in-house and you do get a good portion size for each item. I do think that the veggie items should be priced a bit lower in comparison to the meat items but that is just my opinion.
Taste
Now the most important part, how do these vegetarian options taste?
Appetizers
For appetizers I ended up getting a cheese pupusa (just ask for no pork) and platanitos con crema (fried plantain with sour cream). I liked the pupusa a lot because the dough is really nice and there is a generous amount of cheese (maybe white cheddar?). It also comes with a sauce and I believe a salad on the side. The sauce wasn’t hot but more sweet, which wasn’t bad and still complemented the pupusa. In terms of the salad, it had more of a sour taste as it was a pickled. The plantains were really good, as it was cooked perfectly and so soft when you bite into it without being too sweet. It comes with sour cream and it’s okay as it provides a nice contrast of flavours but I think prefer it on its own.
Mains
For my vegetarian mains I got both the vegetarian tacos and the vegetarian quesadilla. I liked the portion and choice of cheese and vegetables used in the quesadilla. The tortilla was more firm but because of the cheese oozing out and it being layered on top I did have to use a fork and knife, but it tasted great. I personally think it can do without the side lettuce and tomatoes. I wasn’t a big fan of the tacos, mainly because I found the tortillas used were a little grainy, and although I like texture, it wasn’t something I enjoyed personally. I will say that the vegetables used were sautéed perfectly and I think what would help these tacos would be some more sauce on top or even some plant based meat alternatives.
I also forgot to take a pic of the mango juice by itself but it was also really good. They make it there fresh and you can choose between getting it with water or milk, so I ended up going with water and it turned out nice. Not too pulpy or sweet, but 100% refreshing.
Overall
All in all, I am happy that I was finally able to check out and eat an authentic Latin spot after wanting to try it for so long. I did enjoy the food, some more than the others such as the quesadilla, plantains, and pupusa. I do hope though that in the future they can hopefully incorporate some plant-based meat alternatives such as Impossible Foods even for a $1 or $2 more, I think it will be a game changer! If you have tried El Rancherito or other Toronto Latin Food spots, or curious to try this, please let me know your thoughts below in the comments or on social media by following on Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook as I will be posting more vegetarian content in the future!