Posted by Salpy Kelian in mexican, restaurant review on June 4, 2007 at 7:52 am

Rancho Relaxo
300 College Street
416-920-0366
Dinner for two (mains only) with all taxes, tip, and beer: $45

The venue was Rancho Relaxo and we were there for a show; the second in a trilogy of fundraisers to send York University playwright Melissa Major to the IDEA festival in Hong Kong. We hadn’t had Mexican food in a long time, so my companion and I decided to have a bite. The waiter told us we weren’t allowed to order food upstairs where the event was being held. Strangely enough, later on we saw other people being allowed to order food at the show when served by a different staff member. When I think about it, this was the moment that foreshadowed an evening of bad service.

We placed our orders while I tried hard not to have my arms end up in still wet sauce on the Mexican blanket that served as a tablecloth. I looked around for a napkin, but there were none in sight. Even when the waiter came over to unceremoniously dump a basket of tortilla chips and a dish of salsa on our table he didn’t bring any napkins. We tried eating our overly greasy, stale, bland and slightly chewy (and not in a good way) chips while hoping the grease would somehow magically disappear off of our fingers. I was quite worried that our dismal chips and salsa meant that the rest of the food would be a let down too. Fortunately when our unsmiling and unfriendly waiter came over with our food, we were pleasantly surprised. Hey, we also got napkins this time!

I had ordered the Mole Enchilada with chicken (S10.95) and my companion the Chicken Fajita (S14.95). The chicken filling for the fajita was tender with perfectly sautéed red and green peppers, and onions. The sauce it was cooked in was spicy, tangy and light. What I liked most was the smooth fresh guacamole served with the meal. I can’t comment on the quality of sour cream or cheese since my companion had his dinner sans dairy. Compared to the fajita filling, my enchiladas had the same prep, but different sauce. Now mole (pronounced moh-lay) being a cocoa-based sauce, has a very different flavour from the tomato based fajita sauce. I’ve never had mole before, so my judgement on Rancho Relaxo’s version may not be accurate. However, I found this sauce to be rich, dark, smooth and have a wonderfully complex taste. As I write this I find myself craving those enchiladas again. Oh, that lovely cheddar that smothered them, and that amazing mole sauce that pooled around the side of my plate. The refried beans were disappointing, though. Very salty to taste, but the accompanying rice was quite nice. I’m not really sure why they added a salad to the mix. It was just a spring mix sans dressing sitting on top of my enchiladas.

After awhile we gave up on trying to finish our meals. The portion sizes were just too large for our appetites. We also gave up on trying to interact with our waiter or have him become pleasant in any way. As for Rancho Relaxo itself? You’ll know it’s a Mexican place because of the overdone Mexican theme complete with stucco walls. As for the show? We went up after our meal and had a good time. For those of you in the area, stop by for a nice meal and avoid that one waiter. The rest of the staff seemed superb.