Worth driving all the way from Burnaby to Surrey is our favourite spot for Mexican cuisine. It is honestly such a shame that they are not located closer to us, as we would frequent them, instead of designating them as a special occasion treat. Today we were back to try their newer brunch menu.
The space is still a chic spot, unexpected in the basement of a community hall. The bar is still a vision built on wooden wine crates with a full backdrop of tequila, that speaks to their extensive selection. They offer flights that light up and even their own branded tequila shot set for sale, but today we were here for the first meal of the day, which means mimosas and coffee cocktails.
Salsa and Guacamole does not do anything small. They have a large selection of mimosas, horchata flavoured drinks, and coffee options.
We would try 3 out of their 6 mimosa flavours. Each made with champagne and your chosen fruit juice.
We had their Tequila Sunrise Mimosa with tequila, champagne, orange juice, and grenadine. This was an elevated version of the traditional that included refreshing orange juice to perk you up. You could tell how good this and the others would be given how bold their colour was.
The Pineapple Coconut Mimosa is another one that you don’t often see. Coconut rum, champagne, pineapple juice, and grenadine. It tasted like a classic all-inclusive Mexico resort drink, but actually good with fresh and clean quality ingredients. Pineapple on the nose, coconut on the lips. Probably my favourite after the mango.
The Mango was champagne mixed with real mango pulp. It made the beverage thick and full of flavour. Wonderful.
They also have the traditional mimosa with orange juice, one with grapefruit juice and a Piña Colada with rum, pineapple juice, lime juice, and coconut cream.
If you are looking for a caffeinated coffee option the Carajillo is the way to go. Two espresso shots with icor 43, and a kick of their house made horchata. Poured into a cup with a rim of marzipan. This was more nutty than coffee, you don’t get the espresso punch right away, it gently creeps up and surprises you. Overall it felt like the liquid form of a creamy caramel dessert with all the foam, and it had a nice nutty almond finish thanks to the marzipan.
Another great coffee option is their coconut mocha. What you like about espresso and chocolate, but given an additional tropical finish with the coconut cream. This was an absolutely cozy, it made us want to crawl back into bed. Rich without being too heavy.
The Horchata Espresso utilized more of their house made horchata as the sugar and cream to this coffee, with out diluting any of its flavour.
As for food, our favourite dish were these table chips and dip to start. Tri-coloured chips served with matching three coloured and flavoured dip. Simply well done. Peppery guacamole, a cheese-pull ready queso, and roasted tomato salsa made by hand and served incredibly fresh for a choose your own adventure snacking experience.
I liked the ability to jump between flavour profiles, but the queso was my favourite. I wish they bottled each dip and sold them to go.
Getting in to more brunch focused options we had the Huevos Rancheros. Three lightly fried corn tortillas topped with refried beans and 3 over easy eggs, with your choice of red tomato salsa or green tomatillo salsa (we had ours with both). Finished with onion, cilantro and white crumble cheese. Served with a side of refried beans, guacamole and corn tortilla chips. Like a soft taco platter with a lot of variety. Be sure to eat this one quick as the tortilla does get soggy fast, and I was missing a crunch factor. I do love good sunny side egg on anything, but this didn’t necessarily add anything to the dish, besides making it look and feel more breakfast-y.
Their soup and sandwich combo is the Mexican Torta with Soup. Mexican bolillo (bread) sandwiching mayonnaise, sour cream, refried beans, guacamole, and melted tex mex cheese. You have a choice of protein from chicken, beef asada, pork carnitas; or veggie with mushroom, onion, and bell pepper. We went with chicken for a milder sandwich. The bread really pulls it all together, as the filling is so dense. The soup added a nice acidity, balancing out torta bites. I like dipping it in and chasing it with a scoop of soup.
Same soup, but different combo is the Mexican Molletes with Soup. Mexican bolillo (bread) sliced lengthwise and slightly grilled, topped with refried beans, melted tex mex cheese, pico de gallo salsa and crema verde. Served with tortilla soup on the side. Between the two options, I found the open faced sandwich more complimentary to the soup, flowing on the same vein with the sweetness of tomato. Once again the soup is the highlight with simple ingredients creating complex flavours, given a splash of herbaceous from fresh cilantro.
The Enfrijoladas are 4 corn tortillas stuffed with either chicken or veggie (mushrooms, onions, bell peppers), all rolled up and smothered in a black bean sauce and topped with their white crumble cheese, red onion, and cilantro. Served with a side of rice and beans. It was light despite how heavy it looked. It did need some acidity from the rice, and we found the beans a little overkill. However, respected the authenticity, and they did help to change the taste a little.
And as full as we were, we could not miss out on trying their desserts, especially when it comes to their jumbo churros.
A single 7 inches long churro topped with cinnamon sugar and either filled with your choice of nutella (hazelnut chocolate) or dulce de leche (milk caramel). You can also have it plain without filling, but that honestly defeats the purpose. Served with either a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice-cream, although this isn’t all that necessary There is more than enough filling to flavour. So much so that it all oozed out with one bite.
I have never had such a big and thick, meaty churro stick. The caramel is a little burnt with a hint of saltiness, this was my favourite between the two. Whereas Nutella is a classic and I loved how much melty chocolate spread that was jam-packed into one straw. For each the texture was amazing, crispy with a fully coated cinnamon sugar crunch. This was like your regular churro times five.
In short they are still our favourite spot for Mexican cuisine and now the one we will recommend for hot beverages and warm desserts.
Salsa & Guacamole
13483 72nd Ave, Surrey, BC V3W 2N7
604-597-0202
salsaandguacamole.com
