It’s a nearly empty room when we arrive at Rostizado – the recently opened restaurant with a traditional concept from the guys behind Tres Carnales. It’s only 5 p.m. on a Tuesday, but the buzz around town has led me to believe we’d have to swim through a sea of hungry patrons just to be seated.
We’re led to our large, wooden communal table and, within minutes of us being seated, a steady stream of people flow through the door. Apparently, we’ve come just before the after-work rush.
The food piles on almost as quickly as diners file in. Our appetizers (or entradas, as the menu reads), hit the table with remarkable swiftness. The gorditas with pancita – slow-braised pancita (belly), refried beans, pickled onion, cilantro and spicy salsa verde packed into a corn flour gordita – explodes with flavour, as the pancita practically melts in the mouth.
The mix of spicy and citrus-flavoured ceviche de Robalo (a lime juice-cured Chilean sea bass accented with onion, orange and avocado slices and habaneras) cleanses the palate just in time for the main event – the platter for two. The mix of rotisserie chicken and slow-roasted pork are the stuff of a carnivore’s dreams. The chicken skin is flavourful and crisp with the juices locked into the tender chicken meat, while the pork’s sealed-in succulence leaves the taste buds yearning for another bite.
Adding the golden brown, crusted, roasted cauliflower, with its intense cumin and garlic flavours mixed with a refreshing lime and cilantro aftertaste, our stomachs are full – just as Rostizado is as we make our way out the door. (10359 104 St., 780-761-0911, rostizado.com)
