Review: Mad Mexican brings excellent tacos and tortas to Baby Point

Mad Mexican ★½ 383 Jane St., 416-907-5787

Chef José Hadad’s Mad Mexican salsas, bean dips, guacamole and tortilla chips appear on menus and grocers’ shelves across the city, but Baby Point residents can now enjoy plated meals at a handful of tables (or from the takeout counter) fronting the industrial kitchen. Excellent tacos compress intense flavour into a few quick bites, especially the ­michoacán version, packed with tender shreds of slow-cooked pork. They’re accompanied by a trio of exquisite salsas; the morita, with smoky charred tomato and sweet onion to balance the chili heat, is our favourite. The best deals on the menu are the tortas—hefty sandwiches with fillings like cotija cheese and house-cured ham jammed into Portuguese buns. Go for the house special—crisp chorizo, grilled sirloin, avocado, oaxaca cheese and black beans make for a sloppy, rich delight if you’re hungry, but lighter versions, like the ­Guadalajara-style carnitas served with a tingly árbol dipping sauce, are also good. Unfortunately the service, while perky, is tediously slow.

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