Papagayo Mexican Restaurant Hamilton Ontario.

Hamiltonians tend to boast that our city of just over 500,000 people is as or even more cosmopolitan than Toronto to the east. Hamilton is ‘alive’ with unique and tasty options when it comes to dining, with exciting food offerings from around the world. As well as creative local delights (we’re even doing amazing things with humble burger and fries..more to come on that). Mexican is not usually on the top of our list when it comes to dining out, but with it being Tehya’s birthday we had to go along with her choice. And I wanted to explore a cuisine I didn’t have much experience with.

With a little help from Google we found some ‘ok’ reviews for Papagayo Mexican Restaurant, so we thought we’d give them a try. What did people do before there were review type websites?

Papagayo is a lovely space just west of the downtown core of Hamilton and due to it’s downtown location  you’ll have to hunt down a parking meter and do remember to walk with coins.

We had late reservations so we pretty much had the entire restaurant to ourselves, including the staff on duty (we didn’t observe any outstanding service though). With drinks in hand, the scrutiny of the menu began. On paper just about everything sounded delicious, so settling on what to order was a bit challenging.

We decided on…

Calamares: Lightly battered deep fried squid, seasoned with chilies. Served with chipotle sauce and lemon.
Nacho Platter (for two). Homemade chips with cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, gaucamole.
Mole con Pollo: Breast of chicken simmered in a traditional Mexican sauce of chilies, spices and herbs
with a hint of unsweetened chocolate. Served with rice and refried beans.

Enchilada Platter: Three soft corn tortillas filled with chicken, beef and chorizo sausage, topped with
verde and mole sauces and Monterey Jack cheese, then oven-baked. Served with rice and refried beans.

Bocadillo Mexico:Refried beans, rice and filling of your choice [seafood (add $2.00), beef, chicken,
chorizo sausage, pulled pork or seasonal vegetables], sandwiched between crispy corn tortillas,
topped with verde and mole sauces, Monterey Jack cheese, then oven-baked.

Some general comments.

As mentioned, I’m no aficionado when it comes to Mexican cuisine, but what I do appreciate is good food, excellent quality and service. As a group we found the food to be somewhat bland (I especially expected my my taste-buds to be challenged a little) and it didn’t help that a few items were cold on our plates. The portion size and presentation on the plates were hurting on both counts and nothing really stood out. I was really hoping that at least the mole sauce would make an impression.

When we dine out it’s all about the entire experience, so with that in mind I must confess that we did like the interior decor and for the 45 mins we were there (along with some sangria) … for that moment were transported to Mexico and recalled fond memories of dining in Cabo San Lucas. Now don’t get me wrong.. the food was not terrible, just not what we expected. Do we chalk this up to being the end of the night on a Sunday?

Papagayo Mexican Restaurant
246 King Street West
Hamilton, Ontario
L8P 1A9
Tele: (905)525-0309

Monday – Friday 11:30am – 2:30pm and 5:00pm – 9:30 pm (10:00pm on Fridays)
Saturday 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Sunday 5:00pm – 9:00pm