Toronto's Best Fish Tacos

GRAND PRIZE WINNER
JOEY DON MILLS, 15 O’NEILL RD.

When David Adjey (of The Opener and Restaurant Makeover fame) lived in Southern California, he frequented a restaurant on the beach — because he liked their fish tacos so much. Turns out, the owner of that Santa Barbara restaurant was from Toronto. Go figure. According to Adjey, the simplest fish tacos are the best: corn tortillas, fried fish, some salsa fresca, a squeeze of lime and you’re on the right track. “I’m not looking for a culinary epiphany,” Adjey jokes. After tasting several tacos at Post City’s headquarters, Adjey settles on Joey Don Mills’ offering: “This is a fish taco. The corn tortillas rock. And everything’s fresh: fresh cilantro, fresh lime, fresh fish and good hot sauce.”

Price: $13.49

FIRST RUNNER-UP The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. “[Fudge!]” says Adjey, when he realizes this enticing entry used salmon instead of a whitefish in their fish tacos. “I was so looking forward to this one.” Despite his initial disappointment, Adjey praises the restaurant’s corn tortillas and says “the condiments are perfect.” Price: $12
TIPPING THE SCALE Safari Bar and Grill, 1749 Avenue Rd. “The fish in this one is nice and flaky — it looks like halibut,” says Adjey. Although Safari Bar and Grill uses wheat tortillas (and Adjey much prefers corn), he still enjoys the overall flavour of these fish tacos. “These almost have a cumin-esque flavour.” Price: $11.99
SINK OR SWIM Turtle Jack’s, 10 Vogell Rd. “Again, these guys have done an amazing job on the fish,” says Adjey. “But I’m not a huge fan of all this mango in here … and the coleslaw? That probably belongs on a po’ boy, not a fish taco.” Adjey also says the tacos look a little too much “like burritos. But the fish is yum.” Price: $12
FISH OUT OF WATER Tortilla Flats, 458 Queen St. W. “Here we’ve got some black beans and salsa on top of the fish … and it’s rolled kind of like a ‘taquito.’” Adjey calls Tortilla Flats’ offering “uneventful” and cheekily suggests that the cook should somehow score the winning taco’s recipe. Price: $11.99