Love at Ahora

Ahora is tacky. I would not have noticed from the small sign outside if it hadn't been pointed out to me. I warily climbed down the stairs to a brightly coloured and rectangular room cut up by the food counter and kitchen, and a small area of raised seating in the back. The restaurant was not overly full, but the sounds from the kitchen spilled out into the dining area making it noisy and heated. We were seated at a table with menus, but then had to go up to the counter to order food (They did not tell us this, I just had knowledgeable friends that saved me hunger driven anxiety trying to flag down a waiter).

We ordered nachos with chicken to start, and I ordered the Tostada salad (my favourite Mexican treat).  Most of the menu items were under $10 which is great for those of us who are unemployed, and the portions are big enough to fill a fairly heavy appetite. The nachos arrived promptly, and had the guacamole and salsa layered right in with the cheese, chips and vegetables, making many of the middle bottom chips soggy. This sounds a little unappetizing but the soggy chips were actually my favourite because they had soaked up all the flavours. The chicken was nice and smokey, and not extra charge for including guacamole like the nachos I had had earlier that week! These immediately dashed any questions I had about the quality of food, and I excitedly awaited my meal.

The Tostada was kind of like a mix between my beloved market tostada and a taco salad. It came in a large ruffled hard corn tortilla shell and was filled with beans, chicken, salad, guacamole and salsa. The beans were at the bottom and began to leak through the shell, so it was like a race to the finish. It had many of the same ingredients as the nachos, and had both similar and distinct tastes. Even though I had just eaten half a plate of nachos, I still polished off the Tostada. By the time we finished our meals, the restaurant had filled up and we shuffled back out into the scorching heat, stuffed and satisfied, to make way for the next customers.

Dairy Free: No (cheese and sour cream)
Gluten Free: Yes! Just choose the corn, not flour, tortilla and shell options