The Black Toro, Glen Waverley

The Black Toro has been one of my favourite restaurants since it opened in Glen Waverley in 2012. Good Mexican food was hard to find in Australia and they do a great take on Hispanic cuisine. My most recent visit was for my birthday and I'd been looking forward to it for weeks.

 

The restaurant does two sittings, early and late; we usually take an 8.15pm booking so that we don't have to rush, though it does mean a late night. On arrival we were seated near the door, and it quickly became apparent that we were going to freeze every time the door opened. So we requested a move and were reseated with no dramas. Our former table remained unused all night so I'm not sure why we were sat there in the first place (the first of a few let-downs for the night).

 

Drink menus came out and I went straight for my usual margarita. It's not on the menu but they will happily make anything if they have the ingredients. Their bartender is good.

 

 

Then we got the food menu; having dined here before, we turned down the offer to have someone explain the concept of small and large dishes. At this point our water glasses remained empty, and it wasn't until we flagged down a staff member that we finally got some water (and I noticed that all the other tables did too, as no one had water at this point).

 

We ordered a number of small plates to start. Always the grilled corn, coated in chipotle mayo. 

Then the crispy soft shell crab tacos (top), and the pulled pork tacos (bottom).

 

 

The wagyu beef sliders, which were a little "American" in style and very delicious.

 

 

And the toro fried chicken. Juicy, crispy, and that sauce has some nice bite!

 

 

At this point the waitress offered us dessert and coffee...they don't know me very well! We ordered the Crispy pork belly, which comes with rice and tortillas. Three of us, four tortillas, and six pieces of pork. It wouldn't have hurt for them to provide just two more tortillas. Fortunately my dining companions had eaten oysters earlier so I claimed the extra

 

 

I also enjoyed a Mexican cosmo with the main; made with tequila instead of the normal vodka. That's an espresso martini in the background.

 

 

Now I had planned to eat dessert, as they do a wicked peanut butter cheesecake (and I had been contemplating the full dessert platter), but after a large morning tea and lunch (and a bottle of champagne before dinner), I just couldn't do it on this occasion.

 

So to wrap up; the food here is always amazing and the guy behind the bar making cocktails does a great job. But the service was definitely less attentive than I've experience before. Having to repeatedly ask for water refills, being seated near the door on a cold evening, and not even a farewell from the floor manager on the way out (normally someone will escort you to the door and hold it open for you). Won't stop me going back but it did take the shine off a little.