Update 2023-Aug-26: La Latina has closed. I'm not surprised given the experience we had, but there seem to have been other, deeper issues as well. It was too coincidental that it was located in previous rodizio (Copacabana) location; it also seems that had the same owners, and a new Copacabana will be replacing it.
La Latina is located at 150 Eglinton Ave. E., a short walk from Eglinton subway station on the Yonge line in midtown Toronto. If this location and cuisine genre seem familiar, this was previously Copacabana, a rodizio (this one is a “rodizio”.) La Latina offers a $55 dinner, and $75 dinner with AYCD alcoholic beverages, on Thursday and Sunday but we don't drink alcohol anymore so went for the $55 option. Pop is canned, not AYCD and $3. While initially empty, it filled up quickly and with the live musician added was quite loud.
Sweet potato fries were excellent and the sauce wonderful. Broccolini was lovely with perfect seasoning. Grilled mushrooms were delicious. Salmon crudo was wonderfully tangy and found myself reminiscing of when we spent months in Mexico when I was a child... it honestly gave me that “Ratatouille rapture regression” moment as it was that good. Queso croquettes had a lovely pimento sauce and were delicious. Salmon tostado was excellent with cilantro and avocado. Mishy didn't care for the cassava yuca fries but I did. Risssole was delicious and not overstated.
Finally onto the meats, pork sausage was fantastic and smoky. Beef picanya was rare to the point of raw but that is just the way I like it, however anyone else would have concluded that it was underdone and they were just getting it out of the grill as fast as possible as had just opened. Shrimps were quite good although Mishy thought they were fishy. Chicken breast was very spicy and very well so, and moist and delicious; thighs were similar. Pork ribs were boneless, fall-off-the-bone tender and delicious. Salmon was good. The first top sirloin was not so good but the second was excellent and beautifully seasoned.
For dessert coffee flan was delicious and with plenty of coffee notes. Pastel del paraiso was a nice blending of contrasting flavor ie coconut and lemon.
La Latina is a “rodizio” rather than a true rodizio as the meats are cut up in the grill area into small bite-sized pieces and then a couple at a time are served by the wait staff per round. In contrast, a true rodizio has the wait staff trim the meat off at the table, and as much the customer likes until they say they have had enough. Given that there is a 90-minute time limit, the service was too slow to the point of appearing to "run out the clock", with long delays between meat rounds and few beef offerings, in addition to the small portions once something did arrive. (Note the photo, which needed to be a montage as one or two tiny pieces on a plate isn't photogenic.) There is also a 20% included gratuity hidden in the fine print, even for parties of two, which is ridiculously high (especially considering the slow meats’ service!), in addition to the $3 per can pop as noted above. The clientele had a disproportionate number of young toughs who were doubtless there for the AYCD alcohol and wouldn’t notice or care about these issues, and this would seem to be La Latina’s target market.
Strangely, considering this, the more refined and delicate sides were as good as could be expected from a higher-end à la carte... they utterly eclipsed the “meatyocrity” and I’d only go back if we could just enjoy them and be charged accordingly. As it stands, La Latina is quite overpriced, their signature offerings were minuscule and weren’t anything special, and our rating must reflect this.
Rating: 6 / 10
