Mambo Lounge

We went to mambo lounge on summerlicious, we ordered mojitos, the tropical salad, chef salad, confit du canard, bistec con yuca, flan de coco y crème brûlée. Everything was really good, but the portions were kind of small and the service was a little slow, also the bistec was a bit chewy.

Was here with friends for my 30^th, food was good and service was great, we pretty much had the whole place to our selves as it is pretty small.

We headed to Mambo in search of a more upscale dinner to remind us of a great trip to Havana we went on a few years ago. We were drawn in by the promise of Cuban music and «the best mojito in Toronto».
Pros: The music was nice and added to the atmosphere. and did a great job at drowning out the rowdy table next to us (more on that below). The black bean soup was so-​so, but needed seasoning big-​time. The yucca fries were tasty, crispy and came with a great dipping sauce. My husband really enjoyed his duck confit, but it wasn’t really a Cuban dish…
Cons: We walked in and were greeted by a less than friendly server who preferred communicating with her hands (i.e. sign for two and pointing) rather than welcoming us and showing us a table. As mentioned, we were next to a table of about 10 – 12 very loud and obnoxious people (like, banging on the table and yelling), which was very unpleasant. And their server seemed to instigate it and encourage it… As for food, I had the pork, and the sauce tasted very store-​bought (too sweet, not much depth), and the rice and beans were overcooked so some of the grains of rice were very hard. The mojitos were very strong… I know that’s not a problem for some people, but we were driving, so drinking what tasted like a glass of rum with a few sprigs of mint was problematic for us, and we didn’t finish either drinks.
Overall, this place tries to make it look like it’s more of a big deal than it is… which is disappointing. Cuban food is so delicious and flavourful and it deserves more attention and pride than it gets at Mambo.

Great Cuban food but the music is too loud for the small space. The musicians are in the middle of the place and the amplifier is set to way too high of a volume for the room and one needs to yell to be heard at all. Things got better when the musicians got a break.
The service is not the fastest, but it is friendly in a non-​supplicating way. The ‘Tapas’ appetizers are 4 for $ 21 or 1 for $ 6. They are too small for $ 6 a piece, so the $ 21 deal is better value.
This time I had the Biftec, their steak, which is the most expensive item on the menu. It was done very well, with yuca fries and vegetable, but tad overpriced for what you get.
It is a good place to bring a date and share Tapas.

My friends and I went here for Winterlicious. Our reservation was for 7:30 but we arrived early. The waitress was nice and sat us even though we were 30 minutes early. Very kind of her as there’s not much waiting room between arriving and the tables.
The service was good. Our waitress was extremely friendly and even joked around with the group. However, I can see where other Unilocalers commented on the slow service– there was some wait times for our next courses.
Food wise? I ordered the black bean soup which was so so. It looked delicious but tasted a little on the bland side. My entrée was the Steak with the yucca fries. The fries are the best part! Other then that, I wasn’t such a fan of the steak. It wasn’t cooked to my temp and it just seemed very bland. That was the common theme across the food board.
Verdict? It was just alright. Would I go again? Probably not– perhaps Cuban inspired food is not for me.

Our party came here for Winterlicious.
Our reservation was at 8:30 pm and we ended dinner at around 12 am — not because of us taking our time but because of how slow the service was at the restaurant.
The interval of us flagging someone down took 15 mins, and another 30 mins for whatever we ordered to arrive at our table (even our bill!!).
3 course meal from Winterlicious:
TROPICAL SALAD
Normal salad — nothing special about it. I was happy there were a few pieces of avocado though.
MERO ANTARTICO (Sea bass fillet with coconut rice)
This was the most bland looking and bland tasting sea bass I’ve had. The coconut rice wasn’t fully cooked — parts of it were still raw. best part was probably the carrots… LOL
MOUSSE DE CHOCOLATE (Chocolate cake)
How’d it take them 30 minutes to bring this out? It’s just a piece of chocolate cake that was sliced up. Nothing special.
Will not visit here again.

Dined on Friday, Feb 6. It was a busy evening, many parties in there. The place is small but vibrant. Tried the $ 25 winterlicious menu (the regular $ 30 Blue Plate menu). The Tropical Salad is fresh. Confit de Canard is succulent, but the skin could be more crispy. Will come back.

Wonderful service.
— Love the yucca fries
— amazing octopus
— pollo a la cubana was delicious
— steak was delicious
Only thing I didnt like was the bon bon de pollo. I found it didn’t have much flavour.

Went here a few years ago and had tapas on the back patio and loved it. I was excited to go back but as it was during summerlicious they were only offering a set menu. The back patio is lovely, but the food was just okay. Yes, the Yucca fries are yummy, but the steak was mediocre (kinda fatty). Also, the service was very slow — and it really wasn’t busy. Might give this place another shot to try the main menu again, but was disappointed on my last visit.

Friendly service. The dishes were delicious. I loved my chicken. My girlfriend’s steak was juicy…

Made reservations for two for Summerlicious. My friend arrived before I did and she waited almost 15 minutes for someone to see to her. It wasn’t that busy. We sat at the back patio at first but it was full of cigar smokers so we went inside. We waited another 15 minutes for someone to come and take my drink order, and then we noticed the waitress was busying herself with some cutlery at the back of the restaurant. She seemed to be the one assigned to our table, but showed no indication she would be coming to serve us anytime soon, so we left and went to down the street to Factory Girl and had the best freaking meal I’ve had in a long time. I recommend Factory Girl instead if this place.
If I could choose 0 stars I would because they did absolutely nothing for us, but Unilocal wants me to put something so it only gets 1 star.

Just went here last night with my husband for Summerlicious and we thought it was great.
The back patio is really cute and they were playing Cuban music the whole time which we really enjoyed. It was clean and the server was very polite. Almost felt like we were on vacation (except for hearing the buses at Broadview St which are right next to the patio).
We ordered the salads as appetizers and they were both massive which was a nice surprise considering it was a Summerlicious menu. The dressing was delicious.
I got the bass fillet with coconut rice and my husband had a steak with yucca fries. I have no idea what yucca fries are but they were amazing. The rice was a little bland even with the coconut but it didn’t bother me too much. The bass was really good and cooked well.
I had a few bites of the steak and it was average but still very tasty.
The best part was the dessert! I got the chocolate cake and the husband got the crème brule. The cake was so die for and just the right amount.
Overall we really enjoyed Mambo Lounge. The atmosphere was very comfortable and the food was great. I’d like to go back when there are bands playing I think it would be a fun time!

This was a friendly place. We went here for winterlicious. The service is great and music was nice. The good was good but just doesn’t have a Cuban vibe. I felt it was ordinary food. I was hoping this place had more of a Cuban experience. That said that’s the only reason why I gave it a 3. I was hoping to get a Cuban feel but I did not.

Ate here for a Summerlicious dinner, where the only thing on the menu was anything that’s part of their Summerlicious offer. The food and mixed drinks was nonetheless enjoyable, the kind of thing I’d imagine shoving down if I was loafing around a tropical beach – it is supposed to be all Cuban style, eh?
I really loved the Ensalada de Chef – a baby spinach salad with blue cheese. Truth be told: blue cheese makes everything better.
There’s a large rear patio, with enough shade to make you feel more relaxed even in a disgusting heat wave. If you like dining outside with the air serenaded with Latin salsa dance music and punctuated with the competing sound of idling bus engines, then therefore this patio I speak of, my friend, is a hidden paradise on the Danforth.
{TTC: right ’round the corner from Broadview subway station.}

Okay, bland food. Great service gave it a third star. Fun ambiance.

I’ve only been once and I quite liked it. The two of us shared 8 tapas plates and were full but not stuffed. Next time we go we will order 4 tapas plates and share a main course, in order to only get our favorites.
Great:
Crab cake
Rojas something
Good:
Fried yucca
Shrimp
Calamari
Cigar
Quesadilla
Decent:
Chicken drumsticks
Bland or bad: nothing that we tried!

We had an awful experience here during Winterlicious!
We had a reservation for a large group of us and had to wait half an hour to be seated. It took us 20 minutes to get our server to take our drink order. My boyfriend ordered water because he was driving and the waitress made fun of him for it and didn’t bring it to him until half way through the second course. Soups and salads took at least 40 minutes to arrive, after plates were cleared it was another 30 before our meals arrived.
All in all the meal took 4 hours to complete, the service was horrible, the waitress was snippy and if they hadn’t pre-​pre added because of our large group, none of us would have tipped. The band went home before we could even get our bills and we were the last table there and we were still kept waiting. The food though decent was not worth my time. I will NEVER be going back.

A family member was in town and requested Cuban food for dinner, I’m not that familiar with Cuban food, so I promptly did a search and came upon Mambo Lounge.
I am glad to have discovered a great place to have some authentic Mojitos and delicious Tapas! We went early on a Tuesday night so it was quiet but were told by our server that Thursday, Friday and Saturday the restaurant is quite busy as there is live music including a Cuban Jazz band.
Our server was very gracious, explained all the dishes we asked about, made our amazing Mojitos, and made sure we had all the sides, sauces etc. we could possibly need or want.
We tried most of the Tapas dishes, there was a deal, 4 Tapas for $ 24. (Mains were $ 18– $ 30) The Yucca fries, «Quesedilla», and braised flank steak were standouts. The Crab cake was also yummy. The homemade goat cheese with garlic was delish as well. If you like things spicy, ask for their homemade hot sauce!
I would absolutely go back for more!

Summerlicios dinner 2012. Long wait for salads. Warm salad that felt like it was left outside for too long. Each dish took forever to come … over salted fish. Deserts was so so… tasted like pre bought costco cakes. Two people from our group got stomach aches from eating here.
Never coming back

Tapas in the Cuban style. Nothing to write home about nor long winded review about. Adiós.