Mamasita

Mamasita is one of the renowned Mexican restaurants in Melbourne and has always been a hot topic among the circle of foodies I know. It is famous for its reasonably priced and delicious food and infamous for the sheer difficulty to get seats and the long waits.

The first time I visited Mamasita was with Kaili, Jeremy and Jojo. We arrived at the restaurant at 6.10 p.m. and the friendly lady at the door told us they had an opening at 10:30 p.m. That was when my jaw dropped in utter disbelief and the Italian hand sign came up. We decided to head somewhere else for a dinner before returning later for supper.

After having dinner at Rosati, Mamasita called and said they had an opening at nine and we rushed there without pausing for doubt despite being a bit full from dinner.

I was there for a second time with Kaili another Saturday but at five, and we got seats immediately.

The range of food we ordered both times overlap so I will lump them together into one review.

Tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa.

Lightly salted and crispy, the tortilla chips are an absolute delight to start a meal with. The guacamole definitely blew all of us away. It was a rich and creamy dip with a bit chunky onions and the refreshing burst of sourness from the onions and lime and the creaminess of the avocado complement the chips perfectly. The salsa, on the other hand, paled in comparison to the guacamole but it was by no means bad. The watery texture made it less appealing and impressive than the guacamole. However, the mild spiciness made it a nice alternative to the guacamole.

Elotes callejeros.

Described in the menu as "Street Style" chargrilled corn, queso, chipotle mayonnaise and lime, this unassuming dish is one of the star attractions of Mamasita, a fact which we did not learn about until after the first meal. At first I thought the white shavings on the corn were grated coconut so I did not order that. After talking to V Vien, she insisted that "you must order the corn" in the hypnotised voice and the second time round, that was what we did.

I would have to say it is the best corn I have ever tasted, hands down. The corn was still juicy and sweet despite being chargrilled and black on some parts. The sweetness of the corn is balanced with the sourness of the lime and chipotle mayonnaise and the saltiness of the queso (cheese). When it comes to texture, this dish shines as well due to the melted cheese which added more bite to the crunchy corn as well as the mayonnaise which added moisture. This dish is simple but absolutely brilliant.

Tostaditas de pollo (chicken).

Chargrilled chicken, avocado, queso fresco (cheese) and chipotle mayonnaise on four 2.5 inch tostaditas. These supposedly bite-sized snacks are not really bite-sized, unless jaw dislocation comes naturally. The chicken was shredded into strands and was a bit too dry for me. However, it was saved by the avocado base which gave a creamy texture to the dish. The chipotle mayonnaise packed a light punch with its spiciness which was slightly cured by the avocado. I was also fond of the smoky flavour in the chicken.

Tostaditas de cangrejos (crabs).

This dish is tostaditas, like the one above but with crab meat, avocado, cucumber, tamarind, mayonnaise and red chilli. We are not really fans of this dish. The amount of crab meat in the dish is rather pathetic and any taste of crab is masked by that of the cucumber, tamarind and mayonnaise. I would forgo this dish for something else.

Taco de pescado (fish) y taco de chorizo.

The first time in Mamasita, we had the tacos de camarones (prawns) and the tacos de chorizo and the second time we had the tacos de chorizo again and tried the tacos de pescado (fish).

The taco de camarones consists of marinated prawns, habanero chillies and chipotle almond salsa. I was pretty impressed by the dish due to the size and freshness of the prawns. They were crunchy and succulent, how prawns are supposed to be. The chilli and chipotle almond salsa gave it a sourish and spicy taste which balanced the savoury prawns perfectly. Definitely something I would order again.

There is something about chorizos that appeal to me, maybe it is just because it is made from meat and it sounds more exotic than "sausage". Thus, it was imperative that we ordered the taco de chorizo. Made from chorizo, obviously, cabbage, chipotle, coriander and onion, this dish is not for anyone without a tongue resistant to pungent food. During my first visit, the chorizo and the chipotle were just nice in terms of spiciness. However, during my second visit, the spiciness was multiplied by a factor of ten, or somewhere around there. It was stinging the tongue with every bite. I wish there was more consistency with the spiciness. If the first one's spiciness was normal, I would order this dish every time; if the second one was normal, I would probably only opt for it whenever an act of self-punishment is necessary.

Last of the taco trio, the taco de pescado, which has grilled fish, lime, achiote paste and red onion salsa. Basically, this dish reminded me of ikan bakar (grilled fish) in Malaysia, except it was wrapped in a taco. The fish was cooked to perfection and was still moist and soft on the inside. Other than that, there was really nothing spectacular about it.

Quesadilla de cordero (lamb).

Apparently the quesadilla de cordero is not on the online menu so I cannot list out the ingredients. As far as I can tell, there's queso, lamb and mint sauce. Surprisingly, the lamb was still gamy, the way I like it as the mint sauce was rather mild and did not mask the gaminess. The cheese gave the quesadilla an interesting texture, something like a pie with cheese and chunky meat. There was certainly a lot of bite in the thin slices of the quesadilla.

I have also sampled the quesadilla de pollo, which is quesadilla containing chargrilled chicken with pico de gallo (salsa fresca), coriander and queso fresco. The chicken in the quesadilla is juicier and more moist than that of the tostaditas. The pico de gallo which is a fresh, uncooked salsa gave the dish a refreshing touch of sour and spicy which balanced the smoky, savoury flavour of the chicken. To provide texture, melted cheese is thrown into the fray creating a simple but delicious dish. Personally, I prefer the chicken to the lamb.

Camarones gigantes al ajillo.

The only main we have ever ordered, the grilled prawns, toasted garlic and green almond sauce. The grilled prawns were fresh, succulent and crunchy like those of the taco de camarones. They had the charred flavour as well which added depth to the dish. The toasted garlic oil and the green almond sauce were rather subtle in the sense that they did not kill the natural flavours of the prawns. They do, however, add texture to the dish as there were chunks of almond and slices of toasted garlic in the sauce. Together, the saltiness of the prawn and the garlic oil, the slightly burnt taste of the fragrant toasted garlic were in a perfect ensemble with the accompaniment of light hints of almond and herbs from the green almond sauce. It was an assault on the senses, in a good way. A very flavourful dish but beware of the garlic breath that follows. Nevertheless, this dish is well worth the money and the risk of chasing people away.

Frituras de manzana.

The apple fritters and vanilla pear sorbet were rather disappointing. The apple fritters were crispy but had a strong taste of oil in the batter. That alone was enough to put all of us off. The apple was also too tough and required much effort in cutting with the fork.

The vanilla pear sorbet was decent but could not salvage the dish on its own. It was reasonably sweet but due to the apple fritters being too sweet, the sorbet was a bit tasteless in comparison.

Helado de maiz.

Sweet corn ice-cream cone with caramalised popcorn. This dessert is simple yet wonderful. The ice-cream had a nice consistency and the amazing part was the resemblance of its flavour to sweet corn, unlike most sweet corn ice-creams which just taste artificial. This was the real deal! The ice-cream was not excessively sweet but gets a bit sweeter when eaten with the caramalised popcorn. The flavour of caramel and sweet corn dancing in the mouth together with the sensation of the cold ice-cream and the warm popcorn is an absolute delight.

Unfortunately, the second time we had the ice-cream, the sweet corn fragrance was completely gone. It is a real shame.

Mamasita is a restaurant which deserves its fame. The long queue outside the shop and in the stairway is a testament to that. However, the fact that the inconsistency in the taste of the food makes me doubt whether I would put Mamasita up with the other restaurants in my list of favourites. That being said, I will probably still return to the restaurant for a few more times before deciding.

1/11 Collins Street,

Melbourne,

3000 VIC.

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Rosati

I have not posted in a very long time. If there is anyone out there who anticipates my posts, well, I would have to call you the biggest dumbass on the planet and then apologise for my language and also for not posting.

Not posting does not mean I have not been out hunting for food. On the contrary, I have never been so actively and enthusiastically hopping from one restaurant to another before.

Rosati.

This time, the hunt took me to Rosati, a rather large Italian restaurant somewhere on Flinders Lane. Actually, we went over to Mamasita first, but they only had an opening for dinner at 10:30 so we decided to go somewhere else first and Rosati just happened to look appealing at the time.

Somewhere around a week later, I went back again. Yes, it was that good.

Without further ado, allow me to proceed to the food.

Pork belly.

The pork belly looked interesting to me when it was served. The first thing that came to mind was, "where is the pork belly?" Apparently Rosati's version of pork belly is not the usual slab of roast with crispy skin; instead it was sliced into half-inch thick pieces and dressed with balsamic vinegar and almost completely covered in currants, pomegranate and pine nuts.

I would say I was completely surprised when I took a bite into a piece of the pork belly. Firstly, to tick off all the criteria for good pork belly. Crispy skin, tick; copious amounts of fat, tick; tender and juicy meat, tick; refreshing sourness, what?! The sourness is not from the pork going stale, but it was from the balsamic vinegar, currants and pomegranate which actually balances the fattiness of the pork belly really well. The crunchiness of the pine nuts, the currants and the pomegranate also adds texture to the otherwise monotonous softness of the layers of fat. Those elements make it an ease to continue munching on the pork belly, whereas the conventional pork belly gives eaters a headache after the initial excitement. In fact, the pork belly was so addictive that Kaili and I craved for it from time to time.

Unfortunately when we were back to appease our stomachs, the pork belly was nowhere near as good anymore. The pieces were too thinly sliced and just too dry such that the layer of fat lost all its appeal. I hope Rosati improves on their pork belly and their consistency as this dish is one of the most recommended dishes.

Calamari with baby cress and almond aioli.

Nothing really worth mentioning here. It is just a typical deep fried calamari resembling those found in most restaurants in Melbourne. The batter was not really flavourful and a bit too much of it was coated onto the calamari. The almond aioli was just so-so. In fact, I could not really decide whether the calamari was better with or without the aioli. It did not make such a significant difference to the taste. It is not a dish I would order again at Rosati.

Polpette or Sicilian meatballs.

I would have to say that I thought the meatballs were rather good, but to be fair, how bad can meatballs get?  Also, the meatballs are not just typical balls of minced meat, instead, the fat content in the meatballs lived up to my expectations and (if I am correct), there was also cheese in the mix, which gave the meatballs added flavour and complexity. 

The sauce, which seems like napolitana to me, was just about right. It was not intensely sour as to kill the taste of beef and was not too bland either. I do wish that it could be a bit thicker though.

Button mushroom with garlic cream and breadcrumbs.

To be honest I was really anticipating something amazing when I ordered this dish. Italians are after all the masters of mushroom. Again, this dish really disappointed me. The mushrooms were soggy due to the the garlic cream which was so dilute that I would not even call it a cream, and worst of all, it was rather tasteless. The breadcrumbs could not save the dish from being abysmal. It being in the dish is just like adding breadcrumbs into water. 

Gnocchi with lamb.

The gnocchi with lamb was a special for the day, which is not in the menu, during our second visit. As such, I do not know what was the cheese that was in the dish. I had another gnocchi dish the first time we were there. For both occasions, the gnocchi was almost perfect. It had a soft puffiness to it and a creamy texture inside. The gnocchi just disintegrates without much chewing yet offers a bit of bite before that. I also appreciate the fact that the lamb was cooked to perfection and was tender such that there was no strong contrast between the texture of the meat and the gnocchi.

The lamb and the gravy were adequately seasoned with a tangy, tomato-like flavour. The cheese scattered on the dish had an intense saltiness but when eaten with the lamb and gnocchi, it created a rich amalgam of taste and texture which I found quite hard to resist.

Done with the mains, it is time to move on to the desserts. 

Chocolate pudding, citrus and vanilla ice-cream.

Rosati is quite famous for their chocolate pudding and when you are out dining with women, it is rather hard not to go into desserts. However, the chocolate pudding did not live up to expectations. Although the core was molten and flowed out like a heavenly chocolate dream when we cut the cross section, the pudding itself did not taste as good as I pictured it to be. The pudding just tasted awfully floury and did not have a significant chocolate taste.

The citrus, on the other hand, tasted really like citrus and excessively so. It was so sour that all of us cringed after having it. Not something I would look forward to the next time I go to Rosati, if I ever still want to return.

The vanilla ice-cream was just decent, like any vanilla ice-cream one can find in Italian restaurants in Melboune. Nothing special there.

Layer cake with strawberry and raspberry sauce.

This dessert is a daily special, as such, I do not really know the exact name as the waitress read out the name at the speed of sound. Anyway, on to the review.

The first thing that came to mind with this dish, I mean cup, was the difficulty to eat it. When we drove the spoon down to the bottom, the cake escapes the spoon and all we got was thick strawberry and raspberry sauce, which was a sugar overload. That being said, the sauce was the real thing. It had loads of crushed berries in it and it hits that sweet spot in an instant when eaten. As we ate, the ratio of cake to sauce increased and the sweetness got to a saner level. 

For the sugar addicts and the insane, this dessert would certainly satisfy; for diabetics, it would send you straight up to heaven.

Chocolate mousse with orange sorbet.

Being a sucker for chocolate mousse, I might be a bit biased with this, but Kaili can vouch for me. We loved  this dessert to bits. The chocolate mousse had the right consistency and complexity. It was airy and smooth with a bit of bite and had a nutty flavour to it instead of just being purely cocoa and sugar. The sorbet did wonders to the dish as well. Balancing the thick, sweet mousse with a touch of ice cold, tangy orange made the dish surprisingly refreshing. 

I would recommend this to everyone who visits Rosati, but there is one slight problem, it is a daily special so it really depends on your luck whether you get to sample this wonder when you are there to dine.

All in all, Rosati is a decent restaurant. The first dinner at Rosati gave me a really good impression. The food was superb and the waiters and waitresses were really friendly. The second time round, some dishes were just plain weird and off-putting. Will we return to Rosati? Perhaps to satisfy that sporadic craving for the pork belly, otherwise, there are better places in town.

95, Flinders Lane,
Melbourne,
VIC 3000.

03 9654 7772

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