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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