Note: scheduled post. Still on holiday. Back soon though. Boo!
I’ve heard that Fonda, a Mexican style cantina in Richmond, is always busy, with lines down the street. I don’t spend much time in Richmond, so I can’t confirm whether or not this is true, but with the popularity of Mexican food in Melbourne, I can believe it.
Before we went on holiday, Alastair and I had an early dinner with Hazzie and Gazman. We rocked up at 6pm and were seated straight away – hooray to not lining up. We quickly looked through the menu and ordered at the counter.
The Melbourne craze for Mexican food continues full steam ahead, with Touché Hombre being one of the latest to open in the past month or so. The team behind it, Maison Davis, have obviously had a bit of fun putting the restaurant together. There’s many tongue in cheek references to be found: from the tag line “héroes de medio caparazón” (heroes in a half shell), to the arcade games at the entrance, to the “who ya gonna call?” neon sign, and the big cheery chicken jugs that pour cocktails out of the beak, just to name a few.
Welcome to the tacos edition of the International Incident Party. We had noodles, we had dumplings, we had pizza pie, we had gnocchi, and now it’s time to taco it up.
A couple of weeks ago, through the power of the internets, a high school friend of Alastair’s got in contact. Alastair hadn’t seen or spoken to this person for over ten years, but when we found out he was visiting Melbourne, we caught up with him over dinner.
He picked Montezumas on Bridge Road so we headed there for some probably not very authentic Mexican food.
After looking at the menu, I opted for something I’d never eaten before – the Mole Pablano ($18.95). The menu said that it was a centuries old chicken dish which was invented by nuns of Puebla for the Bishop’s visit. It was served with a spicy-ish sauce that contained 32 herbs and spices, rice, and coconut covered banana and pineapple.
When it arrived the fruit had me stumped. I wasn’t sure about how to eat it – was I supposed to eat the banana and pineapple with the chicken? Should I keep the fruit separate and eat it after finishing the savoury stuff? Was it wrong for me to be confused? Was it obvious? Do I have enough questions in this paragraph? I don’t think so? Back to the food – I tried some of the chicken with the banana and pineapple, but ended up leaving the fruit behind and eating it afterwards. I have no idea what a good mole pablano should taste like, but I enjoyed it. The meat was tender, and the sauce was rich and smooth, with a hint of heat.
Alastair had the Gringo ($19.95) a platter with a beef enchilada, beef burrito and rice. It’s a bit hard to tell from this photo, but it was a massive serve.
Bro had one of the combination platters ($17.95), which came with chilli con carne, chicken taco, chicken and sour cream enchilada and rice.
Montezuma’s was fairly cheap and cheerful. It was an unassuming place, with large serves, and a casual atmosphere – good for a low key catch up. It was just a shame it was a school night, it would’ve been fun to kick back with beer or margaritas!
