Taco Bill (Windsor)

Taco Bill
69 Chapel St, Windsor
(Ph) 9510 9800

Catching up with J - I didn't want European food 'cause I'm going there soon and I'd had too much Asian food lately so wanted something else... Mexican! I know the Taco Bill at Camberwell gives 40% off mains on Mondays and Tuesdays so thought we'd go there, but then I looked on the Taco Bill website and the Windsor store actually gives 50% off mains on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays!

Not too busy on this Tuesday night - didn't expect it to be or they wouldn't give so much discount on these nights, I wonder how they still survive with giving so much discount? I guess they expect you to order entree/dessert and drinks.

J got the Quesadilla suprema - large flour tortilla filled with frijole con queso, cheese, tomato, onion, our house-made salsa fresc and your choice of filling. Baked then topped with guacamole and pico de gallo and served with rice - frijole con queso $19.50

Quite a huge quesadilla! I thought they usually toast it on the outside for you?

I was hungry so wanted to try the Enchilada nuevo Mexico - you have to be hungry! Three high stack of corn tortillas, "New Mexico style", filled with your choice of beef or chicken, onions and cheese.. covered with mild chile sauce, topped with an egg and melting cheese. Served with frijoles and rice and a taco $23.95

And omg it was HUGE! It's like the Combination platter (see my visit at Collins Street) but even bigger! I like how they give you a fried egg on top of the enchiladas with lots of melted cheese =D The chicken meat was braised and very soft and tender - the same meat was served in the enchiladas and the taco... they should let you choose what meat you want in what wrap so you're not eating all just one flavour 'cause by the end of the meal it all tastes the same =P

Food~

6/10 - quite good Mexican food... for $12 definitely well worth it!

Service~

1/5 - I read on the Taco Bill Facebook site that all customers should receive complimentary chips and salsa every visit (like we did on our last visit to Collins Street) but we didn't get any, and neither did other tables at this store. So I told them on Facebook and now they're giving me a gift voucher to compensate so yay =)

Atmosphere~

3/5 - very ambient lighting inside, can sit indoors or outdoors but it was too cold on this night to sit outside =P

C.

xo

Click here for the CBD (Collins Street) store review..

Fiesta Mexican

Fiesta Mexican

175 Toorak Rd, South Yarra

(Ph) 9827 4593

P felt like Mexican food so I looked in my Entertainment book and came across Fiesta Mexican - quite good ratings on Urbanspoon so thought we'd check it out. It's actually very close to the South Yarra train station and I think I've walked past it numerous times before.

Cosy restaurant with some interesting decor - sun on the roof? :P

I wanted a nachos with meat so got the Macho Nachos (with all the extras - cheese, guacamole, frijole, died jalapenos, salsa, chicken, sour cream, beef) $23.90

It was huge! Way more than the size of a main! Was my favourite dish of the meal - had everything on it! Chicken with guacamole on one side, and on the other pulled beef with salsa, plus lots of cheese - yum! I couldn't really taste the jalapenos (which was a good thing =P) I like how the beef was pulled beef and not sliced beef or minced beef - reminds me of American food =)

P wanted the Fajita - your choice of meat or vegetables, marinated then cooked with salsa, onions & peppers. Served with guacamole, lettuce, cheese, frijole & three soft flour tortillas. Beef & Chicken $24.90

How strange one of the options was "Beef and chicken" or you can have each meat by itself too - but I've never seen restaurants combine meats like that before?! Was actually a bit spicy but quite a nice marinade, I like how it comes in a sizzling plate (like how they served it at Taco Bill) except this comes with a lot more sides =) I like how you make your own tortillas except they could have been a bit more generous than just 3 tortillas though =/

This restaurant prides itself in its famous customers, in particular tennis players - they have photos on the wall and even named 2 burrito dishes after tennis players! S got the Hewitt Burrito - Lleyton's favourite! A large flour tortilla rolled with sliced chicken breast, lettuce, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Served with brown rice and fresh guacamole $23.90

Big burrito - nothing too special but nothing to complain about either. Was very filling. Lucky we shared the dishes - we nearly passed out by the end of the meal! Soo wanted something from the dessert menu but we were seriously stuffed! =(

Food~
6/10 - pretty good here, get the Macho Nachos for sure! or if you're dining alone (or 2) I think the Combination - beef enchilada, beef taco, mushrooom flauta served with mango salsa & brown rice would be a good dish to try.

Service~
3/5 - food came quite promptly, waiters very polite, asked us multiple times during our meal how the food was and was very prompt in clearing the table

Atmosphere~
3/5 - cosy little restaurant

C.
xo

Mamasita

Mamasita

Level 1, 11 Collins St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9650 3821

A was back in Melbourne and wanted to try Mamasita - a few years after it's opened it is still overly popular and if you come anytime near peak time be prepared to wait along the famous stairs and down onto Collins Street for up to a few hours! We decided to come at 5.30pm on a Sunday night an luckily it was only about 90% full haha. It's entrance is very small and not very visible next to the 7-Eleven but I guess if you come near peak times you would see the line of people waiting outside =P

Inside is actually not that big so no wonder the wait is so long!

We were seated at the end of the bar on high stools - not particularly comfortable but not that we really had a choice!

Sorry for the blinding flash but it's pretty dark in here =/

We started off with the famous Elote callejero - "Street style" chargrilled corn, queso, chipotle mayo & lime $5.4

Quite expensive for one cob of corn but was awesomely delicious - so cheesy with spicy seasoning on top, complimented by the lime juice.

Next we got a Tostaditas (4 per board) - 2.5inch fried tortilla chips with toppings
de Pollo - chargrilled chicken, avocado, chipotle mayo & queso fresco $15.4

The home made tortilla was crisp and crunchy - the mountain of toppings seemed a bit too much for a single tortilla chip, maybe they could have given us another one for the top so it would be more like a sandwich? Would love to try some of their other toppings like pork belly with crackling =D

The  Ceviche - raw fish cured in citrus sounded pretty interesting so we got one to share
Ceviche de Veracruz - snapper, tomato, olive, green chilli, lime & coriander $7.7 single serve, $16.5 share

Came served with some corn chips =D Not sure what it was meant to be like but there was a lot of liquid in it, it was more like a soup? The raw snapper was a bit fishy but was quite nice cured by the tanginess of the lime.

So many small dishes so we decided to get one main to share. Pancita de cerdo - Guajillo- braised pork belly, habanero cream, fried parsley & lime $27.5

This actually tasted like Asian pork belly - like a sweet soy flavour. I quite liked the habanero cream though - just a touch of spiciness which contrasted with the sweetness of the pork.

The waiter suggested us to get either some rice or some other carbs to go with the pork. She recommended the Platanos Machos - fried plantains, pico verde & queso fresco $7.7

Plantain is a starchy banana commonly used for cooking - deep fried here so tasted like chips =D Delicious as a dish by itself with the verde and the cheese anyway!

Luckily most of the dishes weren't too spicy (none of us really eat chilli!) but if you find it's not spicy enough for you, you can always add some of either green or red chilli into your dishes - we were not game enough to try though! =P

Food~
7/10 - quite tasty authentic Mexican food, would definitely want to try their tacos next time and maybe not their main dishes though

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a nice chilled restaurant, if only they had more tables - bar stools aren't particularly comfortable =P

Service~
3/5 - friendly but brisk service, I guess they want you in and out quickly so they can serve the massive line of customers waiting!

Would definitely be back!

C.

xo

Mad Mex

Mad Mex

Southern Cross Station

(actually many locations around Melbourne now..)

Suddenly so many Mexican restaurants popping up in Melbourne, I still haven't managed to make myself line up for Mamasitas yet, but we recently went to Taco Bill which really whet my appetite for more Mexican food =)

Mad Mex is a fast-foodish chain store started in Sydney, but now there are a few opened up in Melbourne. There's one opened up at Southern Cross Station now and there's an Entertainment buy-1-get-1-free voucher so we thought we'd give it a go.

P said it feels kinda like Subway, which I kinda agree, you choose your base "bread", choose your filling and choose your sauces (aka salsas). 

I went for some Nachos - tortilla chips with melted queso cheese w/ black beans, sour cream, jalapenos & choice of filling $10.90. And for the filling I got the Pork (carnitas) - slow roasted, shredded, traditional style w/ garlic, onion, lime & cumin. After so many years still reminiscing the delicious pulled pork from New York =) The waiter made this straight in front of us - awesome 'cause we were starving!

Doesn't look that appetizing but surprisingly was delicious! The pork was so soft and juicy and was very refreshing with the lettuce and tomato. I'm not usually a fan of black beans but they went well with the pork =) If only they gave us some guacamole too - I thought nachos automatically come with guacamole =(

P got the Grande Melt - toasted flour tortilla, a quesadilla with the works, rolled like a burrito and toasted $10.90. For the filling he chose Chicken (pollo) - freshly grilled, seasoned w/ our chipotle adobo marinade (chemical free)

They give us a number plate and bring this out to us in only about 5 minutes - good to know they make it straight away for you =P it comes wrapped up in al-foil and P automatically rips it open.  Who's to know you're actually meant to just open it on one side and eat it while still in the al-foil so the juices don't leak out the bottom - there were actually instructions on how to eat burritos on the serviettes here which we didn't read until we got our hands drenched in burrito sauce haha =P

Lots of filling! Chicken and lots of cheeeeeese =D Too bad the juices made the tortilla soft and soggy instead of crispy =( How are you meant to eat it so it stays crispy hmm?

Food~
6/10 - quite good! I'd recommend the nachos or at least try some of their homemade tortilla chips =) Treating it as fast food, it's definitely is quite high on ratings!

Service~
1/5 - it is fast food so can't expect much service, but they could have at least cleaned the table properly for us when we asked them to..

Atmosphere~
2/5 - they need more tables here! Though the Melbourne Central store is nicer with it's own private eating area as opposed to be part of the big food court =)

C.
xo

Taco Bill

Taco Bill

412 Collins St, Melbourne 

(Ph) 9670 4327

I had a Shop-a-Docket voucher for Taco Bill - buy one main get one free =) I had been meaning to try it out for ages, for some reason P has something against Mexican restaurants so it took us forever to finally come try it out.

We came to this one on Collins Street - it's like underground and looks slightly dingy but the waiters were very nice and were actually Mexican! (well they spoke Spanish =P) We got a bowl of corn chips and some salsa to start of with w00t freebies! The salsa was hotter than what we were used to but had lots of stuff in it =)

P wanted to get a Fruit Margarita $9.90 - we asked the waiter what was the most popular flavour and she said strawberry so we went with it =( Quite expensive but super delicious - fruity but slightly alcoholy! Totally wanted one each ><

The menu had lots of different things we had never heard of before but we decided to go for "Great for Beginners" dish and the "Our No. 1 Favourite" dish =)

The Beginners dish is a bit of everything. La Combinacion - beef enchilada, beef taco and beef taquito, served with frijoles and rice $21.50

This was super delicious! The beef was like pulled beef, soft and tender and full of flavour. Too bad the taco was a bit soft from the sauce it was sitting on =( The enchilada was cheesy and my favourite! So that's what a taquito is - it's a corn tortilla rolled up with beef filling and deep fried. Never had it before but I quite liked it with the salsa =) And frijoles! <3 Back when we used to frequent Montezuma's, I loved eating the beans mush you get on the side of the dishes - why can't they just call it bean mush =P Too bad they didn't give enough corn chips to go with it.

The No 1 favourite dish is the Fajitas - thinly sliced strips of marinated chicken sauteed with red and green capsicum and onion, served "sizzling" and accompanied by fresh guacamole, Mexican rice and warm flour tortillas $25.95

You wrap it up in the tortillas and eat it like a taco.

This dish sounds better than it tastes. The chicken was stir fried and marinated but the wraps felt like they were missing some cheese or sauce to be considered a Mexican dish. Maybe 'cause I'm so used to Old El Paso enchiladas =P And the guacamole and lettuce doesn't seem to go well with the stir fry =/

Food~
6/10 - go for the Beginners combination dish and definitely the margaritas!

Atmosphere~
3/5 - the underground restaurant turned out to be quite cosy =)

Service~
4/5 - very good here with the Mexican waiters =P

C.
xo