Mexican Mediocrity at Mamasita

I’ve been in Melbourne upwards of five years now, and still I’ve not been to the institution that is Mamasita.  Ever since the lovely S recommended a visit (before she up and moved to Brisbane!), it’s been on my list.

The original reservation was for the Theatre Menu; a bargain at $39 if one dined before 6pm.  And since the Date and I were seeing the theatre (the incredible Is God Is), it was the perfect choice...

The entry to the restaurant is an unassuming door on Collins St, from which you climb the stairs to enter a warm, dimly lit space: a long bar with high tables on one side.  Pro tip: do try and seat yourself there; the section we sat at, though cosy, was marked by tables so snugly fit that I was knocked into by staff whilst they were serving the guests on either side of us.

And so we sat.

There was no record of a theatre booking, and the staff indicated that we could indeed do the full banquet in an hourish ...

(in hindsight: this should have been the first clue; who wants to rush such an extravagant choice?!)

But the Date cajoled, and I agreed, and we upgraded to the Mamasita banquet.  Because he is a carnivore (something that I'll be trying to change), he wanted the pork belly upgrade.  I did not.  The staff were adamant that it could not be just for him

(in hindsight: a great time for them to explain that it wasn’t additional to the tasting menu; it was a serving in lieu of the lamb).  

So, in an attempt to be more agreeable than I usually am, we got the pork belly.

At this point, with $$$ no longer being a factor, why the hell should we not get matched beverages? 

Because, as the Date said, I’m a cheap drunk and it would be a shame to doze off in the theatre.

Me, being the agreeable person I'm usually not, agreed.

"Let’s share the matched beverages," I enthused. (obviously the mezcal over the wine - we were at a Mexican restaurant, after all).

It would have been great if the waitress had communicated this decision to the bar; alas, out came two servings of the first drink.  And, when we corrected the server, it would have been great had he not rolled his eyes (though, in all fairness, perhaps he was having a bad day?  Running a twelve hour shift?  Dealing with a missing cat?) before removing the extra glass.

We waited a little longer for our food (truth be told, the timings of the beverages were, like the rest of the service, a little off) but it came out quickly enough.  My detailed play-by-play:

The guacamole was heaven! Tangy and creamy both: oh yes, things are looking up!

Elote was as elote is.  I must admit, I wasn’t even a fan of this in Mexico - I just never understood why you would need to add sauce and cheese to the amazingness that is corn-on-the-cob.  But for those of you that like the creaminess of this combo: it was gold!

And then we came to the part I was not-so-secretly most excited about - the ceviche!  This is hands down one of my favourite foods - I gorged on the stuff through my Central American travels and still didn’t get sick of it.  So it was disappointing to find the fish here simply hadn’t been cured for long enough.  But the avocado crema it was served with was incredible - that, I could’ve licked off the plate.

Now we were at the business end of the meal:

The pork belly was fine.  The Mexican influences were probably too nuanced for me, and I won’t remember it in a few weeks.  But the salad - oh my!  Crisp yet drenched in dressing; delicious.  The black beans were smooth and creamy and I wish I’d saved some tortilla chips from earlier on to scoop this up.   It should’ve come with a crispy carb - it was a bit odd on its own, even when I added the salsa and pickled onion for some texture.  

... Speaking of pickled onions, I should really make a big jar of the stuff.  Instant flavour/texture hit, and incredibly easy to do.

And we come to the final course of the evening: the dessert.  Date and I concurred: the marshmallow was great, but the ice cream was a touch too sweet.  We’re not the biggest sweet tooths around, so take that with a grain of salt (ha!).