Dos Senoritas, Gladesville

Oh hey there my neglected friends of the fridge! 

First things first, a very happy holiday season to all of you - please don't be mad about my absenteeism.. here's to more empty fridge action in 2012. Its been a busy fiesta season but lets hit the ground running shall we? And what better way to do it then in typical and true Empty Fridge style with 

DEEP FRIED BURRITOS

For anyone that enjoys a little viva la mexico in their life, then man have I got the place for you! I first came across this little pocket on Victoria road Gladesville while I was stuck in life sucking traffic. There he was, a jolly man - donning a poncho and shaking his hips to the strums of his own guitar. There and then in the life sucking traffic of Victoria Road, I knew I had to visit Dos Senoritas.

What perfect excuse for fiesta time then a burrito throwdown with Demos and our favourite fiesta buddy the Goose Man (long story short..the name came from the numerous sessions we've had emptying bottles of Grey Goose) Since we all lived within a 2km radius from Dos Senoritas, the three of us were keen to engage in some sillyness with the option of stumbling home.

After the complimentary corn chips and salsa are rolled out and line our stomachs we were keen on throwing a couple down. My margarita ($12) was strong, salty and sour..definitely emphasising the strong part and their generosity with the tequilla and thats coming from me! But there were burritos to be had, and I had to limber up. The boys refused to partake in margarita madness and drink from girly glasses settled on some local mexican cerveza - bottles of Pacifico at $8

Dos Senoritas claim to be the only authentic Mexican food in Sydney, pretty heavy call right? But I'm on their side in this one. This restaurant is very casual, colourful and fun..no air of "cool-ness" and just straight up Guadalajara-n heart. The menu covers all the mexican dishes we Sydney-siders have grown to love during this recent mexican cuisine explosion..Taquitos, Quesadillas, Enchilladas, Guacamole..The "specialties" section of the menu however is where the real excitement is.. its where the real mexican dishes like Mole (the green Poblano kind and the Dark Chocolate Oaxaca kind) and Tamales are listed. 

Hello, Guadalajara indeed!

Considering all the choice we had..(there are a whopping 8 varieties of burritos on the menu) we did something never seen in the history of The Empty Fridge. I would go as far as saying that this breaks the main rule of food blogging, but hey - the three of us ordered the same dish despite all the choice. Why?

SuperCheesyGoeyChimichanga

El Loco Mexican Cantina, Surry Hills

My fondest memories growing up had to be hot summers in downtown Los Angeles running amuck in Olivera St - A little laneway which was a destination for some yummy authentic mexican food. My family would always take me to this awesome mexican restaurant and little Gianna had tacos to her hearts content, if I finished my meal and managed to behave myself I would get to buy some mexican jumping beans from the street vendors. I was easily amused back then, as I still am now.

For the last couple of years, we Sydney-siders have been deprived of some banging mexicano - sure we've had cafe pacifico, baja cantina and flying fajitas in Glebe, but in just in the last year a number of new places have been jumping up like those little jumping beans. Many stress the point that El Loco isn't authentic..oh really?

What I love about it is that it captures the fun and it the whole "celebratory" feel of mexican food. Cafe Pacifico has done this brilliantly, and without a doubt - Barrio Chino is pretty rad too - but El Loco is a lively and casual place where anyone can grab a quick taco or twenty, some mexican beers other than Corona and get that fiesta vibe.

Mamasita, Collins St Melbourne

Hola amigos, who isn't always in the mood for Mexican. I mean, what could be better than downing some tequila and tacos. Have a second to think about it. I thought so, pretty hard to come up with anything better isn't it? Yes I know there is more to Mexican than tequila and tacos, however we have a soft spot for that special twosome. So one evening as we meandered about the streets of Melbourne during our last interstate visit we thought it was a good idea to have a bit of a snack revolving around that trouble twosome and ventured to one of the best Mexican spots in town, Mamasitas!

Up at the very top of Collins St it wasn't hard to miss Mamasitas despite its unassuming entrance, there was a line of people pouring out the door. We put our names down and waited in line as we were told the wait was roughly an hour. It was pretty early in the evening but it seemed bustling with activity as the noise filtered down the stairs. People were popping  in and out of the line but we persevered as the allure of Mexican food was too hard to say no to.
So upon surviving the line we made it upstairs where we could see why the wait was so long, it was packed out.  Our friendly waiter seated us by a window bench and gave us the menus to look at at and of course we said yes to the question it asked. Un Tequilla..Duh.?

Totopos - Tortilla chips with guacamole & salsa $8

To kick off proceedings we got stuck into the tortilla chips with the salsa and guacamole. So so good. The salsa had a nice spicy kick and the guacamole was incredibly smooth. Of course I couldn't resist napalming the salsa with some green and red habanero sauce, I can still feel that burn but so worth it. 

Having made plans to go out late in the evening we weren't really after a massive meal but we couldn't help ourselves so we ordered the filete de Cerdo Con Tamarindo $25. Pork fillet, tamarind chipotle glaze, braised cabbage, cranberries & apple pico de gallo. Really loved everything about this dish. It was presented on a slim wooden board and tasted as good as it looked. The pork was tender and the tamarind chipotle glaze was so tasty. The different combination of textures really worked well and just made us want to have more and more. No mucking around with bells and whistles, just plain and simple good food. 

What visit to a Mexican restaurant would be complete without tacos? None. So of course we had to order some tacos as well. We picked three to share; de Pescado $6 - grilled fish, lime, achiote paste & red onion salsa; de Chorizo $5 - chorizo, cabbage, chipotle, coriander & onion; de Frijoles con Nopales $6 - baked black beans, catus pico de gallo & queso fresco.

The tacos were soft and packed with flavour. They really didn't last long, a blink and they were gone. The chorizo was a favourite and of course had to have a bit of extra kick added. The habanero sauce available may seem like a good idea at the time; lets just say I'll leave it at that.