Mamasita

Toby is still pretty housebound but can now travel as a passenger in a car, to celebrate we decided to go the much hyped Mamasita.

It was probably not the best place for someone who has to be careful that he is not knocked into. They don't allow small bookings and so on a sat night, it was packed, when we arrived there was no free tables but we could wait at the bar, I was so nervous while we sitting on stools that in the super busy restaurant that someone would knock into him, but thankfully we weren't there that long before we got a table.

Toby was excited by the fact that they have Coldstream Cider on tap ($5.4/$8) and an "epic awesome booze list". He couldn't drink so he had a fresh grapefruit juice ($5) and he can't wait to try the Grapefruit Margarita.

Now Mamasita automatically gets my thumbs up in one regard, it's all gluten free, and after talking to the staff it appears that most of the veg selections can be made vegan by removing the cheese (quesco fresco). I ordered the black bean and cactus tacos, the pickled cactus tasted like pickles, I couldn't really pinpoint any specific flavour. The black beans, didn't appear to be spiced and weren't quite as delicious as black beans that I have had as trippy taco or other mexican places.
Toby had the truffle quesadillas with truffles, mushrooms, corn, and epazote(mexican herb). He said it was delicate, delicious and really unique. (sorry for this pic, it was really dark)And we shared the quinoa salad. It has fresh corn, coriander, spinach and a typical vinaigrette type flavour but was yummy. Toby was very impressed and said it was fresh and full of flavour.

We also shared corn chips with salsa and guacamole. The guacamole was awesome as Toby keeps reminding me again and again but as I said to Toby it's pretty hard to muck up guacamole. The salsa had a quite a kick to it, so much so that Toby found it too hot. The corn chips were varied, some had the typical crunchy corn chip texture but some felt under cooked and too hard.

Overall though I enjoyed the meal, Toby loved it a lot more than me. I think part of the problem for me was that it was over hyped so I was expecting amazing and it was good just not amazing. I really heart trippy taco and it was hard not to make comparisons even though they are quite different. You get proper table service at Mamasita and it is kind of fancy, also the meals are more varied and interesting but in my opinion not necessary tastier. Also, the mains weren't really filling, so the bill end up being close to $50 with 2 non alcoholic drinks and the cheap skate in me kept asking is it twice as good, and my answer would be no. Toby on the other hand disagrees and thinks they use super fresh ingredients and the other veganisable dishes look promising. I do look forward to trying more dishes to find out.
If you are going to go I recommend going early to ensure you get a table, by the time we left the bar was full and there was a line from the front door on the ground floor up to the restaurant on the 1st floor with people waiting to get in.

Mamasita
Level 1, 11 collins st
Melbourne
9650 3821
www