Mamasita

I have been wanting to get to Mamasita for a while now. Finally, after a good pay cheque I was able to have a girls date with Bestie May. As they have a no bookings policy we organised to meet at 7.30pm, anticipating a 40 minute wait.

Oh how wrong we were. How very very wrong.

I had known that Mamasita was situated on the first floor, and immediately joined the long line for a table at the bottom of the stairs. What a tight squeeze, people going up, people going down; us with no idea if there was a door list, how long the wait was or anything. Pretty quickly though I mazed my way trough the line to enquire at the desk. There was no desk. Took me a little while to figure out who to talk to and after 10 minutes of trying to catch the man, we were on the list, expecting a wait of 1.5-2 hours. Onto Madame Brussels we went for yummy cocktails and just a few cashews to line our stomachs.

Yes, we didn't sit down to eat until 10, but it was worth it. Once seated things are pretty organised and service is quick. It is a shame though, to have waited for that long and get a bench not an actual table. But we were happy with our many dishes and tall margs!

Although I am not in a huge hurry to go back, I can certainly see myself popping in for a yummy lunch or early dinner, it's just the right price to not worry about future bill payments!


What we stuffed our faces with:

Tortilla with salsa and guac ($8)

Elotes callejeros - "Street Style" chargrilled corn with queso chipotle mayo and lime ($3.8each)

Tacos de Camarones - marinated prawn with serano chiles and chipotle almond salsa ($7each)

Quesadillas de Huitelacoche - mexican truffle, mushrooms, roasted corn, epazote and queso fresco ($14)

Ceviche de Yucatan - market fish with green tomatoes, mint, lime and coconut milk ($12)

I. Loved. Everything. Certainly a healthier option than Taco Bell. Everything was fresh and tangy. Being the salt and spice queen that I am I wouldn't have minded a bit more zing on both accounts - but for the health factor and price factor of Mamasita - well I might just head over for dinner tonight. Oh and the margs - so so freaking good.

I definitely think they need to organise themselves a lot more though, to have that many people lining up without any indication of the process for getting a table in absurd - a simple sign downstairs would suffice. And that poor maitre d', dealing with that many people, bar and wait staff standing between tasks was a little frustrating, i was like "why can't they tell me what I'm supposed to do?"

Try the chargrilled corn and... well... you know what? Try everything! I particularly loved the armond salsa with the prawns - amazing milky texture as well as the mushrooms in the quesadilla - warm with just the right amount of cheese.

Mamasita
Mexican Restaurant and Bar
Level 1, 11 Collins St Melbourne
Phone. 61 3 9650 3821