Mamasita, Melbourne

With popular restaurants these days, it is not uncommon for them to not taking bookings.  This means it is first in, best dressed, and everyone else must either queue, put their name on a waiting list, or take a seat at the bar, depending on the establishment.  Mamasita is a very popular Mexican restaurant in Collins Street in Melbourne, and any day of the week, you will see a large line snaking its way from its unassuming entrance down the street. 

Tim and I had tried to go to Mamasitas once before with two other friends, but despite arriving at 6.30pm on a Saturday night, the wait time for a table of four was two hours, so we decided to go somewhere else.

However, on a recent weekend movie excursion, we decided to give Mamasitas a go with just the two of us for lunch.  Mamasitas opens at 12.30pm, and we were second in line, so we easily got a table.  On entering Mamasitas, you climb a narrow staircase into the restaurant, and are greeted by a bright wooden minimalist interior:  

To kick off proceedings, I ordered a Mexican Sol beer ($9):

The menu is designed for sharing, like a Mexican style family feast.  We ordered enough dishes for the two of us, which came out in no particular order. 

The first dish to come out was the Ceviche Verde ($8.80), consisting of lime-cured market fish, green tomato, jalapeño, cucumber, avocado and spring onion:
 

The ceviche was served with corn chips for scooping it up.  It had a lovely kick to it, not too overpowering, and was a great way to kick off our Mamasita exeprience.

Next up came the Tostadita de Frijoles (4 for $13.20):

This was a dish of dried tortilla chips topped with black beans, sweetcorn, roasted tomato and queso fresco (cheese).  They were very tasty, and I am a fan of black beans.

Next up came a dish we ordered out of curiosity, Plátanos machos ($7.70) - crispy plantains, cucumber, salsa and queso fresco:

Plaintains are not readily available in Australia, so I had never tried them before and was keen to do so. Tim had never heard of plaintains, so he had to rely on my description of "like bananas".    We enjoyed this dish - the fried plaintain was an unusual alternative to corn chips to scoop up the filling on top.
 

Our next dish was de Arrachera Taco ($6.60) - grilled flank steak, guacamole, tomatillo salsa and red onion:

What's not to like here - for us, the flavours were familiar, and this dish didn't disappoint.

Our final dish was the Quesadilla de Chorizo ($16.50) - wheat tortillas filled with chorizo, potato and queso fresco with jalapeño crema:
 

I really can't remember much about this dish, but needless to say, it can't have been bad because we polished it off.

The service at Mamasita was efficient and friendly, and the atmosphere was party like but you can easily chat with your dining companion.

Mamasita was a winner for us and we'd go again. 

Mamasita

11 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

Ph: 03 96503821