One of the challenges faced by restaurateurs these days is catering to an increasingly well-travelled clientèle. The truth of the matter is that in the past, restaurant’s serving up international cuisine were able to trade on the unknown, offering up approximations of authentic dishes that were often a pale imitation of the real thing. Mexican food has historically been one of the biggest victims of this con job, but with the country now a popular travel destination, plenty of people have tasted the real deal and demand that restaurants back home do better.
Matt Lane and Jason Jones, the chaps behind Mamasita in Melbourne’s CBD, were sick of the Americanised Mexi-faux food that their city had to offer, and pledged open a place that did proper Mexican grub properly – simple but authentic dishes with traditional flavours and cooking techniques and a modern outlook on sustainable ingredients, prepared by a largely Latin American staff. The venue – operating as a mix of taqueria, bar and supper club – also caters for the increasing interest in specialist tequilas, stocking an impressive array of aged and hard-to-find bottles. The décor is understated in terms of colour, which lets the vibrant food shine, but there’s no chance of missing the main attraction – a floor-to-ceiling mono mural of the titular Mamasita reclining seductively in the sand. ¡Ay caramba! as they say down Mexico way…
