~ Curious Charlie ~

Taco Tuesday @ Acland St Cantina @ Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Tuesday 29th April

So to get to Acland St Cantina, it's pretty much on the tram line going to St Kilda Beach from Southern Cross, it's the stop before the Espanlade. That or you can drive, limited parking.

Outside it looks like a bar, sorta, one that looks very American with the lit up fluro orange signs, the same you see at Soda Rock (don't go there, it's dirty) and Krispy Kreme (love!). Inside through a hallway (with bar tables for busy Fri/Sat nights) is a huge room, the restaurant with a bar.

Lighting is nice, I like the tiny bulbs in Mason Jars, though in terms of photography it wasn't good. Fortunately we requested a table with better lighting and sat close to the kitchen, with better lighting. It also meant we got a preview of what other people ordered.

Tuesday is a great night to go out for dinner, it's quiet and not many people out and about. It also is the day that has the most specials. On this fine Tuesday it was raining, the air was fresh, something I liked as I've been cooped up inside for most of this month. Cantina had a 5 for $20 taco offer running this month and that's what lead us there.

Water is served in re-purposed tequlia bottles with images of death on it. :P

Jas had their special margarita ($10) which jas says towards the bottom it tastes nicer, though I thought they would have mixed it up? I'm not a drink person myself, so in a way I can spend more on food. :P

Hot Sauce.

Towards the weekend this place looks quite popular with a bar, seats and tables in the hallway and another room with gentleman's club styled couches. All the candles are real here.

5 for $20

So first up was tacos! I love Mexican food. Jas got the one they offered while I got an altered version (no pork or avacado), which mean I got two fish tacos instead of the pork one.

They were tiny, entree sized which I enjoyed. Though at $14 for two that's really expensive (I love Fonda's tacos). The fish was served cold, I like it. There was an amazing deep fried chicken taco, the highlight of the dish. Beef, lots of flavour though a bit challenging to eat (two bites per taco). And the last one (2nd from the left) was crumbled chicken, nice but lacked the flavours of the others. That same one tasted flourly (think plain flour) as something went wrong in the kitchen. Two that we tried was the "SOFT TACO w. BAJA FRIED FISH & CHIPOTLE AIOLISOFT TACO w. CARNE ASADA" and WAGYU BEEF & CHIMICHURRI." Dislike Caps.

The Bar

BBQ CORN COB w. JALAPENO CREMA 3.50 (1/3 cob of corn)

An entree isn't really dinner unless it's huge, and so we had a couple other dishes. Corn on the cob for me at a Mexican place is a must try, and on this occassion we had BBQ corn, with a lovely jalapeo sauce and halloumi (which jas reccomends deep frying for a minute), which wasn't spicy hot at all. I like it, but still perfer Mamasita. Also it was a bit on the small size, though expected at it was less than at Mamasita with half a cob of corn being $6.

BRAVAS POTATOES w. TWO SAUCES $7

And the third dish we ordered was bravas potatos, which to me were deep fried-ish (baked says jas) wedges but different with a nice sauce. I like it and would reccomend this one.

We skipped dessert because I had high tea sugar buffet last week, and we're going to 'Sugar Hit' later this week. That and $14 for dessert is expensive. But if I had ordered dessert I would have loved the 'Fig & Mezcal Tart with Quince Ice Cream'.

Service was lovely, and there was only a few other people there so it was quiet. I can imagine this place being popular on drinking nights, nice ambience for that sort of thing.

Will we be back? No, it's just a bit out of the city and more pricey than our favourite Mexican place, but what you're paying for is the ambience.

I love tacos and hope to have some more soon, at our favourite Mexican place, Fonda, just a short walk from East Richmond station. Though come early it gets busy fast. But before that in a couple weeks we'll be checking out Guzman y Gomez. And hopefully after that we'll try Pacos Tacos.

Do you like Mexican food? What's your favourite dish/place?