La Tortilleria

Continuing on from last week, we still had some Mexican cravings, so headed to La Tortilleria in Kensington for some tacos, and other assorted delights. It was a good chance to compare the two restaurants as El Sabor was still fresh in our minds. It’s the second time we’ve been (last time we’d already eaten so we didn’t try much more than tacos), it’s a funny little place on a quiet street seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It looks reasonably spacious from the outside but the interior is quite snug, I’m guessing due to the food preparation area which seems to take up half of the restaurant.

The menu isn’t too big (which is good) which certainly is favourable for me as I don’t like having to choose between too many options. We went with chilaquiles, a few tacos, a mushroom tostada (for Oscar), and a Pirata Carlos, before dessert. There were a few things that we had to leave because there just wans’t room, but the Volcancito (beans, beef, cheese on top of a fried tortilla with salsa and guacamole) is definitely something I want to try next time.

Chilaquiles: La Tortilleria

The chilaquiles are similar to nachos but as they say on the menu, more saucy, they were pretty good but as a direct comparison, the nachos at El Sabor were maybe a bit better, the totopos seemed to retain their crunchiness a bit better.

With our appetites properly whetted the tacos, Pirata Carlos, and tostada arrived. We ordered four tacos (which cost 5$ each, so this pricing is obviously a thing in Melbourne), this time we went with carnitas, pescado (fish), al pastor (pork and pineapple), and pollo horneado (chicken and pickled red onion). The tacos here are pretty small (smaller than El Sabor I think), sorry no pictures for comparison but they come with two tortillas which makes them slightly easier to hold, but you can still expect your hands to smell good afterwards :D.

I usually steer clear of al pastor because it comes with pineapple which I prefer by itself or cooked only in a very delicious Vietnamese soup, it was okay but I prefer the carnitas. The carnitas here was pretty good and definitely on par with El Sabor while the pollo horneado was a pleasant delight, with the pickled red onion and a bit of limón squeezed on top this is definitely a keeper along with carnitas.

Also on this board was the Pirata Carlos, beef and melted cheese with some nopales (cactus) between a couple of tortillas is simple and tasty. The grease content on all this is pretty high I would think, so if you have high cholesterol, you’ve been warned. I think we live too long nowadays, so I’m not going to hold back when tasty food is there for the eating.

Chocolate Flan: La Tortilleria

We were pretty full already at this point but apparently you can’t go to La Tortilleria  without trying the vanilla flan, so we ordered that. Unfortunately for us, they’d run out for the day so we went with the chocolate flan. It’s pretty much chocolate mousse which I’m not enamoured with (I prefer iced cream to mousse for sure), it was okay if a bit dense, Oscar enjoyed it though XD.

Mexican Hot Chocolate: La Tortilleria

There is also a traditional Mexican hot chocolate on the menu which was quite intriguing as it had chilli and other spices in it. It’s vegan (I didn’t see it on the menu) but was noticeable as soon as it hits your mouth, one wonders if it is possible to order it with milk but maybe that would defeat the purpose of it being traditional. It’s more like tea than a normal hot chocolate for that reason, which was surprising at first until I realised that it was vegan.

So ends another Mexican tasting session, and I can’t wait until the next time, there seems to be a quite a few places I haven’t tried and I’ve made sure to make a mental note and mentioned it to Emmy so will take the next opportunity to hit up for some more Mexican delights ASAP :D. Got some Korean coming up soon so keep your eyes peeled.

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