Mamasita, Mexican, Melbourne

Mamasita

Level 1, 11 Collins Street Melbourne

No Bookings, Arrive early

I had planned my trip to Melbourne around the best eateries and Mamasita was on the top of that list. I've heard so many rave reviews about the tacos, the tequila and the corn that I just had to see it for myself.

We arrived early (or late, depending on whether its lunch or dinner) at about 4pm and easily found a table.

The interior is spacious with lots of barstools but I get the feeling during rush hour this place would be packed.

I love this menu. Un Tequila? Yes please!

Elotes callejeros (v) Primeros ($4.40)

'Street Style‛ chargrilled corn, queso, chipotle mayonnaise & lime

Dear Lord. This was fricking amazing. To be honest.. this was probably my favourite dish in the whole entire Melbourne trip. The corn is juicy, sweet, crispy and when combined with the mayonnaise- so deliciously good. At $4.4 each, these are worth every cent and more. SOOO good.

de Cangrejo Tostaditas ($15)

Crab meat, avocado, cucumber,

mayonnaise & red chilli

This was cold so it wasnt too nice as I found the crab meat was very squishy (pardon my lack of creativity). Seriously.. the only way to describe the crab was 'squishy'. Not bad I guess.

de Chorizo Tacos ($5)

Chorizo, cabbage, chipotle,

coriander & onion

Yum!

de Camarones Tacos ($7)

Marinated prawns, habanero, chillis and chipotle almond salsa

Amazing. I liked this better than the chorizo taco.. for me this prawns were sumptuous, light and very fresh. Although both were very delicious.

de Pollo Quesadillas ($14)

Chargrilled chicken with ‘picode gallo’, coriander & queso fresco

A quesadilla is a filled tortilla and I was pretty happy with this one. I actually really wanted to try the mexican truffle and mushroom quesadilla but by this point was very full & conscious of one's expanding waist line.

Overall I really enjoyed Mamasita. The food (read- corn) was delicious. I hear that Sydney's El Loco is a bit like Mamasita and I cannot wait to try it out.

Maze, Modern Australian, Melbourne

Maze Melbourne

Level 1 Crown Metropol

Corner of Whiteman and Clarendon Streets,
Southbank, Victoria 3006

T: +61 (0)3 9292 8300

http://www.gordonramsay.com/mazemelbourne/

We arrived at Maze at about 9pm, starving, and proceeded to have the quickest 7 course degustation in history. The degustation is $120 per person, plus from $90 for matching wines.

The restaurant interior is visually stunning. However the location was isn't great and you can tell that the long drapes over the windows are just trying to block out the constant stem of traffic from the casino.

Every dish was superb and my favourites were the crispy pork belly and the seared yellow fin tuna.

Marinated Beetroot with goats curd, Cabernet Sauvignon vinaigrette, toasted pinenuts

Its amazing how something vegetarian can taste so good.

Seared yellow fin tuna, white radish, yuzu, enoki, black garlic

I really liked this. I felt sad about eating this because it was just so beautiful and it felt like I was ruining a piece of art. I loved piecing together this dish and how flavours combined so well.

Foie Gras and Chicken Liver pate, Maidera, Mulberries and toasted sourdough

Marlborough King Salmon, Jerusalem Artichoke, Mustard and horseradish cream

This salmon was incredibly rich and fatty. I personally found it a bit too rich but salmon lovers would definitely appreciate this.

King George Whiting, smoked paprika brandade, black olive

Crispy pork belly, calvalo nero, soybeans, dashi

This was definitely the highlight dish of the night for me. So good. Perfectly crispy pork belly and the dashi was addictive. After I ate this I wanted more :(

Gisborne Duck Leg, sweet corn, cracked wheat, fig jam

Very yummy but by this stage was starting to get really full. Because we had arrived so late we didn't really get a long break between each course so became full quite easily.

Cape Grim short rib, potato, shimeji mushroom, shallot gastric

To be honest I found this quite average since it was basically mushrooms, potato and steak.

Exotic Fruit Vacherin, passion fruit and banana sorbet

Coffee Ganache, salted caramel, hazelnut ice cream

I enjoyed every course and I'm quite surprised that so many other people on urbanspoon find Maze disappointing. The service was attentive and not intrusive and at the end of the night we were presented with little lolly bags to take home (which I thought was really cute).