Tequila and tacos: Hottest eatery in West End

Authentic Mexican cuisine and the ancient spirits of agave are a lively mix in this super cool West End taqueria

Tequila-fuelled laughter bellows over heaving house music. A wrestling match is projected onto a wall, while the highly knowledgeable service team work the almost-capacity, art-clad room with alacrity.

As the neighbouring restaurants along West End’s Hardgrave Rd culinary precinct close around it for the night, Mama Taco is pumping.

The art-filled walls of Mama Taco in West End. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Opening in March this year, the lively, buzzy Mexican eatery has fast become the hottest venue in the hospitality-heavy suburb – and not just because of the chilli that finds its way into almost every dish.

This is a Mexican restaurant dedicated to authenticity unlike anything else in town.

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According to its website, all produce is sourced organically, while only ethically raised animals are used, with the preparation of each dish beginning with marination before cooking low and slow and finishing on charcoal.

The menu is a tight affair, just four tacos and four main options, while guests are encouraged to build their own meal through a series of sides such as charcoal beef, frijoles (refried beans) and the tomato and onion salsa, pico de gallo.

Mama taco specialises in authentic Mexican, tequila and mezcal. Picture: Mark Cranitch

There’s also an ever-changing empanada, on this visit the Mexican version of a pastie is filled with a spinach-stained liquid cheese that flows like a river after rain from the bubbly, shattering pastry shell. Laced with English mustard for piquancy, it should be considered by chefs Raffaele Persichetti and Harry Antoniak for inclusion in the regular menu.

Tacos come as a serving of two or three, all using house-made corn tortillas pressed
on-site daily.

The king prawn incarnation ($26 for two/$37 for three) lets the single shellfish shine, with a salsa verde to add herbaceous zing. The beef version ($19/$27) delivers complexity, with the pink and fatty meat spiced by a chilli-laced salsa verde, as squirts of blueberry sauce provide unexpected, complementary sweetness.

Lamb tacos on house-made corn tortillas at Mama Taco. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Our charming, helpful and informative waitress also convinces us to try her favourite, the vegetarian option featuring cumin-spiced, miso-infused eggplant cooked till soft and melty, garnished with cucumber, onion for crunch and bite and a jalapeno ($14/$20). Perfectly balanced by a whisper of queso fresco cheese and a splash of medium-spiced salsa roja, it’s a cracker.

It’s now also evident why the bar table we’re at in the centre of the room is rather unnaturally high. It’s built at the ideal level for eating tacos, with the juices from the nutty tortilla able to hit the table instead of your lap.

Slightly (only slightly) less messy to eat with a side of tostadas ($4) but equally fantastic is the aguachile ($22) – a punchy yellowtail kingfish ceviche which sees diced fish entangled with shreds of coconut and slices of mango for sweetness to offset the lime acidity, while splodges of pureed avocado help tame the fire from the habaneros.

The kingfish ceviche at Mama Taco. Picture: Mark Cranitch

But if your tongue isn’t left tingling enough from all the chilli elements within each dish, there’s also the restaurant’s trio of hot sauces on the table. Choose from the approachable fermented jalapeno green option, the squirm-inducing ghost pepper and turmeric yellow bottle or the steaming ears, nose running fermented Carolina reaper red variety that requires the help of tequila to tolerate.

And on the subject of the agave spirit, Mama Taco is out to erase any Jose Cuervo-induced teenage trauma associated with the booze, by specialising in high quality mezcal and tequila from brands like Los Agaves and Calle 23. Try a flight of three varieties, a tequila and tonic, or one of the fabulous cocktails, such as the eye-twitchingly sour classic margarita, or the sweeter yet balanced Sex in Mexico City. A trio of beers is also available, one white and one red wine from Mexico, the non-alcoholic fermented pineapple drink tepache made in-house, or a terrific-sounding mole milkshake with chocolate, banana and pineapple cream.

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Mama Taco is a restaurant where good times flow as freely as the tequila and where attention to detail in the kitchen and front of house transform a suburban taquería into something truly special.

Mama Taco

4/59 Hardgrave Rd, West End

mamataco.com.au

Open Wed-Sun noon-late

Must try

Aguachile with tostadas

VERDICT – Scores out of 5

Food 4

Ambience 4

Service 4

Value 3

Overall 4