August 2013
Mexican food is so often bastardised by Tex-Mex diner versions of fajitas and quesadillas disguised as ‘Mexican’, often plumped up with the prospect of a chilled Corona. If you don’t mind paying RM40 for a Chili’s dinner, I suggest you pay the same amount for Mexican food that isn’t just seared meat, pocket tortillas and sour cream. La Mexicana, owned by Mexican chef Carmela and her husband, entered the TERRACE at Hock Choon district rather discreetly in the last quarter of 2012, and since the demise of Fukuharu in January, has been comfortably steering the reins of the area.
Colours wash the backyard-style garden chairs, Mexican tapestries drape across the ceiling, and bright spoons and mirrors hang as wall accessories – it’s all cutesier than I expect. It’s like La Mexicana is telling me to party (an instruction I’m happy to oblige). My dining party and I time our entrance well – it’s happy hour (Mon–Thu, 5– 7pm), with one-for-one margarita deals. The drink packs quite a kick but balanced just right so that the tequila is not all that burns. The ceviche ‘Acapulco’ does the honours of first impression; marinated raw fish in the style of Acapulco, Mexico’s major sea port. The fish is firm and retains its bite, while the oniony-lemony-Tabasco marinade is dangerously addictive. Spoon some of the mix onto a crisp tortilla for a starter of high octane flavours. The beetroot soup arrives next, in a captivating shade of fuchsia that will surely have the table talking. Its consistency is thick and puree like, but it tastes softer than it looks. The natural sweetness of beetroot comes through, interestingly countered with the edge of a white vegetable (cauliflower comes to mind).
A rule to go by in life: If pork tacos are on any menu, you order pork tacos. Yes, the expectation of oily pork juices dripping from a soft tortilla envelope is difficult to realise, and true enough, La Mexicana’s Tacos ‘Campechanos’ are more homemade than streetmade. This is not to say that they are less tasty, but less indulgent that the mind would conceive. The sauce that comes in a stone platter on the side is appropriately spicy, and going by the menu description, pounded in a Molcajete (Mexican mortar and pestle).
The mains are just as exciting, the first being chicken enchiladas bathed in salsa verde and baked with cheese. The corn tortillas are baked to maintain a mild crunch, while the salsa verde lifts the white meat to enchiladas heaven. I crown the stuffed Poblano chili the night’s winner, a dark ominous sauce-congealed dish that comes with a mound of rice. The chili is stuffed with refried beans and Panela cheese (a cow’s cheese that tastes like a cross between haloumi and paneer), and submerged in tomato and pasilla (a variety of chili pepper) sauce – all baked so that the chili is sloppy, moist and slightly charred. The sauce will have you reaching for seconds without being able to pin down its exact content, and the fried cheese is so good I wonder why it isn’t a dish on its own.
To end the meal, the crepes or ‘crepas’ are a dessert of beauty. Folded crepes – slightly thicker than the French kind – are completely drenched in Cajeta sauce and walnuts scattered over the top. What is Cajeta sauce, you ask? A smooth tequila-laced burnt milk caramel that should be sexily poured on every pancake in the city. If La Mexicana wants me to party, this is exactly how I envision my party ending. Surekha Ragavan