Los Latinos: 128 Mitchell Street Maidstone

In demonstrating my commitment to the tick strategy, I have been to Los Latinos three times (although this is my first review).

If you care about service and the vibe of a restaurant this is not the place for you. If you want home style cooking that has probably stayed the same for eons, visit Los Latinos.

It is a strange little place. It is small and bright but it looks like it was furnished in the 1980s with little attention since. The main waiter is also a bit tired and in need of a little energy - he can become quite flustered and huff and puff and roll his eyes when you request to be seated or served. Ignore it. I bet he works long hours and needs a break.

The menu is dominated by plantains, pupusas (a much thicker version of a tortilla), shredded beef/pork/chicken and the odd seafood dish. Everything we had our first time round was amazing – chorizo in little tortillas with zesty fresh salsa; vegetarian tacos tinga made on the spot with pico de gallo and guacamole; plus some kind of platter with strips of beef, greens, pico de gallo and rice (sadly I haven’t been able to figure out what this was, perhaps they made a mistake when they piled all these options on one plate). Everything was well balanced with a good mix of zing and earthy flavours. Paired with a margarita (not the frozen kind) and it was home style foodie heaven.

Second time around we ordered nachos, which was totally rubbish – supermarket corn chips, an unappetising dollop of beans and a tiny smidge of salsa. I asked for the beef version with no cheese or sour cream and they obviously decided I really just wanted beans. Not nice. Stay away from any of the corn chips options. You could do better yourself. Our second dish was shredded beef, beans, rice, plantains and arepas (a south American flatbread) served on a sizzling plate. I asked for no dairy but I got it anyway. This dish was nice but without something fresh to break up the flavours it did feel a bit stodgy.

On our third trip we ordered the chorizo entrée again – yum, the beef tacos tinga – also very yum and yuca frita con chicharonnes – deep fried plantain (think potato or taro), with pork (belly maybe), curtido (fermented cabbage) and a hot chilli salsa. This was a wonderful choice – lots of flavour, everything was very balanced and my belly sung the chefs praises.

In essence, order a dish with a mix of fresh and cooked ingredients, stay away from the corn chips, ignore the rubbish service and order yourself a beer. It’ll make for a good start to your weekend I promise.

Two ticks.  

Red Door Corner Store: 70 Mitchell Street Northcote

I'm going to start this post off by saying - this place should be in the Good Food Guide. What are you guys doing? This is way better than other brunch places I have tried (West 48 aside).

My boss recommended I visit this place and she has not led me astray so far (well, not in a food sense anyway *wink*). Lots of vegan friendly options, local produce and organic choices. As food should be in my humble opinion. This is my dish: 

I wanted to give you a picture before I talked you through it. Those are corn, zucchini and quinoa fritters, otherwise known as little balls of fried goodness, sitting on piles of guacamole and topped off with super tasty red pepper sauce. In the centre is a charred corn and purple cabbage salad, with fresh dill and lime. The poached egg went to Senor Gringo who satisfied himself with a Gippsland grass fed flat iron open steak sandwich, with haloumi, sauteed kale, charred corn, chimicurri, lime and green tomato relish. His silence and closed eyes told me all I needed to know about how much he was enjoying his food.

Everything about this place was right. I loved it. My faith in cafes was raised once again. They even serve salad for breakfast, what a great idea!

Not only was the food amazing but I left with a jar of local honey from a bee keeper in Northcote. Apparently if you eat local honey regularly it can reduce your hay fever symptoms. No idea if that thought has any credence but as I like honey and have awful hay fever every year I'm more than willing to give it a try - what do I have to lose? Nothing!

Try this place. Make it your local if you have to. I want to. Thank you Red Door Corner Store.

 

More pics: 

Fomo Thai: 171 Bourke Street Melbourne

Conveniently located near my work, this is my lunch time food favourite. I have never had anything here that isn't above average. In my humble opinion the stand outs are the duck curry with lean roasted duck and crisp vegetables, the perfectly spiced eggplant and tofu curry and the absolutely divine pork belly fried rice. They must fry the pork belly as you just get ultra crisp bite size pork pieces and none of that nasty rubbery fat that most (sane) people scrape away. So many tasty things to choose from, so little belly space!

I always try to remember to take a picture but as soon as my food arrives I forget as I'm just so excited and eager to tuck in!!! I'll try to rectify that in future. Food bliss without fail.