Muchachos

Muchachos

New burritos joint Muchachos has opened at Keong Saik Street!

Starting from the extreme right of the counter, customers get to customize and build their burritos, staring from size, carbs, proteins, fats and finally salsa:

Sizes:
Burrito ($12) – Original San Franciscan silver bullet
Burritino ($9) – Beast Jr. for ladies

Carbs:
Rice – Texas long-grain tossed with cilantro and lime
Beans – Black turtle beans simmered with avocado leaves
Refried beans – Mashed pinto beans fried in bacon fat

Proteins:
Pollo Asado – Chicken thigh grilled over an open flame
Carne Asada – Skirt steak seared medium rare with a pink centre
Carnitas – Pork butt slow cooked in its own lard
Barbacoa – Lamb shoulder oven-braised until meltingly tender
Pescado – Whitefish fillet battered

Fats:
Sour cream – Whipped
Cheese – Freshly grated blend of mild cheddar and monterey jack
Guacamole – Made with real Californian Hass avocados

Salsas:
Pico de Gallo – Tomato, white onion, jalapeno chile
Salsa verde – Tomatillo, garlic, serrano chile
Salsa de Pina – Pineapple, red onion, habanero chile

Burrito in the making

Our Burritino consisted of “beans and refried beans”, “pollo asado”, “cheese” and “salsa de pina”. Before topping the salsa de pina, our burrito was steamed again in a customized steamer.

Burritino

Unwrapped Burritino

The Burrito looked like a bigger than usual Chinese popiah. It was generously jam-packed with the 5 different toppings. But probably the biggest downside of this burrito was the lack of seasoning and flavours. Based on the different textures of the mushy mashed pinto beans, the tender chicken cubes, the crunchy turtle beans and the slightly melted gooey cheese, we could differentiate the different toppings. However, the taste of each individual topping didn’t stand out, and was on the whole, rather bland. In fact, the only outstanding taste was that from the pineapples – the sour, tongue prickling tangy characteristic taste of pineapples. What was sorely lacking was a spicy kick with an overall savouriness.

Muchachos
22 Keong Saik Street

Baja Fresh

Ultimo

Ultimo

After our first visit, we realized that the crowd at Baja Fresh had almost doubled and we had difficulty finding a seat. This time round, we ordered the Ultimo Chicken Burrito.

Ultimo Chicken Burrito – Monterey Jack cheese, Baja rice, grilled fresh veggies, sour cream with salsa Baja. We were rather disappointed as we broke apart the burrito as what welcomed us was a pack full of rice. In fact, 90% of the burrito was filled with rice, almost similar to eating Omu rice. The taste of cheese was also rather faint and overpowered by the sour cream. The amount of grilled veggies was also pathetically little as there were only a few slices of green/red peppers. The chunks of chicken were still tender and well-grilled, but slightly on the bland side. Overall, we enjoyed the Ultimo less, compared to Baja Burrito.

Baja Fresh
#01-03, Rendezvous Gallery
9 Bras Basah Road

Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant and Bar

Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant and Bar

A mission to satisfy our craving for authentic Mexican cuisine, we headed over to Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant and Bar nestled within Holland V.

Complimentary Nachos and Salsa

Our meal began with a serving of Cha Cha Cha’s Nachos and Salsa. The nachos were mediocre, nothing different from those off the shelf nachos chips. The salsa sauce was slightly watery, with tiny bits of tomatoes, and had a slight spicy after taste.

Burritos de Champignons y Queso

Burritos de Champignons y Queso ($16) – Fresh mushrooms stuff this innovative burrito, topped with melted cheese and served with refried beans, Mexican rice, sour cream and guacamole. The server recommended the Burritos de Champignons y Queso upon our request for a cheesy dish. There was a decent serving of cheese, but it remained far from our expectations. In terms of flavour, this dish was slightly one-dimensional. The sauteed mushrooms did shine in the background with its earthly taste and aroma but the stronger saltiness came from the melted cheese. The refried beans were too mushy and resembled more of a bean paste. We would prefer the beans to be a bit more chunky, giving more bite and chew. The Mexican rice was a slight disappointment as they tasted just like the rice in Nasi Briyani, which wasn’t all that expected from Mexican rice. We did enjoy the rich creamy guacamole.

Enchiladas de Pollo

Enchiladas de Pollo ($14) – Seasoned shredded chicken rolled in corn tortillas, topped with melted cheese and spicy enchiladas sauce. Once again, our hopes of the cheesiness level fell short. Nevertheless, in terms of flavours, the Enchiladas de Pollo was more colourful and multi dimensional. The sour and spicy enchiladas sauce, coupled with the saltiness from the cheese, tied the entire dish together. What was disappointing in this dish was the shredded chicken. Though Cha Cha Cha was generous with the amount of chicken stuffed in the Enchiladas de Pollo, the shredded chicken was tough, dry and bland. It was hardly seasoned at all. We could imagine that chunks of chicken meat were being used to create a chicken stock, and after the chicken had given all its flavour to the stock, the remains of the meat were removed from the bone, shredded and stuffed into the Enchiladas de Pollo. It would be better if the chicken fillet was first grilled, thinly sliced and finally stuffed into the Enchiladas de Pollo.

Frozen Lime Margarita

Frozen Lime Margarita ($9) – This was no doubt the most popular drink in Cha Cha Cha as we witnessed the bartender churn out glasses and glasses of frozen Margaritas. Cha Cha Cha did not stinge on the amount of tequila inside the Margarita.  The Frozen Margarita created a temporary brain freeze in our heads. It was indeed worth every $9.

Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant and Bar
32 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village

Baja Fresh

Baja Fresh is a casual Tex-Mex fast food eatery, founded in California in 1990. As the name suggests, Baja Fresh’s emphasis is on its fresh ingredients, handmade and not tin-canned. The first branch in Singapore is located in the newly opened Rendezvous Gallery.

Baja Fresh

Baja Fresh offers classic Tex-Mex favourites like Burritos, Tacos, Quesadillas and Fajitas.

Fresh Salsa Bar

There is also a fresh Salsa Bar offering 4 different salsa sauces to either customize your Burritos and Tacos or as a complement to the complimentary tortilla chips.

Complimentary Tortilla Chips with (from left to right) Pico de Gallo, Salsa Molcajete, Salsa Baja and Salsa 6 Chiles

The order of spiciness was ranked in increasing order as follows: Pico De Gallo, Salsa Baja, Salsa Molcajete and Salsa 6 Chiles. The tomatoes in the Pico De Gallo were very fresh and juicy. It made a very refreshing and appetizing starter to whet our appetites. The dark brown Salsa Baja looked a little queer, but the dark colour and mild bitter taste were actually due to heavily grilled, charred and blackened tomatoes and jalapenos. It wasn’t that spicy, possibly due to the smaller amount of jalapenos compared to tomatoes. Salsa Molcajete essentially refers to a salsa which is ground by hand in a molcajete, Mexico’s version of the mortar and pestle. This is evident by the more coarse and grainy texture. Lastly, the Salsa 6 Chiles was the most spicy sauce amongst the 4, and as we guessed from the name, it would be made from 6 different kinds of Chiles. Essentially, the base ingredients of the salsa sauces are tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, onions, olive oil, cilantro. They differ in terms of cooking methods and the amount and type of chiles which would affect the spiciness.

Baja Burrito

We ordered the Baja Burrito with Fire-Grilled Chicken – Monterey Jack cheese, pico de gallo and guacamole. The burritos were wrapped in flour tortillas, which resembled our local Roti Prata. However, the tortillas were definitely less oily and healthier. The Baja Burrito was generously packed to the brim with fresh tomatoes and huge chunks of grilled chicken. The chicken chunks exuded a pretty evident grilled flavour, with a mild black pepperish taste. The Monterey Jack cheese added saltiness to the burrito. The chunks of avocado were soft and mushy, while exuding a cold fruit taste. The pico de gallo shone in the background with its refreshing taste and juicy texture. We thoroughly enjoyed the Baja Burrito for its healthy ingredients and balanced of flavours.

Baja Fresh
#01-03 Rendezvous Gallery
9 Bras Basah Road

Casa Latina

We haven’t been to any Mexican restaurants. The closest one we’ve been to would be Chili’s, though technically speaking, Chili’s can hardly be classified as an authentic Mexican restaurant. That makes Casa Latina our first attempt at authentic Mexican cuisine!

Pollo Divorciado (Divorced Chicken)

Corn Tortillas

Pollo Divorciado (Divorced Chicken) $28 – Chicken thigh is cooked in two types of Mole – Pipian Verde and Poblano and served with Mexican rice, beans and corn tortillas. Mole is a generic name for the sauces used in Mexican cuisine. For the Divorced Chicken, a single chicken thigh was served with the green and red mole. Pipian Verde refers to the thick green mole and is essentially made from pumpkin seeds, green tomatoes, lettuce leaves and fresh herbs. The Poblano is the brown-red sauce made from various chilies and surprisingly, dark chocolate. Both sauces are rather thick and strong in flavours. The red Poblano is the spicier of the two. Well, we couldn’t detect any chocolate taste in the Poblano though. Both sauces were pretty good and in our opinion, win Chili’s hands down.

The accompaniments include mashed beans, Mexican rice and corn tortillas. The taste of the mashed beans are similar to those beans you can find in ice kachang and chendol. The Mexican rice can be a little bit on the salty side. The corn tortillas tasted very similar to corn chips/nachos. The flavours of the corn was almost too overpowering.

Enchiladas Cheese

Enchiladas ($20) – Tortillas filled with your choice of chicken or cheese or vegetables, and seasoned with either red sauce or green sauce, and served with beans, cheese and Mexican rice. The Enchiladas came with red and green sauces as well. However, the red sauce was different from that found in the Divorced Chicken. It was noticeably less viscous and less spicy. There were bits of solid cheese and melted cheese atop the tortillas. The tortillas were similar to those accompanying the Divorced Chicken. But having been soaked in the sauce, it was akin to soggy drenched nachos. The tortillas were filled with a generous amount of cheese as well.

Casa Latina
42 Waterloo Street