Last night, Cheesecake Boy, Dumpling Cousin and I were off to El Loco for two reasons. The first reason was to celebrate that Cheesecake Boy had just finished his exams for the semester, but the poor thing had to go back to work today. However, it was a good enough reason to chow down some Mexican food, and slosh down some margaritas and beers. The second reason we were out was that Cheesecake Boy wanted to test out his early birthday present by taking a few photos, so there will be mainly shonky photos from me and some much brighter ones from Cheesecake Boy's new toy.
We were pursuing the menu, but the urge for cocktails were calling so some quick decisions needed to be made. You need to order at the bar, and although the food gets bought to the table, you will need to wait for the drinks. However, as we were there early, they offered to bring our drinks to the table.
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| The menu |
Our drinks came quickly and I went for the Pink Cuco alcoholic slushy that was a concoction of El Jimador Tequila, pink grapefruit and lime juices, homemade coriander and raw ginger syrup. Dumpling Cousin got the classic margarita that consisted of Herradura Blanco Tequila, Cointreau shaken with freshly pressed lime juice and organic sugar.
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| Pink Cuco and classic margarita, $13.50 each |
Corn chips with guacamole and salsa came at lightning speed. They don't make their own chips as we were expecting, but they are superior shop bought corn chips. We wished that the guacamole and salsa were chunkier in texture, as the guacamole was too smooth and the salsa was too runny. However, I like the flavour of the guacamole, but Dumpling Cousin needed an extra dash of chilli sauce in hers to give her the desired kick.
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| Corn chips with guacamole and salsa, $5 |
The El hot dog was definitely the favourite of the night. The soft bun encased a squishy grilled pork frankfurt with a hint of pickled jalapenos for a slight kick, creamy mayonnaise that was refreshed by the acidity of the pico ge gallo and to finish it off, it was topped with a playful heap of cheesy floss. I really wished we didn't share this one, and we were all thinking the same thing.
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| El hot dog, $7 |
We were a bit divided over the fish 'torta' sandwich that was a burger bun filled with grilled fish, cabbage, coriander, spring onion, mayonnaise and pico de gallo salsa. At first bite, it reminded me of my old childhood favourite of Filet-O-Fish. However, the mayonnaise was not as tangy, but the consistency was lighter giving the fish 'torta' sandwich a nicer balance in flavour. The creaminess of the mayonnaise gave the sandwich a lovely moist richness, that overcame the slightly dry grilled fish.
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| Fish 'torta' sandwich, $12 |
The 'Al pastor' pork 'torta' sandwich came with the same fillings as our fish 'torta' sandwich except the meat in this sandwich was grilled marinated pork from the spit. The pork from the spit does not yield the juicy succulence that we were after. Unfortunately, the pork was dry and the flavours are a bit bland. However, the creamy mayonnaise helped ease the dryness of the other ingredients and bought all the elements together.
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| 'Al pastor' pork 'torta' sandwich, $10 |
We ordered three tacos and they all came with cabbage, coriander, spring onions, salsa verde and pico de gallo. However, if you are on the carb conscious side than the tortilla can be replaced with a leaf of lettuce. There seems to be a 'secret taco' available every night too, but no one seemed interested in secrets or willing to be surprised last night.
Dumpling Cousin went for the 'camaron' taco that was filled with grilled prawns. She enjoyed the tortilla, but remained unimpressed in general.
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| 'Camaron' taco - prawn, salsa verde and pico de gallo, $5 |
Cheesecake Boy and I shared the 'pollo' taco that consisted of chicken and sweet corn salsa. I liked the freshness of the ingredients and the how vibrantly the sweet corn shined through.
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| 'Pollo' taco - chicken and sweet corn salsa, $5 |
We finished off with the 'al pastor' taco with its spit roaster pork and pineapple salsa filling. The pork is the same as the one in the sandwich. However, I did enjoy the sweet chunks of pineapple between bites, but that's because I'm a pineapple fanatic.
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| 'Al Pastor' taco - spit roaster pork and pineapple salsa, $5 |
I wished there were some sweet treats to finish off with, but realistically El Loco is a bar. It's the perfect place for after work drinks with its playful food and cheerful drinks. We loved the exuberant and fun environment, but you'll need to get there early to score a table.
El Loco
64 Foveaux Street
Sydney NSW 2010
Ph: (02) 9211 4945
www.elloco.com.au
15 comments:
Man, those sandwich-burgers look so messy! Cheap Mexican is always good though. :-)
Looks like fun food and good times. Must check it out at some point... :)
I went here on Tuesday night & really liked it. The place has a fun, quirky vibe and I thought the food was fun and really tasty. I loved the "mystery taco" which was a fish taco on the night we went - really really good.
finished exams, so lucky.
ive yet to start.. *stresses*
oooh. the hot dog, they are soo generous in cheese. I LIKE!!!
Hello Joey, lol hybrid sandwich-burgers are right, they are messy but fun :)
Hi Tina, you should definitely check it out soon, definitely fun place to be.
Hi MissPiggy, we loved the vibe as well, wished we tried the secret taco too.
Good luck with your exams, Dolly :D
Is this hot dog better than the one at Snag Bar in Westfield? I have yet to try Snag despite being at Westfield quite a few times in the last few weeks.
Hooray for new toys! Hope you guys have lots of fun playing with it and a happy birthday to Cheesecake Boy - I hope the day is celebrated with cheesecake =D
I was never a filet o fish fan but the fish torta sounds really good!
Hi chopinand, I think both hot dogs are on par, but we both prefer the one at El Loco. However, the sausages at the Snag Stand are more gourment, but I prefer the plain hot dog bun at El Loco, it was just the combination of the pork, mayo and cheese that did it for us.
Hello mademoiselle delicieuse, thank you, without giving out too much away... cheesecake will come into play somewhere on the day :) He is more than having fun with the new toy, I have my doubts if I made the right choice now, lol.
Hey Jen, the fish torta was my second fave of the night, better than a filet o fish for sure :)
i feel ashamed to say i havent visited el loco yet! *shock* that hot dog with an overflow of cheese looks really good
Hello sugarpuffi, lol nothing to feel ashamed about :) Just make sure you try it out soon. The cheese was lovely, just melted in your mouth.
Mmmmm yum!
Hi Ladybird, it was a yummy night of drinks and food :)
Great photos! LOVE the massive hanging lanterns! Really want to try the fish burger because the fillet-o-fish was my absolute favourite Maccas item when I was a kid as well! The El Loco fish burger may be slightly healthier if the fish is grilled rather than fried..
Hello Cappucino, awww thank you that is very sweet, the lantern is Cheesecake Boy's contribution :)
Lol, you are right the El Loco Fish sandwich burger is only slightly healthier by a fraction due to the grilled fish.
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