Once Bitten
Basics
Location
On the net
Per Person
Set lunch menu €12.90, drink and dessert/coffee included.
In Short
Hopes?
Good value set menu for lunch.
Reality?
Excellent value set menu for lunch!
First Impressions?
There's a skeleton guarding the door. They always dine alone. No body to go with, see.
A USP?
Decent food in fun-filled decor.
The food in three words?
Amply proportioned tex-mex.
Can they get the staff?
Only one needed at lunchtime. Did a good job.
Service with a smile?
No complaints in the amiability department.
Would you take your friends?
For a decent indoor tex-mex, yes,
Rating for a dating?
Is Mexican perhaps a bit messy for a safe first-impression?
Tip?
5%
Change one thing?
A smidge more seasoning on the nachos is it. Nothing else.
Going back?
I reckon so.
Compare and Contrast
A decent tex-mex lunch at Slow-Mex.
A great value lunch at Menomale.
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
Set lunch menu is an intense market. Even in the centre of town you can get yourself a fairly spectacular three course meal for less than €15, and La Mordida's not failing the VFM test. Here you'll come out well-fed for less than €13. What's more, on the whole they manage to balance quantity with a fair bit of quality.
Let's face it, starters in a tex-mex are going to involve a nacho or guaco scenario. Here we go with nachos, nominally for one. Now this isn't going to earn a Michelin star for originality, but that's not an issue. That's not why we're here. Why are we here? If you want the philosophy class, it's down the hall. This is a weekday lunch, not a proposition from Wittgenstein.
Back from the world of dreams, this is enough for two. Now, we have to be picky here. The chips seem to be unsalted - fair enough, in itself - so the whole thing is a little blander than you might be expecting. It comes mostly unsauced, but that's absolutely fine, as La M scores very strongly for putting a little dish of three salsas on the table from the off. We expect a bit of this from anywhere claiming to be mex. We love something that tarts up our tortillas. We give extra points for some terrific chipotle ketchup. This is a coming thing now, and it'll be everywhere in months. It's heading towards the h-o-t! end of the scale, but adds a terrific tasty touch to all the dishes we added it to.
Proving those amply portioned nachos aren't a one-off, the quesadilla combination - mushroom, cheese and ham - looks like this. We've already cut ours up ready to share out. Again, this is a gift for that salsa tray trio and we have no complaints at all. Didn't ask which cheeses they're using but it's not cheddar as it's creamy rather than greasy. Very good, and that pico de gallo is nice and acidic. Gooood coriander going on there.
Main courses for the day. Cochinita pibil (often mispronounced "Pulled Pork" in English) in the next photo was excellent; chicken chipotle managed to be creamy and, well, chipotley at the same time. If Mexican cookery had a curry this would be it. Of course, both have the advantage of being pre-preparable and re-heatable, but you have to cook them right in the first place, and they indisputably have done. Nice spice. I'd have been quite happy to have made them at home. Vegetable fajitas came with lots more melted cheese, so be prepared to be full. Three tortillas per course plus a rice garnish on the two meat dishes meant we were starting to struggle by the end - thanks in part to those hefty starters.
Desserts are rarely a surprise when you're on the menu del dia. And we can't get into raptures about a couple of small triangles of lemon cheese cake and two significant splodges of whipped cream. But we can't complain much either. You know more or less what you're going to get. It wasn't as mass-produced as it might have been. A bit more interesting was the mexican coffee option, offered as one of the dessert choices. Nice idea, that.
A nice little brown jug (cue Mr Miller) with matching cup appeared, and the server readily brought us more of them so we could all try it. Nominally, orange juice and cinnamon are added to the mix. We couldn't get much of a handle on the fruity element, but perhaps it's down to the sweetness it provided. That, or we need to work on our palates. The cinnamon came through though and we liked it a lot.
Decor is colourful and there's a collection of famous faces painted on one wall. Only two other groups were in on a Wednesday lunchtime, which makes service quick and reliable. Apparently regularly rammed in the evenings, that means a lunchtime visit could give you an easy chance to see what's on offer.
So at €13 each, this is a decent lunch. Not novel, not shocking, but not lacking in effort. Worth a go.
Basics
Location
On the net
Per Person
Set lunch menu €12.90, drink and dessert/coffee included.
In Short
Hopes?
Good value set menu for lunch.
Reality?
Excellent value set menu for lunch!
First Impressions?
There's a skeleton guarding the door. They always dine alone. No body to go with, see.
A USP?
Decent food in fun-filled decor.
The food in three words?
Amply proportioned tex-mex.
Can they get the staff?
Only one needed at lunchtime. Did a good job.
Service with a smile?
No complaints in the amiability department.
Would you take your friends?
For a decent indoor tex-mex, yes,
Rating for a dating?
Is Mexican perhaps a bit messy for a safe first-impression?
Tip?
5%
Change one thing?
A smidge more seasoning on the nachos is it. Nothing else.
Going back?
I reckon so.
Compare and Contrast
A decent tex-mex lunch at Slow-Mex.
A great value lunch at Menomale.
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
Set lunch menu is an intense market. Even in the centre of town you can get yourself a fairly spectacular three course meal for less than €15, and La Mordida's not failing the VFM test. Here you'll come out well-fed for less than €13. What's more, on the whole they manage to balance quantity with a fair bit of quality.
Let's face it, starters in a tex-mex are going to involve a nacho or guaco scenario. Here we go with nachos, nominally for one. Now this isn't going to earn a Michelin star for originality, but that's not an issue. That's not why we're here. Why are we here? If you want the philosophy class, it's down the hall. This is a weekday lunch, not a proposition from Wittgenstein.
Back from the world of dreams, this is enough for two. Now, we have to be picky here. The chips seem to be unsalted - fair enough, in itself - so the whole thing is a little blander than you might be expecting. It comes mostly unsauced, but that's absolutely fine, as La M scores very strongly for putting a little dish of three salsas on the table from the off. We expect a bit of this from anywhere claiming to be mex. We love something that tarts up our tortillas. We give extra points for some terrific chipotle ketchup. This is a coming thing now, and it'll be everywhere in months. It's heading towards the h-o-t! end of the scale, but adds a terrific tasty touch to all the dishes we added it to.
Proving those amply portioned nachos aren't a one-off, the quesadilla combination - mushroom, cheese and ham - looks like this. We've already cut ours up ready to share out. Again, this is a gift for that salsa tray trio and we have no complaints at all. Didn't ask which cheeses they're using but it's not cheddar as it's creamy rather than greasy. Very good, and that pico de gallo is nice and acidic. Gooood coriander going on there.
Main courses for the day. Cochinita pibil (often mispronounced "Pulled Pork" in English) in the next photo was excellent; chicken chipotle managed to be creamy and, well, chipotley at the same time. If Mexican cookery had a curry this would be it. Of course, both have the advantage of being pre-preparable and re-heatable, but you have to cook them right in the first place, and they indisputably have done. Nice spice. I'd have been quite happy to have made them at home. Vegetable fajitas came with lots more melted cheese, so be prepared to be full. Three tortillas per course plus a rice garnish on the two meat dishes meant we were starting to struggle by the end - thanks in part to those hefty starters.
Desserts are rarely a surprise when you're on the menu del dia. And we can't get into raptures about a couple of small triangles of lemon cheese cake and two significant splodges of whipped cream. But we can't complain much either. You know more or less what you're going to get. It wasn't as mass-produced as it might have been. A bit more interesting was the mexican coffee option, offered as one of the dessert choices. Nice idea, that.
A nice little brown jug (cue Mr Miller) with matching cup appeared, and the server readily brought us more of them so we could all try it. Nominally, orange juice and cinnamon are added to the mix. We couldn't get much of a handle on the fruity element, but perhaps it's down to the sweetness it provided. That, or we need to work on our palates. The cinnamon came through though and we liked it a lot.
Decor is colourful and there's a collection of famous faces painted on one wall. Only two other groups were in on a Wednesday lunchtime, which makes service quick and reliable. Apparently regularly rammed in the evenings, that means a lunchtime visit could give you an easy chance to see what's on offer.
So at €13 each, this is a decent lunch. Not novel, not shocking, but not lacking in effort. Worth a go.
