Gastronomical ramblings

The problem with an indecisive person eating in a food court is having too many options to choose from. I was recently at the refurbished Melbourne Central upstairs food court and was greeted with an onslaught of eateries. Among them, the mexican Mad Mex caught my attention. I had cravings for Mexican and would have in a heart beat chosen picked it, but had some reservations about take-away Mexican. After minutes of deliberation, I just went for it and wound up… well, I won’t give the plot away just yet…

That is sure a lot of beer bottles… 

The making of the quesadilla; grilled flour tortilla, with cheese, capsicum, onions, 2 salsas and sour cream. For the filling, I selected the Carnitas (pork) option - shredded, traditional style with garlic, onion, lime and cumin. I chose the mild tomato salsa (fresh tomatoes, coriander, onion and jalepenos) and the picante (with a chilli rating of 3). I also bought a serving of their homemade tortilla chips and guacamole to share. 

And in no more than five minutes time, viola! Just based on appearance, my doubts were fast dissipating. Except for maybe the ‘sour cream’. It was… quite runny and looked more like thick milk than cream. Not at all appealing. The quesadilla itself was grilled to a crisp perfection. Without burning the outside, they managed to get the cheese nicely melted. The shredded pork was quite tender and the flavours fitted nicely with the cheese. The guac was good but standard, and the tomato salsa tasted fresh with a slight chilli kick. For a chilli rating of three, the maximum given on their menu, the picante wasn’t very spicy. 

A close up shot, just so you can see to some extent the tasty goodness that lies inside the tortilla wrap and the horrible runny-ness of the sour ‘cream’. 

Their tortilla chips tasted like the original flavoured ones straight from the packet, except warm. 

Overall, for something prepared in such a short amount of time, it was surprisingly tasty. And filling. After eating two thirds of the quesadilla at 3pm, I didn’t feel hungry again for the rest of the day. There’s no doubt about it, Mad Mex is good value in terms of both cost and service.

Mad Mex

Level 2 Dining Hall,

Melbourne Central

Corner LaTrobe and Swanston St.

Melbourne, Victoria, 3000.