that little mexican place, north perth

I've yet to find a review of That Little Mexican Place that is mediocre: it's either described as fantastic or quite terrible. As a result, I was prepared to be disappointed, and I was prepared to be contented.

Although the service can only be described as 'odd,' with our waiter taking away our shared entree (guacamole and blue corn chips) before we had quite finished all the chips, and a waitress dropping by to ask how our meal was and to tell me I was weird because I had yet to finish my drink, the meals were quite tasty and the restaurant was warm and interesting. I liked the decor, and little things like the great glasses and the fake candles (complete with flickering light). D and I both had the tamales de frijol negro, and the four of us shared the guacamole and blue corn chips, after I was assured that the guacamole was sans dairy. The tamales were a bit dry, but the beans were tasty and slightly creamy and the rice was quite excellent, so mixed all together it made for an ugly but delicious meal. They are also listed on the menu as 'can be made vegan,' apparently the only difference is the cream that is usually placed on the top to make it look pretty.

Having been assured that the meal was completely vegan, and receiving the bill which said '2 x tamales - vegan,' I'm willing to believe that the white stuff on top of the beans was vegan (as seen in this picture above), but it did look quite a lot like goat's cheese, so we erred on the side of caution, scooped it aside and continued on. We are unsure, but it's certainly a point of question mark from this visit.

Juices of the day were hibiscus and tamarind. The hibiscus was sort of like ribena, so much so that Andy insisted on calling it such all evening, to the irritation of our waiter, and I was surprised and pleased by the flavour of the tamarind, which I have never drunk as a juice before.

The restaurant is tiny, making the seating a bit cramped, and the meals took quite some time to arrive, and the service was, as I mentioned, a little odd. I do also wish that the menu was a little more vegan-friendly, though what we had was very good, and our waiter knew what he was talking about when we had questions (both vegan and non vegan, and also gluten-free) about the food. But the food was quite tasty and I loved the juice, the menu is clearly labelled with gf and veg, and overall it was worth the visit. I might go back in the future, I might not, we'll see if the menu develops and how visits to other Mexican restaurants pan out (next week I hope to try Zapata's in Fremantle).

That Little Mexican Place
382 Fitzgerald Street

North Perth