Mexicali - Saint Ives Australia

Mexicali, Handi, Simon's Kitchen, Sushi Inn, and Riya's no longer exist. The whole east side of the block is under development.  Also gone are Subway, Jak's Beer, etc., and Subway. Progress?  I don't think so.

My absolute FAVOURITE spot. The tacos are to DIE for, and so are the Mexi fries. This my friends and I go to spot, I go at least once a week. Super cheap and nice and simple food. Love it. Sad to hear its closing end of May :

This is a casual Mexican joint located on Dunbar, a couple of blocks away from King Edward Avenue. In addition to a regular menu, they also have a couple of All Day Special combos, consisting of an entree, a side of Mexi Fries, and a choice of drink, which includes Slushy Limonada. The service is pretty minimal: you go and order at the front counter and they'll bring your food to your table if you're eating in). I had their Beef Redondo Roll-up Special with a Slushy Limonada) and Enchilada en Mole Poblano. The food was fine but not great: I enjoyed their combo special, but found their mole to be pretty bland. Their prices were a great bargain however: their all day specials are just around $10 and are quite a generous portion. This is definitely worth checking out.<br/ <br/ Enchilada en Mole Poblano $11.95):<br/ 3/5<br/ This consisted of two chicken enchiladas in a mole sauce and is served with rice and beans. This is the first time that I've had mole which is a chocolate, chile and peanut sauce), so I don't know what it's actually supposed to taste like. I can only say that, unfortunately, I wasn't really a big fan of the mole here: I found it to be quite bland. The enchiladas themselves however, did have a pretty good amount of chicken inside, which was tender. The beans and rice were just standard; I could have done with a bit more seasoning.<br/ <br/ Beef Redondo Roll-up Special $8.50):<br/ 3.5/5<br/ They have several different all days specials, which comes with Mexi Fries and a choice of drink: I had their Beef Redondo with a Slushy Limonada as my drink. The redondo consists of a grilled tortilla stuffed with ground beef, cheese, vegetables, and sour cream. The tortilla was nicely grilled and had a great crispiness. There was quite a generous amount of filling inside. I did find the beef to be a tad dry, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the seasoning. I did really enjoy the mexi fries though, which were essentially tater tots, and were very crispy on the outside. The limonada slushy was also tasty, and had a great tanginess.<br/ <br/ Summary:<br/ Food: 3/5<br/ Price: 4.5/5<br/ Service: N/A<br/ Overall: 3.5/5<br/ Recommendations: Beef Rendodo Special

I love this tacky little place in sleepy Dunbar. You walk in and it's a mish-mash of everything stereotypically Mexican, including a cactus-shaped sidewalk sign and really cheesy music and murals. Sometimes when the owners feel good they'll put on a Michael Jackson DVD on the TV. Anyway, the food is consistent because it's simple tex-mex and it's cheap to boot, though, to be fair, I've never had anything other than the Redondo, quesadillas and tacos. The quesadillas are just huge chunks of gooey cheese with whatever meat you get, and every meal comes with a good portion of tasty mexi fries (they're tator tots, I'm sure) and some salsa (probably Tostito's) and sour cream.

Would you like a chicken or beer enchilada?. What a great find! My local friends have been coming here for years. I can't speak to the food's authenticity or not, but to me the corn tortillas tasted home made, and their signature slushy limonada was perfect just tart enough to hit the spot.<br/ <br/ Huge portions, served with a smile. The proprietor is Vietnamese, and the menu is full of spelling and grammatical errors which were very entertaining during the short wait for my meal. I will make this a regular visit when I'm in Vancouver!