Ay Caramba!

July 12, 2010 by chopstixfix 1 Comment

I love chimichangas, ever since watching “Meet the Fockers”, I find the name not only hilarious but it’s a darn good satisfying meal with the carb overload. It’s hard to find a good Mexican restaurant at the best of times, I’m definitely not all clued up on what makes one place “more genuine” than the next, seeing as they all serve nachos, fajitas and burritos. But, after failing in my chimichanga quest back in London Town, I was pretty happy to find: 1. Agave (in Central and Wan Chai) which does the most ginormous plate of nachos- topped with guacamole, cheese, jalapeno peppers, sour cream and extra beef, I challenge anyone to try and finish it between 2 people, (my friend R and I have failed several times) and 2. !Caramba! in Soho, which maybe serves the best Mexican food out here.

!Caramba! models itself as a cosy Mexican cantina. It has an impressive, or scary (depending on how you see it) wall of Tequila and chilli sauce behind the bar and a mouthwatering menu of ensaladas, appetisers, burritos, fajitas, chimichangas, nachos, and desserts.G ordered a beef burrito and I got my hands on a grilled beef chimichanga, which is a burrito deep fried. Mmmmmm. Thankfully we were sensible and didn’t get a plate of nachos or any appetisers, else someone would have had to wheel us out of the restaurant. Our servings were huge, but the menu did say “whopping” on it, so they weren’t lying. Our tortilla wraps came with toppings of guacamole, pico de gallo (traditional uncooked Mexican condiment made from onions, chillis, tomatoes and lime juice), sour cream and lay on a bed of black beans, red salsa and Mexican rice. Wow. I feel full just writing this.

The grilled beef filling was lovely, tender and juicy. It’s difficult to get the beans right, but the black beans were great, not too stodgy. I loved the Mexican rice and they were generous with the guacamole and sour cream which I think is extremely important, as you need to slather loads of it on each forkful of tortilla. A brilliant, hearty, hugely satisfying, food coma inducing meal.

Anyway, to accompany our meal, we ordered a pitcher of Sangria de la Casa for $260 (versus a glass for $57), which was bloody strong! G and I were pretty merry and had verbal diarrhoea at the end of the meal, even after all that food, so apologies for the quality of my photos haha. The Sangria was very summery and fruity, I recommend it. They have a decent drinks menu of a variety of margaritas, sangria mixes, wine and of course tequila, to make you happy 🙂