Melbourne, VIC 3000
touchehombre.com.au
End
of third year pharmacy and another badly written blog post! Because food is
more fun than studying about gas gangrene, subsequent amputation, and which
antibiotics are needed to prevent a horrible horrible death.
So
Touché Hombre opened with great
fanfare just over six months ago on the back of the Mexican wave and it’s been
mucho popular since. I’ve wanted to visit from day one but like I said, gas
gangrene and tertiary education.
We
were going to sit inside except by 5:45pm on a Friday the place was packed out,
and the only places available were on a communal table inside the
loud-as-a-rodeo bar. Considering everything, sitting outside became a
no-brainer – look at that weather! I mean sure, the al fresco seating wasn’t
licensed but no worries, we headed to Little Peninsula for drinkies
after.
Fatty Lamb Ribs ($11) |
Fatty Lamb Ribs ($11) are
on the menu? Of course we ordered them. And out came a little bowl of tender,
fall-off the bone ribs which Chris ate the majority of whilst I was busy taking
photos. The little morsels were unabashedly fatty and delectable with a squeeze
of lemon to cut through the sweetness.
Elotes Callejeros ($6) |
At
Mexican restaurants, Elotes
Callejeros ($6) are the way to go! Shame these were teeny, flat and a
bit dry, with no zip, zing or zidgereedoo to be tasted. The corn wasn’t smoky,
spicy or creamy, even after me desperately rolling it in the shredded manchego
cheese stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
Fruta Del Mar Ceviche ($13) |
Everything
about the Fruta Del Mar Ceviche
($13) was unremarkable. The seafood (snapper, prawn, mussels) was fresh but not
swimming, the flavours were alright but lacked complexity – mostly sour, to the
point of being excessively so at the bottom. I couldn’t taste any habanero,
cilantro, or pineapple. Shame because had it been seasoned right, this could’ve
been very, very good.
De Pescado ($7.5)/Del Coronel ($6.5) |
And
now, the Mexican staple – tacos. The De
Pescado ($7.5) taco of battered day-boat fish certainly floated my
boat. The combination of seafood, pickled cucumber mayo (in other words, tartar
sauce), and salsa isn’t innovative by any stretch of the imagination but the
combination of crispy fish, sour yet creamy sauce, and fresh salad is
everything delicious in a tiny little tortilla.
Our
other taco, the Del Coronel
($6.5) was less memorable for me. I couldn’t taste the promised chermoula in
the mayo or the smoked avocado, and the chicken was disappointingly bland with
no smokiness reminiscent of supposed char-grilling. I took a hasty bite then
threw it back at Chris, just so I could have the fish taco back.
Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Sandwich ($7) |
It
was getting colder by this point, and whilst Chris had gallantly given me his
jumper, we both wanted to be inside before the weather got angry. So we
finished off with a quick dessert of Cookies
and Cream Ice Cream Sandwich ($7). And whilst this was good (sweet,
creamy... sweet?), it was once again uninspired. I’ll admit the chocolate
coated cherry popping candy is a brilliant idea, but only on paper– the thick
chocolate coating stopped the popping candy from actually popping, and it ended
up just tasting like bits of chocolate with a hint of cherry.
So
Touché Hombre was a bit of a letdown in terms of food. Most of it was only
average, with a few standing out and above the rest (lamb ribs, fish taco), but
nothing I would wake up in the middle of the night craving. And yes the
portions are as small as they look; if you came here for a night of debauchery,
I feel like you could spend up to $100 on drinks and nibbles. Despite it all, I
really enjoyed the overall experience; digging into a platter of finger food on
the side of the road on a beautiful Friday afternoon, it’s the very embodiment
of the street-food experience that is so hard to come by in Australia.
Rating: 12.5/20 - thanks man.
I still haven't been here...but most of my friends who have been didn't quite like it...it's too bad since I like Mexican a lot. I think I'll visit anyway just to try it out for myself.
ReplyDeleteYeah it really is quite disappointing; I love mexican food (once I've been introduced to the real stuff, as opposed to tex-mex), and whilst the food here is ok-ish, it's so over-priced you'd probably get a better deal (and way better food) eating at mamasita.
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