You must know by now that I have a deep love for Mexican
food! Need proof? Check out these posts: Andale, andale, arriba, arriba!, Mexiday! The basic ingredients, Mexiday! Orange and chipotle chicken tacos
Mexican cuisine has been so poorly misrepresented in
Australia there should, in my opinion, be legal consequences against some ‘Mexican’
chain restaurants when they are clearly Tex-Mex, NOT Mexican! Ok, so maybe
legal consequences is taking it a little far, but let me clarify that I have
nothing against Tex-Mex. I lived is the Great Lone State, on and off for a few
years and a little piece of my heart will always yearn for Texas. But basically,
Tex-Mex is smothered in melted cheese and almost always served with a side of
refried beans… YUM!
However, In my travels to Mexico and California, I’ve found
that whilst refried beans do appear on many menus, the Mexican cuisine is much
fresher and tastier. Fried prawn tacos, slow cooked pulled pork enchiladas,
spicy bbq steak… sorry, I’m drooling on my keyboard!
Well, finally we have some great options coming to town, and
two of my favourite food court options are Guzman y Gomez and Mad Mex – both great
options but for different reasons. I’ve heard both have been compared to
another American chain called Chipotle, one of my all time favourite cheap
eats! But I must say, both GyG and MM fall slightly short of these lofty
heights. If only I could combine the two…
They both have very similar menu options: Burritos, Nachos,
Quesdillas, Tacos, etc. The main differences being:
Some like it hot! GyG Quesdilla |
GyG – The meat options here are definitely tastier and come
in spicy or non-spicy versions. Spicy pork for me please! And whilst you can
make a few changes, like swapping white rice for brown, the menu options come
as stated. So if it says it has pico de gallo, that’s what you get. I’m sure
you could make further alterations, but I doubt it’s encouraged. The other
thing I love about GyG is the free condiment bar where you can choose from 3
types of Tabasco (regular, green or chipotle) and fresh coriander, red onion
and pickled jalapeƱos. This is what brings me back to GyG!
Little snack today, Kids Nachos from Mad Mex |
Mad Mex – this is much more like the Chipotle franchise
because you can customise your meal the way you like it. You first choose your
meat filling – barbacoa for me please! – then there’s 4 salsas, sour cream,
queso, beans, cheese, lettuce, guac, etc. I love coming to Mad Mex for their
salsas! Different meats need different salsas and sometimes I want to burn my
taste buds off and sometimes I don’t.
So… which will you choose? ;)