barrio by mex out, 313@somerset.
excited to see a new mexican place at somerset, so i made C come along with me for dinner. being new, they had no website and no contact number for reservations, but i was in the area before dinner, so i popped by and requested to make a reservation. good thing i did, too, because the place was startlingly crowded for a sunday night.
i had my eye on the protein salad ($15.90), mainly because it boasted a jumbo serve of chargrilled chicken AND guacamole- yum! but when we were ordering, the waitress told us that all the salads weren't available. what?! that was something they should've told us the moment we were given the menu. so i settled for the pulled pork tacos ($13.50 for 3 pieces). C was hungry (for once) and decided on the carne asada burrito bowl ($14.60 for a la carte, $17.50 for a drink and side). interestingly enough they offer sets for all the mains, including tacos, which is a pretty good deal. the sides were things like tortilla chips with salsa, mexican rice and mexican fries. i we were greedy so we also got another set of tacos to share- the chargrilled chicken tacos this time ($12.50 for 3 pieces).
given that the place was crowded, the food came pretty quickly. the pulled pork tacos came first- saucy, delicious and... difficult to eat glamourously. i ended up fitting the taco into my mouth sideways, but the sauce still ended up dripping all over the tray. good thing the tacos were served on a tray, actually. but oh well, who cares about looking good when the food's so yummy? each bite was jam packed with flavour- from the pulled pork, pickled red cabbage, chipotle aioli and pico de gallo. couldn't help but compare it to vatos urban tacos, though, and i can't help but feel that i marginally prefer vatos urban tacos' version. still, it was good.
C's carne asada burrito bowl came shortly after. while it looked impressive, from the bite that i tried, i felt that the tacos were better. for one, the mexican rice was surprisingly bland- i was envisioning something with more flavour. it was just like regular white rice, actually. the beef pieces, while perfectly medium rare, also suffered from the same blandness.
luckily the chargrilled chicken tacos (which came much later) made up for it. it wasn't as full of sauce as the pulled pork ones, making it way easier to eat without making a mess, but it was just as yummy. the chargrilled chicken was really chargrilled- could taste the smokiness of the grill on the crispy chicken skin. i was initially hesitant about ordering it, because the menu stated that it was going to be spicy, coming with sriracha and all, but it ended up being just mildly so. glad we decided to be brave and ordered it.
their tacos are pretty good- i can see myself coming back for those. i also want to have the salad that i missed out on! across the table we spied people having quesadillas, and those look really good, too. i like this place- well, except for the service. no water was provided, we had to wave for ages to get their attention, and our table wasn't even kitted out with napkins (other tables were- i think they'd missed out on ours). but i guess they are new, so that kind of accounts for the less than stellar service. still, reasonably priced mexican food in an easy-to-get-to location? yeah, i'm sold.
barrio by mex out
313@somerset
#01-14/15
given that the place was crowded, the food came pretty quickly. the pulled pork tacos came first- saucy, delicious and... difficult to eat glamourously. i ended up fitting the taco into my mouth sideways, but the sauce still ended up dripping all over the tray. good thing the tacos were served on a tray, actually. but oh well, who cares about looking good when the food's so yummy? each bite was jam packed with flavour- from the pulled pork, pickled red cabbage, chipotle aioli and pico de gallo. couldn't help but compare it to vatos urban tacos, though, and i can't help but feel that i marginally prefer vatos urban tacos' version. still, it was good.
C's carne asada burrito bowl came shortly after. while it looked impressive, from the bite that i tried, i felt that the tacos were better. for one, the mexican rice was surprisingly bland- i was envisioning something with more flavour. it was just like regular white rice, actually. the beef pieces, while perfectly medium rare, also suffered from the same blandness.
luckily the chargrilled chicken tacos (which came much later) made up for it. it wasn't as full of sauce as the pulled pork ones, making it way easier to eat without making a mess, but it was just as yummy. the chargrilled chicken was really chargrilled- could taste the smokiness of the grill on the crispy chicken skin. i was initially hesitant about ordering it, because the menu stated that it was going to be spicy, coming with sriracha and all, but it ended up being just mildly so. glad we decided to be brave and ordered it.
their tacos are pretty good- i can see myself coming back for those. i also want to have the salad that i missed out on! across the table we spied people having quesadillas, and those look really good, too. i like this place- well, except for the service. no water was provided, we had to wave for ages to get their attention, and our table wasn't even kitted out with napkins (other tables were- i think they'd missed out on ours). but i guess they are new, so that kind of accounts for the less than stellar service. still, reasonably priced mexican food in an easy-to-get-to location? yeah, i'm sold.
barrio by mex out
313@somerset
#01-14/15
