Location: Shop 406a Macquarie Shopping Center, North Ryde NSW
Taste-Type: Mexican/Fast Food
Price: All sets $9.90, guacamole +$2.00
Contact: 02-98888351
I have never heard of Mad Mex before today, but according to the Internet they operate a number of chain stores around Australia peddling variations on the general theme of Mexican foodstuffs. The Macquarie store is outfitted with a homely decor, with hardwood benches and the mural-style designs on the walls intended to evoke the passion and rawness of the Wild West. In homage to the American cafeteria tradition, the menu is based entirely around basic mix-and-match trays, a feature which bodes ill for my sensitive palate. I am impressed by the chandelier of Corona bottles, but fear that the tacky rawness of the setting will similarly pervade the aforementioned foodstuffs.
I am, as is sometimes the case, rather happily mistaken. In fact, the steak tacos that I order are if anything a little overdone; the tacos take on a semblance to cardboard while the steak chunks are rather chewy like old gum. Cardboard and gum are rarely this tasty, however, and I am especially impressed by the juiciness of the steak. The picente salsa that I pick is piquant and a touch peppery, but not hot enough to make me reach for my hermetically-sealed poison-resistant hip flask. I am not impressed by the surcharge on guacamole (what I consider a staple in any faux-derivative Mexican cuisine) but it is creamy and cooling so I eat all of it, partly to preserve yin/yang balance and partly to make the most of my money. I am just finishing when a squad of alien chairs materialises and attacks.
I fend off the initial assault and am launching a counter-attack with a flury of shurikens when the management ejects me for damage to property. Upon display of my katana, however, they flee along with the entire mall. The remains of my tacos do not, however, and I congratulate them on their valour (even in death). Then I return to chopping up chairs.
