Poco’s Cantina, Randwick

Mexican. Or more correctly, Tex-Mexican. Is there anything better? The answer is a resounding, compounding, not-astounding no. I freakin’ love Mexican. Which made it all the more epic when my dining friend and I went to check out Poco’s Cantina in Randwick last week.

The menu is brief – all of the usual suspects are there – enchiladas, tacos, burritos, fajitas, nachos, chilli. With every new dish, my drool intensified. Not five minutes after we were seated, a cute little container or corn chips and salsa were plonked in front of us. The salsa was in a chip bowl – epic. Tacky, but epic. Observe:

Chip bowls make everything great

We started off with a couple of bevvies – a corona, of course and a very well priced ($8 or so?) margarita for me. Even though there were a decent number of people in the restaurant, our drinks came quickly and were delicious. The drinks menu isn’t particular out there or wildly impressive, but it goes with the chill, simple, no frills idea of the restaurant.

Margarita time! (and a half-demolished chip bowl)

There were some fantastic looking buffalo wings as a menu entree – but focused we were, we went straight for the big guys. For mains, DF went for chicken enchiladas ($19) and I went for my typical choice – the choice by which I judge all Mexican restaurants – the beef burrito ($21.50).

Enchiladas

The enchiladas were huge! Two packed enchiladas, topped with a mild (yes, DF is the world’s biggest heat wimp) tomato sauce, tasty rice and a side of beans. Little black beans would have been better – they kind of tasted very obviously of “canned goods” but other than that, DF gave a nice big thumbs up.

Burrito!

So my burrito was incredible. Tasty, super tender shredded beef, beans and cheese in a massive tortilla. Rice, sour cream, guac and salsa on the site. Sufficiently spicy; not overkill. So flavoursome and such a generous serving. I like the concept of having it all in the burrito, all in one, but then I guess this way skips the issue that I once faced – ALL of the super spicy chili down one end of the burrito, which I injested in one, big, painful, teary bite. Anyway – I’ll be coming back for this burrito again.

The cool thing about Poco’s Cantina is that it has no frills. Look anywhere – literally, there are none. And it doesn’t try to be fancy. They serve their chips in a plastic container. Their menu is in a plastic folder. The waiters are these young surfy kids. It’s brilliant!

Being my birthday, we decided to take a quick visit down the road to this cool little cafe called Kurtosh. It’s a cafe based on this Hungarian “donut” called “Kurtoskalacs” (you know the ones, wrapped around a wooden mold and baked in that funky looking machine, dusted with cinnamon / sugar). Kurtosh also has a few counters filled with these massive slabs of cake – chocolate cake, cheese cake, nutty cakes, teacakes, blondies, poppy seed cakes – you name it – that you buy by the gram. We went for 100 grams ($4), which gets you a very nicely appropriately sized piece, of a berry cheesecake. Thick, rich and very cheesy, it was let down slightly by its non-biscuit-based crust (the best of all bases), but was delicious nonetheless. We also went for a very chocolate-y chocolate ball (no rum, unfortunately!), for $2.50. If richness could be defined by a small dessert, then this chocolate ball would be that definition. It wasn’t complex, it wasn’t mysterious… it was chocolate, and it was good.

Cheesecake and chocolate

We went to:

Poco’s Cantina
52 St Paul’s St,
Randwick NSW 2031

Food? 7/10
Drinks? 6/10
Ambience? 6/10
Recommend it? Yes, for a relaxed “cantina” dinner. The food and drinks were cheap and delicious – grab a few friends, sit around a bigger table at the back and have a good ol’ night.

Kurtosh
20 St Paul’s St,
Randwick NSW 2031