Mexican is one of my favourite kinds of food and Frida Kahlo is one of my favourite artists so when I came across a cosy restaurant that combined both, I was happier than a gringo who had just got his hands on some A-grade tequila.

Habanero's on Kalk Bay's main road has recently been taken over by an Irish woman and is all the better for it (you gotta love globalisation - an Irish woman, heading up a Mexican kitchen in South Africa).  

Usually when I do a restaurant review, I tend to write about the food first and décor second. But with Habanero's, such care has gone into making it beautiful that I feel I have to start there. The walls are adorned with prints of Frida Kahlo's paintings and tastefully combined with traditional Mexican artwork. The owner, Pam, has also chosen a few locally made art pieces of a style and form that do not take away from the overall rustic feel of the restaurant. Like the décor, the food is simple, and unpretentious.

We kicked off the evening's proceedings with a small plate of nachos. The large plate is not that much more expensive so I recommend going for that if you're sharing - the small one isn't that good value for money. For the main course, I can highly recommend the black bean dish which was served accompanied by red rice, guacamole and salsa. My compadre was a little disappointed with his veggie burger which wasn't that inspirational - it tasted exactly like the chickpea and spinach burger pattie you buy at Woolworths. So we were both in agreement that when you go there, stick with the Mexican food. There's a lot to choose from, tortillas, enchiladas, burritos - you name it. On Sundays they do a buffet but get there early because we tried to get in there the week before and the place was so busy that by 9 pm there wasn't even a nacho crumb in site!

We washed down our meal with a margarita - one of the best I've had in ages. In my experience, most Mexican restaurants in Cape Town serve sickly sweet margaritas so I was pleasantly surprised at the one served at Habanero's. Overall, this little Mexican kitchen is well priced, with main meals averaging around R40 to R50 depending if you are a veggie or a meat-eater. I was full up by the end of my meal but my compadre managed to make room for dessert. He had the pineapple cheesecake which was a generous slice and delicious. As we were leaving, I stopped to have a little chat to Pam, the owner, who said that she was going off to Mexico in a few months. She promised to return with inspiring flavours (and of course, art) so I'll definitely be going back.

February 2008 by Raffaella