Taco Maria — Restaurant in Western Australia

We'd put off visiting Taco Maria because of several negative reviews from friends but we thought it only fair to give it a try. First impressions - not terribly impressed with the décor but the staff (what there was at 6pm) were very friendly. A vert post-covid atmosphere where the ordering options are either via the QR code on the table or at the bar - no table service. Our shared entrée was to be chilli con queso - a dish I've made myself and eaten in restaurants all over the world (including Mexico) where it has always been a yellow colour and looked like cheese and cream. At Taco Maria it was a brown viscous liquid which wasn't unpleasant - but wasn't chilli con queso. Thinking there had been a mistake in the order and it had been confused with chilli beans (which it looked like) we checked with the waitress. She was so uncertain that she took it back to the kitchen but came back to assure us that it was chilli con queso a la Taco Maria. It was a small bowl, with a small amount of corn chips but even with 2 of us eating it, I was surprised to have the mains delivered before we'd even finished that! This could be viewed as quick service but not in the context of eating dinner in a restaurant.

The wine, a bottle of Stella Bella Cab Merlot, was about double the price of a bottle shop which can easily be justified in a restaurant. No complaints there (but a Cab Sauv on the menu would be nice).

Our mains. My wife chose a fish taco which was over-cooked and dry (she even said that the ones I make were better!). She was very under-impressed. I had a beef burrito which really was very nice. Superficially, it seemed expensive at $27 but it was a massive serve that I got 2 meals out of. Highly recommended but add hot sauce if you like your Mex spicy.

We ordered churros for desert but I couldn't eat them. It tasted of fish and it smelt of fish. I'd have to guess that it was cooked in the same deep fryer as the fish taco as I can't imagine any other way you could make a sweet churro taste of fish. My wife managed to eat hers but had to have lots of lemon curd on them.

Overall, not a good experience and one that we won't...

Let me first say that this is the best Mexican food I've had since moving to Perth. I spent a few years in South Cali and while this may not be traditional Mexican (ie: nearly everything served with a side of rice and beans and is dirt cheap), it did not disappoint. I am gluten intolerant, so I ordered the Macho Nachos and my husband got himself a Mole Chicken Burrito. Now, my husband normally hates beans and he completely decimated his food, so that is a huge compliment to the chef making those beans not overpower the dish. We also ordered Jarritos sodas and I believe the owner or manager came over to offer us a substitute and upgraded us to mocktails for no extra charge. I highly recommend the Apple and Elderberry mocktail. There was a fresh strawberry in there to boot and it was so sweet to eat after soaking in the juice. It was absolu5ely delicious. All in all, this was a great experience and I can't wait to come back to try something new.

The staff clearly loved working there and were so happy to help.

The lights were dimmed and perfect for a romantic dinner or just simply a relaxing one.

Everything was fresh and smelled amazing. There were quite a few gluten-free options.

The price was about the same as going to get a burger and chips, so it was fairly priced, in my opinion.

They also gave multiple options to order, which is great for people who prefer ordering from the website or people that want a face-to-face...

It was good, but certainly not great. It wasn’t cheap and the service was average certainly from our experience (3 of us). QR codes?!? Kids menu can only be viewed online?!? And yet the kids menu has puzzles for kids to draw on... but it's only online?!?... Oh dear. Definitely not kid-friendly.

I mentioned at the counter our son's nut allergy and the owner stepped in and stated that "The menu clearly indicates which items have nuts." I may be being unfair here, but it felt more like a retort for not reading the small print or the "(N)" suffix against items containing nuts. Not so simple, food allergies can be deadly and cross contamination is a real concern. Restaurants need to treat this seriously. A proper restaurant will make a note and ensure patrons that their food will be prepared with care to avoid cross contamination.

The offering of drinks is very good and the highlight was definitely the appetisers. Mains were okay and you soon realise that they rotate and mix and match a set of core ingredients, which to be fair is probably typical of Mexican food. By this I mean the trio of dips had the three main ingredients that went into a lot of the mains dishes. So you started to taste the same flavours throughout mains until dessert. The churros were excellent but 4 churros was more like 1 churro chopped into 4 pieces.

I doubt...