Cafe Mexicana — Restaurant in Cork

My family and I were traveling through and hoping for a little hit of authentic Mexican flavor. With a motto like “a taste of Mexico” and “authentic Mexican cuisine,” I was optimistic. After all, I’ve lived everywhere from the East Coast to the West Coast of the U.S., spent a few years in Texas (for context, not a fan of Tex-Mex), and even crossed the border into Mexico a few times—so I was ready for something familiar.

Unfortunately… this wasn’t it. I’m honestly not sure what part of Mexico this food claims to represent, because the flavors didn’t match anything I’ve had. It tasted a bit more like if an Italian and a Mexican got married, raided the pantry, and stirred spaghetti sauce into the beans. My daughter, ever the food philosopher, argued it was actually Indian fusion. Either way, it wasn’t quite the experience we’d hoped for. Maybe we should have stuck to the little taqueria we saw down the street.

On top of that, the service left us feeling a bit invisible. We don’t drink much, so after we were seated and our food arrived, we basically didn’t see anyone again for about half an hour—no water refills, no “is everything okay?” Meanwhile, other tables around us were getting checked on regularly. And hey, we’re a fun family! We would’ve happily chatted.

Oh, and the glassware… yikes. One of the glasses had stuff stuck to both the outside and inside. When I asked the waiter for a clean one, he just walked over and swapped it from another table. I couldn’t help but feel bad for whoever got stuck with that trade.

All in all, Café Mexicana has a cool vibe, and maybe it hits the spot for some. But for us, it was a bit of a letdown. Here’s hoping the next stop on our travels serves up a little more of the authentic flavor...

Got given a pitcher of strawberry margarita when we asked for just normal but just went with it. A marg is a marg.

Nachos came out, I’ve never had nachos with potato & carrots on them. Had to ask for gauc- kinda thought that was a given with nachos.

Steak tacos were ok but the vegan chimichanga was bitterly disappointing. Rice was microwaved (had shrivelled bits of corn in like the packets & giant clumps) No cheese & no refried beans in like suggested on the menu. Just frozen veg & tomato sauce. A pile of plain salad on the side (that I saw was just kept in an open tub not refrigerated)

We were left upstairs and had to come down to ask for service, the worst was the manager at the end of the meal when I asked to talk to him about my meal. I left most of the plate and he was rude, told me that I ate everything & even said he would bring my plate back to ‘show me what I ate’ Very very insulting. Did not take any feedback. Expensive & not worth it. Rude AF.

Never again. Glad I threw most of it up in the toilet...

Cute spot and friendly staff but it took over 1 1/2 hours to get our food and it wasn't even very busy. Although the staff were pleasant, they weren't very attentive. The menu looked like authentic Mexican but when we finally got our food, it wasn't. I eat alot of Mexican food in the US at restaurants owned and operated by Mexicans and this was not Mexican food. The rice is just plain white rice, with tiniest bits of red peppers and tasted like it had just come out of the microwave. My chimichanga looked nice(but plain) on the outside but the filling was basically just a steak and gravy pie. Very disappointing. The frijole con queso was mostly salsa and beans with a small bit of shredded cheddar thrown in that wasn't even melted. Jalapeño poppers were tiny bits of jalapeños that had been fried for way too long, they hadn't been hollowed out and stuffed with anything, just cut up bits of overfried peppers. Please do not decide you don't like Mexican food after eating here because it isn't...