Personally, I love the strong and exciting flavours of Mexican food! So when I heard about this Mexican restaurant on the North Shore, I had to get myself there, no matter how hard it was!
Even walking across the road, I could already see the happy and festive vibe of the place. It definitely stood out amongst all the restaurants around the neighbourhood!
Montezuma's Mexican Restaurant, Crows Next
Upon walking in, we immediately saw the wide range of piñatas, sombreros, fake toucans etc. hanging from the ceiling. This definitely gave the ambience of a festive Aztec culture. Being a Saturday night, this place was packed with people. Although we had to wait for a couple of minutes for our seat, they had a fully licensed bar that enabled us to grab a quick drink while waiting.
Luckily, we got a seat that was near their open kitchen with their convection ovens. The aroma of all that Mexican food excited me way too much!
side view of their open kitchen
Although, I have to admit, the table settings were a bit too compact for my liking, but this is understandable as they had to fit as many tables as they can. They are just that popular!
what was hanging above our table
One major downside was the waiting time. We waited for an hour to get our four meals. Yes, we could've ordered an entree to fill our stomachs first, but we knew we would then be way too full. We all acknowledged that they were incredibly busy on that night, but a couple of us suspected that they had too many staff members, which in turn that deteriorated their efficiency. It got to the point that we asked one waitress whether our food was ready, and two tables near us also did the same thing.
Nevertheless, we got our food. I ordered a 'Baja'- chicken and sour cream
enchilada, cheese enchilada, rice and salad. I had no idea what salad dressing they used, but it was a good side-dish to accompany the heavily flavoured meal I expected. It surprised me that there were raw broccolis in the salad, but it somehow blended well with the other raw vegetables. It gave me a very generous amount of cheese (I am a huge fan of cheese!) and unselfishly cut pieces of chicken. All the parts of the dish blended very well for me, and I obliterated the meal within 5 minutes.
Baja- chicken and sour cream enchilada, cheese enchilada, rice and salad
My friend on the other hand, had another point of view. She has never been a fan of Mexican food, so she had a lot to say about it. She order an 'Arizona'-2 chicken and sour cream enchiladas, rice and salad. She thought the flavours were simply too strong (but isn't that a characteristic you find in ALL Mexican food?), that there was simply too much cheese, and that the rice was too hard for her liking. She didn't find Mexican food very special at all.
Arizona- 2 chicken and sour cream enchiladas, rice and salad
My other friend had never tried Mexican food before. He had a 'Texas'- 2 beef enchiladas, beans and salad. He said the beans were the best parts of the meal. They were perfectly cooked and very easy to chew, and that it accompanied the rice very well. He did also say that the flavours were too strong for him, but he's someone who never uses salt or sugar to cook.
Texas- 2 beef enchiladas, beans and salad
Another friend of mine had a 'Durango'- chicken and sour cream enchilada, beef enchilada, beans and rice. He is not a big fan of beans, so he offered criticism on that. He did however say that the chicken and sour cream enchiladas were better than the beef one. I mean, who doesn't love a meal with sour cream?
Durango- Chicken and sour cream enchilada, beef enchilada, beans and rice
Montezuma's offers vegetarian, gluten free and allergy specific alternatives, so there is definitely something to satisfy everyone. They even have a special children's menu for the little amigos.
Throughout our meal, there were THREE people having birthday dinners there. Spoiler: The waiter/waitress carries your cake out while blowing a whistle, so everyone in the restaurant will know it's your birthday and sing for you! I also noticed that Montezuma's even gives the birthday boy/girl a sombrero. One person was turning 10, one was turning 21, and one preferred not to tell others... We could really see that the jovial and festive vibe was instilled in everyone sitting in that restaurant.
We were all so full from our meals. It was six hours later and I could still smell the Mexican aromas in my mouth, and I hadn't even eaten anything since. You might have noticed that these four meals look pretty similar, and had similar contents. That's our fault! We all decided to order things from the same submenu- 'Combinations/Meals'. Next time, I will try things from their 'Comidas/Dinner' menu.
Montezuma's also has a takeaway menu, which we saw many people opting to do. To see their menu, click
here.
Montezuma's offers plenty of on-street parking, as well as undercover parking adjacent to the restaurant, Montezuma's Mexican Restaurant is ideal for any occasion, Amigos.
