Katana Bidari was a prompt and friendly server at Mezcals. Photo: Tenele Conway.
If you’re going to open a new restaurant in a hospitality and cost of living crisis, you may as well have a good time doing it. And that’s exactly what the owners of Canberra’s newest Mexican restaurant and nightclub, Mezcals, have done.
From the neon signs promising tequila, tacos and fun times to the bold and colourful Day of the Dead murals on the walls, everything about Mezcals screams long dinners, late nights and a hefty helping of merriment.
“Our goal is simple – to make people happy,” says owner Divyansh Garg, a sentiment backed by his business partner and brother Jubin.
Heading to the Sydney Building, to the former location of 5th Avenue Bar, which Mezcals now calls home, I knew I would need to bring a merry band of eaters to get the full experience. From everything I’d seen, this didn’t strike me as the kind of venue you want to sit quietly and enjoy the ambience.
My instincts were correct, and as we entered the restaurant, we were greeted with black walls, moody lighting and pumping music.
My other instinct, that the nightclub vibes didn’t seem like the type of place where good food resides, was thankfully wrong, and my initial hesitation was turned into enthusiasm as we washed down a broad range of Mexican food with a procession of frozen cocktails and Mexican beers.
Mezcals in the Sydney Building has bold murals and neon signs. Photo: Tenele Conway.
The nightclub vibes are intentional, and Divyansh and Jubin are on a mission to create a late-night venue that utilises the existing dance floor upstairs and serves up an extensive range of Mexican tequilas and mezcals until the early hours of the morning.
“We know it’s a concept that is difficult to achieve in Canberra, but we think we can do it. The key is ensuring we provide incredible food and delicious drinks at pocket-friendly prices, as well as a great atmosphere and even better service,” says Divvy.
The food at Mezcals is hard to pigeonhole, and I’ve always had a strong aversion to the word authentic when it comes to talking about food. The chef, Navdeep Kaur, is clearly experienced cooking with Mexican flavours and I was pleased to see that the food wasn’t smothered in cheddar cheese or sour cream, Tex-Mex style. Or served as a precious Cali-Mex salad.
While you won’t find a traditional mole or a pozole, many of the textures and flavours took me back to Mexico, a place I explored over 15 years ago.
Take the tacos, for example.
You won’t find a white wheat flour tortilla here. They use corn tortillas like on the streets of Mexico, and all of the meat is slow-cooked until tender and falling apart. The pork taco reminded me of those I had at a festival in Merida in Mexico’s Yucatan region, where tiny corn tortillas are stuffed with your choice of slow-cooked meats and spicy toppings are optional and applied at your discretion.
Pork tacos at Mezcals. Photo: Tenele Conway.
I dived into the chorizo taco thinking that, because I wasn’t familiar with it, it must be a modern affectation. It turns out that chorizo tacos are a beloved street food in Mexico, and chorizo was introduced to Mexico by the Spanish in the 15th century, making it more traditional than we might think.
The elotes (corn on the cob) are exactly the sort of food you would find in a Mexican market or festival. While the traditional queso fresco has been swapped for the Italian ricotta salata cheese, it’s a fair exchange based on availability, and it creates the same flavour profile.
The elotes, by the way, were the highlight of the meal.
The corn fell from the cob and was absolutely packed with flavour. They come in single servings on a stick, so make sure you grab one for each person at the table.
On the flip side, the menu has a range of fajitas, which are served on a sizzling plate. This is where we head into a Tex-Mex fusion food as cattle ranchers in Southern Texas created the dish.
Yet chef Kaur’s fajitas use more traditional Mexican elements like corn tortillas and slow-cooked meats. It’s like he’s taken the dish full circle, morphing back to a style more common in Mexico than Texas.
Elotes was a highlight of the meal. Photo: Tenele Conway.
Overall, the menu is extensive and veers in and out of Mexican and American dishes with taquitos, chilaquiles, chimichangas, quesadillas, burritos, tostadas, chicken wings and even chilli fries. Sadly, the three stomachs we had in attendance weren’t enough to taste them all, but every dish we ordered was tasty.
A special mention has to go to the desserts.
Trying two of the three on offer, I was impressed by the churros that had a hard-to-find combination of fluffy centre and crispy shell with a good quantity of sugar to offset the dark chocolate dipping sauce. A dulce de leche sauce is also included, but I found it too sweet for the already sweet churros but it was a crowd pleaser within our group.
The sizzling brownie is a touch of theatre with a hot brownie smothered in vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries being delivered to the table on a scorching hot platter. As the sizzling plate arrived at the table, I was concerned about the chocolate sauce burning onto the platter, but the caramelised chocolate actually went well with the sweet brownie and ice cream.
Mezcals struck me as the sort of place that needed a volume of people to bring the intended vibes, and if Divvy and Jubin can pull it off, Canberra will be in for a treat.
Mezcals is open seven days a week. You can view the menu, book a table or view their upcoming events schedule on their website.
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