El Loco at Slip Inn
The other week, Boyfriend and I were invited by SBPR and Merivale, to attend another bloggers’ dinner (or more specifically: a blogger’s fiesta!) at the new and now permanent El Loco at Slip Inn.
Boyfriend and I are both giant fans of Mexican food and I’ve been meaning to check out El Loco literally for ages, so I was pretty excited about this one.
El Loco takes up the Slip Inn Courtyard. It’s a big indoor-outdoor space filled with palms and lights and fun Mexican decor. It has all the makings of a great night out with friends.
We start the evening with samplers of their cocktails. The El Loco cocktail menu is a fun mix of Mexican inspired cocktails like Jalapeno Margarita, Loco Rojo Margarita (which was made with beetroot) and a number of cocktails containing agave syrup. They are all extremely tasty and easy to drink and I can see this getting dangerous!
From here, we are brought mixed entrees to share including a range of tacos and Dan Hong’s famous hotdog. Dan Hong’s famous hotdog features El Loco’s own house-made frank and has its own Mexican twist with pico de gallo, mustard relish, jalepeno and mayo queso fresca. This dish is a definite must-try.
Amongst the tacos was a “Secret Taco” with a mystery ingredient. Apparently each week the Secret Taco contains something different and we’re told that the key ingredient is usually something a bit ‘out there’. Boyfriend and I decided to give it a go and found it surprisingly difficult to determine what the meat was. It was darkish in colour and didn’t taste like anything out of the ordinary but was very, very soft.
Turns out we ate tongue.
Tongue.
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
To be honest, it didn’t taste awful and I finished my entire taco (without knowing what it was I was eating). But I found the soft texture to be quite strange and if I was told I was eating tongue I would definitely not have enjoyed it as much.
You might also like to know that all El Loco tacos are available inside lettuce leaves rather than tortillas at no extra charge.
Dan Hong’s Famous Hotdog
For mains, we got to choose our own from the menu.
Boyfriend was really excited to order the pork belly, one of the daily specials, but unfortunately there were only a couple of servings left and he just missed out. Instead he ordered the BBQ chicken which was extremely succulent and very delicious.
It came with sides of chipotle mayo, salsa roja, radish and fennel salad and mexican rice.
I ordered the grilled fish which was barramundi (one of my favourite fish!). It came with salsa verde, radish and fennel salad and mexican rice.
It too was very succulent and delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal (though slightly full of tacos and tongue by this stage).
If Boyfriend had of been able to eat the pork belly, it would have looked like this:
Whilst Boyfriend loved his chicken, he was slightly jealous of this fellow guest.
Other meals around our table included:
The “Fish Torta” – grilled whitefish, cabbage salad, pico de gallo and mayo on a soft bun.
The “El Loco Salad”, which was cabbage, fennel and radish salad topped with tortilla crisps and cheese and a choice of chicken, beef, pork, prawn or tofu. I think if I went back, I’d definitely try this one. It looked amazing – light and fresh and very satisfying.
Two of the girls on our table ordered this dish – one with chicken and the other with prawns. One girl ordered hers with the cheese:
and the other without:
We also had a few sides which actually arrived before our main meals so it was kind of like a four course dinner instead (nothing wrong with that in my opinion – the more courses the better!)
Our sides included a char grilled baby corn and heirloom tomato salad with popcorn and ranchero dressing, which was amazing. Corn is my favourite vegetable (tying with potato) so this dish was right up my alley.
We also had a cobia (black kingfish) ceviche with fennel and lime dressing, Vietnamese mint, green apple and coriander salad which I didn’t actually get to try,
and chipotle fries with chipotle mayo. These were aptly nicknamed “crack fries” due to their addictive nature.
For dessert we enjoyed churros with dulce de leche dipping sauce. The churros were perfectly cooked – crispy on the outside and soft on the inside just the way they should be. The dulce de leche was also amazing and the perfect accompaniment for the churros.
All in all it was a very tasty and fun evening! But, if you’re looking for somewhere to enjoy a quiet meal, El Loco is not the place for you!
Would I go again? Definitely.
Haha definitely agree about the tongue texture – when I had ox tongue I found the texture quite odd! Glad to hear El Loco is now a permanent part of Slip Inn, now I have two choices to head off to!
Everything looks delicious!
It certainly was! =)
CHURROS!!!
But, CHURROS without chocolate dipping sauce? Interesting.
Do you know what animal the tongue came from? I’m slightly perturbed and intrigued at the same time…
I know, I was thinking the same but trust me dulce de leche is amazing!!!!
I’m not sure re: which animal. They had us guessing but I forgot to ask in the end… My brother reckons it would have been Ox!
Never tried it, but I will some time. If I can be disciplined enough to go past the chocolate…
Never had Ox. Interesting.
I didn’t realise there were “mains” now being served at el loco. Everything looks so darn good that I cannot wait to try. And yay to it being permanent as part of the slip inn!
The mains are amazing!! Let me know when you go how you liked it! And what you ordered! And I’m excited about it being permanent too! Especially being so close to my office! =D
I really like El Loco! It’s so homely, and so reasonably priced as well.
It is! Such a great place to catch up with friends =)
I LOVE the concept of a weekly secret taco. Being an adventurous eater, I would order it every time.
I grew up eating tongue and I have fond memories of it. The way my parents prepare it is very flavourful and soft, but it must be cooked for a long time and with care. Reminds me of corned beef to be honest, only not so heavy on the salt.
It is a cool concept! But for adventurous eaters only I suppose!!
You must have been a very adventurous child eating tongue! I hear that if it isn’t cooked properly it’s awful!
what a feast! i am hungry..
I love a good feast!