Zapatas & St Louis'

On Wednesday night, my year 12 form was invited to dinner at Zapatas by our form teacher. I did some research and found that this is an award winning Mexican establishment, so I was quite excited to dine there! Unfortunately, with a group of just under 20, I only managed to snap a few shots of the dishes closest to me.

 Mexican Hibiscus & Tamarindo $3.90

Drinks to start off the night! My friend and I were curious about the flavour of hibiscus in a drink so we ordered one each. In my opinion, it tasted very similar to lemonade, but had a richer sugary taste.

 Pollo El Salsa de Cacahuate $23.90

A tender piece of chicken breast with a chicken meat and spinach filling, coated in a spicy peanut sauce. Served with rice and salad.

All I can remember about this dish was that the chicken breast was bone dry and extremely difficult to eat! I only ate a few forkfuls of the chicken with the salad but gave up. All my friends agreed with me after trying it.

 

Bistec Ranchero (250 grm) $24.90

Prime fillet steak which has been marinated, then barbecued, served with rice, frijoles and fresh garden salad

I didn't try any of this, but I could see that the meat was cooked to absolute perfection for medium rare!

 Chimichanga $22.90

A golden deep fried flour tortilla with a spicy chicken filling, topped with salsa and sour cream, served with rice and salad

I wish I had ordered this instead. The chicken filling was cooked much better than my own dish, and the flavours were delicious - not too strong and overpowering. I would definitely recommend this!

Special Nachos (Large) $26.90

Crispy hot tortilla chips smothered with melted cheese and crowned with jalapeño peppers with a delicious topping of guacamole, tomato con chilli and sour cream 

The photo honestly does not do justice to the size of this plate. It was HUGE! Even with 4 people sharing this and a few other dishes, we had to admit defeat and left approximately a quarter of it on the plate. Definitely a great dish to share, with delicious jalapeño peppers hidden throughout the toppings, which sat atop a gigantic mound of cheesy tortilla chips. I would definitely recommend it! Visit on a Wednesday night for 1/2 price nachos.

I'd say we had an enjoyable dinner, however I don't think the food was really that spectacular. Perhaps we had just ordered the wrong dishes? If I ever return, I would probably order the fajitas and avoid chicken dishes. The service was okay, nothing too spectacular. We knew one of the waitresses so we were well looked after.

Overall, 7.5/10

After dinner, a few friends and I decided to have a quick stop at St Louis' for some ice-cream to end the night. I opted for the lemon sorbet because I wanted something light to contrast the heavy Mexican food we'd just eaten and it was great! Very refreshing and not too sweet.