Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger

Viva Mexico (23 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace, tel: 6235 0440) is one of the new Mexican places that's opened along with the rest of Cuppage Terrace after the renovation along that stretch. Apparently, these guys are run by the Palate Vine group that also manages Vintage India, Ras The Essence of India and also The Tent. I'm going to have to file this as a Mexican and not Mexican't for a personal reference since I thought the food was actually not bad and the prompt and polite service was definitely appreciated.


Honestly, I don't really know much about real Mexican food and there's probably much more to it than meets the usual Tex Mex stuff locally. The eggplant starter for example could have been something that's served in any other Mediterranean restaurant I wouldn't have known any better. In fact, this particular item definitely felt like something I could have had from someplace like the Original Sin. Oven baked and stuffed with spinach and cheese, the semi crunchy texture retained enough flavor not to be overwhelmed by the tomato based sauces. Did I mention that it was a rather generous portion as well?

The hunk of meat with token greens (2 sprigs of rocket there, no less!) and grilled tomatoes that you see on the top is a beef filet stuffed with something call Cuitlacoche mushrooms in the centre. This could have been a Mexican steak of sorts and I'm pretty sure the cut was a tenderloin. Personally, I thought this was actually quite good. So good that I'll be tempted to just order it again if I do come back. A nicely charred exterior providing the usual beef char fragrance melded with a saltish nuttish flavor of those bits of mushrooms inside. I'm not sure about the special sauce which the menu describe, but it might have been the milky stuff over the top which tasted like it has been made with goat's cheese. That definitely scored some for me along with a very sweet caramelized onions served on the side in appropriately small portions.


Could I mention the comforting side of beans and cheese as well. Oh, these guys got medium rare right so that's a good sign for me.


The dessert here that you see would be the pumpkin en tacha. The chilled pumpkin sure tasted poached rather than fresh as described. Sitting in a pool of brown cane sugar concentrate call piloncillo and a generous pour of heavy cream, it did taste like an extremely robust bubor char char. So robust like no other bubor char char in fact. There were some bits of chopped guava at the bottom as well, but nothing was really left of the original flavor of the fruit. Neither could I discern any of the cinnamon and cloves that was suppose to be in this dessert. No complains about the pumpkin, but the rest of it was really too sweet for my liking.