Viva Mexico, Cuppage Terrace

Viva Mexico (23 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace, tel: 6235 0440) is a new Mexican restaurant that's opened at Cuppage Terrace after the renovation. From what I could discover, they're are run by the Palate Vine group that also manages Vintage India, Ras The Essence of India and also The Tent. I thought the food was not bad. Their prompt and polite service was definitely appreciated.

 

I don't really know much about real Mexican food and I'm sure much more to it than the usual Tex Mex stuff locally. This eggplant starter for example. Could have been served in any other Mediterranean restaurant I wouldn't have known any better. Looked like something I could have had from someplace like the Original Sin. Oven baked and stuffed with spinach and cheese with semi crunchy texture, the eggplant retained enough taste that wasn't overwhelmed by the tomato based sauces. Did I mention that it was a rather generous portion as well? The hunk of meat in the first picture on top was a beef filet stuffed with something call Cuitlacoche mushrooms in the centre. This could have been a Mexican steak of sorts. I'm pretty sure the cut was a tenderloin. Tasted quite good with a nicely charred exterior and salty nutty flavour from those bits of mushrooms inside. Don't know much about the special sauce which the menu described, but it might have been the milky stuff over the top which tasted like it has been made with goat's cheese. There're also some very sweet caramelized onions served on the side. 

 

Steak came with a side of beans and cheese as well. These guys got medium rare right so that's a good sign for me.

 

The dessert here was their pumpkin en tacha. The chilled pumpkin sure tasted like it had been stewed. Sitting in a pool of brown cane sugar concentrate call piloncillo and a generous pour of heavy cream. There were some bits of chopped guava at the bottom as well, but nothing of those could actually be tasted or identified. Also couldn't discern any of the cinnamon and cloves that were suppose to be in this dessert. No complains about the pumpkin itself but the rest of it was too sweet.