Mexican food at Chinita that will have you swaying to Mariachi

What started as a catering service in December 2011 has blossomed into a cute little restaurant in Indiranagar. We had heard the word Chinita synonymous with the phrase ‘Mexican Food in Bangalore’, we decided to go by and check it out. Chinita meaning Chinese girl in Spanish was started by Sameer Mirchandani with his brother Amit and sister-in-law Candice Lock who would be ‘Chinita’ in Mexico. Each of them have spent nearly a decade in the US and fell in love with Mexican food. They came back and missed it terribly and to the delight of our palattes thought about Chinita!

The slate floors and wooden benches coupled with the cute little bucket plant on your table make Chinita a homely place. They even have a tiny vertical garden and an exposed brick wall for an added effect. We started off with beef nachos. One bite and we wanted to Salsa. The meat was well-cooked and was placed over a bed of crisp, fresh nachos topped with melted cheese, home-made sour cream and pico de gallo. It was so good, we decided to try another starter and at the waiters recommendation ordered the beef quesadilla. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of our life. The Quesadilla was perfectly cooked using fresh and aromatic ingredients. We were almost tempted to repeat the order but stopped in time to remind ourselves we still had two courses to go.

For the mains we ordered a braised pork burrito and a chicken taco. We decided to accompany it with a Mexican spiced hot chocolate which was fantastic. We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t order guacamole but the waiter was extremely honest in informing us that they weren’t happy with their supply of the avocados for the day (too watery) and would be serving them once they receive better avocados. Way to go! We loved the honesty. While we waited for the mains, Sameer informed us almost everything is made-in house everyday – from the nacho chips to the sour cream.

The chicken taco was delicious, moist and had a ton of flavour. The braised pork burrito with beans was rightly spiced and was equally good. As full as we were, we had to order the churro and the chocolate chilli cake. The chocolate cake was gooey with a nip at the end which we enjoyed immensely. It was our first time with the churro and we knew why there was such a hype. The combination of fried-dough pastry and thick hot chocolate was perfect. Unabashingly, we ordered a repeat of the churro.

To sum it up, our experience at Chinita was, let’s say, el magnifico. We would definitely come again and recommend the same to anybody who says ‘Mexican’. A special mention goes to the staff who were courteous and extremely friendly. One visit to Chinita and we wouldn’t be surprised if you wanted to do the Salsa.

What we had:

Beef Nachos

Beef Quesadilla

Chicken Taco

Braised Pork Burrito

Mexican Spiced Hot Chocolate