How Scarborough’s Mexican bar El Grotto surprised me

When dining out past 8pm in Perth and being met with closing or extremely quiet restaurants, I’ve often wondered where everyone is.

Well this week I found them, they’re in Scarborough.

On a randomly chilly Tuesday evening the coastal strip was pumping, packed from the grass to the restaurants and bars with a buzzy Saturday night kind of vibe.

We’d booked earlier at El Grotto, a Mexican bar and taqueria that I’d have described as the spot you’d go for an afternoon margarita or late-night boogie.

Admittedly, I didn’t have high expectations for the food side of things, which was a poor judgement on my part because the dishes we devoured were excellent.

The menu is made up of Mexican street food favourites and flavours across the board are big, salty and zingy — the perfect pairing to a spicy margs or cold beer.

A plate of Mexican corn ribs fried corn quarters, arbol crema and ricotta salata ($14) was our highlight. Juicy corn, creamy sauce and a sprinkling of spice and touch of lime — you can’t go wrong.

Seafood ceviche with fresh fish, octopus, tiger prawn cured in citrus, pico de gallo and small bowl of avocado ($16) was also very good. Summery and light, the ceviche itself was very acidic with a punch of lime — which we peronally loved — and the seafood on a homemade chip with guac was delicious.

The tacos — we tried the cauliflower ($10), tinga de pollo ($10) and baja fish ($13) — were a little goldilocks and the three bears in their offering.

The first, fried cauliflower with roasted pepitas, salsa macha (an oil based salsa with chilli and nuts) and ricotta salata was tasty, but quite dry. Smearing the leftover salata from the corn made it a more balanced bite though.

On the other hand the braised chipotle chicken, lettuce, arbol crema and pico de gallo ($10) was quite wet in texture, with the damp ingredients making the taco a little soggy and falling apart. That’s not to say they were terrible though, the chicken was juicy and flavours were good, but we were left hoping the final taco would hit the spot.

And tick all of the boxes the battered fish taco with salted cabbage and chipotle mayo did, no complaints. The prices of the tacos is also worth mentioning, as you receive two with each order which in generous compared to other popular Mexican joints which offer one for this price.

Don’t come here if you’re looking for a quiet dinner, the atmosphere is loud and you’ll be surrounded by tables six drinks in, but do come for a tasty meal packed with flavour.

El Grotto

Shop 5/148 The Esplanade, Scarborough

OPEN

Mon, 4-11pm, Tues-Thurs, 11-12am, Fri-Sat, 11-1am, Sun, 11-12am

BOOKINGS

Yes

CONTACT

elgrotto.com

THE VERDICT

Its Mexican street food menu matches the loud and fun vibes and pairs well with a spicy margs. Prices are very reasonable and packed with lots of flavour and freshness.

16/20