One of my favourite things about travelling is eating.
Embarking on the spice adventures of incredible India, gorging myself on Malaysia’s succulent street food or spending a hammock-bound afternoon considering the fish sauce, tamarind and chilli complexities of Thai food.
When I’m not travelling, eating at destination eateries and events is the next best thing.
A ghost of gastronomy gone by which instantly catapults me halfway across the world through the transportive flavour of foreign lands.
This love for taste-based travel is why I insist my sister make the reservation at Jonno’s Bistro’s Mexican Cuisine evening which presents our table ready and waiting… below a broken lamp.
Dim as things are, the menu looks exciting as we peruse it to the strains of some live music which is erratic and amateurish in spots but features a competent Ed Sheeran cover to hold it all together.
Personally, I would have preferred a little Mexican folk music.
Some mariachi and marimba, hell, even the ‘La Bamba’ and ‘La Cucaracha’ presumably emanating from a computer but setting much more mood than the suitably soft songs played from the front of house.
But it’s not my business.
What is my business is what on earth to order from a thrillingly themed menu that counters Windhoek’s lack of a Mexican restaurant to bring us margarita and Corona beer specials, jalapeno chilli poppers, grilled chicken or pulled pork quesadillas, grilled cheese nachos with guacamole, cheese sauce and spicy salsa, hard shell tacos with braised beef mince, toasted cumin and black beans, chicken enchiladas and churros with chocolate dipping sauce.
We want it all.
And between the drooling five of us, we order everything but the pulled pork quesadilla.
Alas, for all our anticipation, we regret each and every dish but the braised beefed mince tacos which are the one item on the menu where Mexico’s famous flavour of cumin really comes through.
The rest is… bland.
Serving up solid middle of the road enchiladas and quesadillas, Jonno’s Mexican cuisine omits the distinct flavours of oregano, cilantro, chilli, lime and paprika to serve chicken dishes and salsa that taste woefully unspiced.
An unforgivable and entirely underwhelming event when imitating the Mexican palate.
It’s sad to say but, save the cold but excellent braise beef mince tacos, I’ve had better Tex-Mex at Spur.
More flavour, more cheese, more effort to get my food to me hot.
Though the kitchen takes forever, on a Mexican Cuisine evening, the vibe at Jonno’s is a lively one that can be improved by having more than a basic margarita as one’s sole Mexican drink for the night.
In beer-drinking Namibia, a foray into cerveza preparada (Mexican beer cocktails) would surely be a hit and the cinnamony horchata or a simple Paloma a welcome use of imagination.
A decent but distinctly half-*rse affair, Jonno’s Mexican Cuisine evening could be the talk of the town if it took a little more interest in what it was channelling.
The lasting impression here being: When the requisite shot of tequila has more kick than your food, you may need to spice things up.
That said, the chocolate dipped churros are delicioso.
Jonno’s Bistro is situated at Auas Valley Shopping Mall. Like them on Facebook to keep up with their destination and special evenings. Jonno’s is open Monday to Thursdays from 07h00 to 18h00, Fridays from 07h00 to 22h00, Saturdays from 08h00 to 15h00 and Sundays from 09h00 to 15h00.
– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on
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