Modern Mexican food

Oh Friday nights, how I love you so much. But then the next morning, there's Chinese school. I'll be honest; Chinese actually really is interesting, and it's definitely an important language. But, since I did not acknowledge the usefulness of it as a young child, my skills are equivalent to about a primary school kid. It's embarrassing. I should get a tutor or something.

Anyway, my cousin, Li Yiing (mentioned her in my Japan post) from Malaysia , has been in Melbourne for the past week! She used to live with us for a short while a few years ago. She is a really lovely cousin; considerate and always generous. She is very different to us, the Phang sisters. You want me to describe my sisters and I? Messy, crocodile eaters and eats incredibly fast. My dad always has to tell Li Yiing that she better take her share of food before it's all gone! Li Yiing is a much slower eater, and never seems to ever get fat (unfair).

My second sister treated my mum, Li Yiing, Aunty Soo Suang and I for dinner! We tried a different restaurant in Kingsway, it's a completely new one. It opened in July: The Black Toro.

The Black Toro is a modern Mexican restaurant. I just searched up what Toro means in Spanish, and it means bull. 'The black bull'.

Their menu has mainly 'poco plates' and 'grande plates'. Poco means little (I learnt that in piano general knowledge for my examinations!) and grande is well, obviously 'big' plates. They also have some mouth watering desserts. I absolutely wanted to try their de-constructed peanut butter cheesecake, but we were just too full!

Anyway, it's a bit pricey if you get separate poco plates and then grande plates.Kingsway is typically the Asian central of food and Asian supermarkets. Not to say that there aren't any Western restaurants, but there are more Asian than Western. And it is usually relatively cheap. The Black Toro definitely isn't cheap. But, we all took the set menu. $45 per person excluding dessert, $60 per person including dessert. We took excluding dessert. I was surprised because for $45, you get A LOT. I mean a lot, a lot.Talk about value for money! You get the poco plates and 2 mains, and you just get a taste of each thing. SO FULL. I still feel so full at the moment, like my tummy is about to burst.

Our family rarely eats Mexican. I've been barely exposed to it. So it was a change to eat at a Mexican restaurant, rather than the usual Malaysian Chinese or Italian restaurant.

Let me tantalise you with some food pictures.

Tortilla chips with some guacamole. Marinated olives on the left. Did I ever mention that I hate olives?

Oysters with lime and some sort of other sauce?

Potato and chorizo croquettes. To be honest, I found this dish a little bit heavy.  It's nice for maybe a few bites.

Cured salmon with avocado puree. I was surprised that my mum actually liked this. She normally doesn't eat raw food and always asks her steak to be medium, rather than medium rare (our whole family likes medium rare except for her!). She , Yi Ma (Li Yiing's mum) and Li Yiing have always preferred more cooked foods!

Wagyu beef sliders with onion, tomato relish and cheese! 

Pulled pork taco with sour cream and cabbage. Lovely, just a tad spicy!

Blue eye fish with some kind of sauce? 

Pork belly with chick peas and chorizo! Different style of the cooking of the pork belly that I'm  used to. 

 We enjoyed our food at The Black Toro. Better than expected! Would most definitely recommend this restaurant, I would go back but probably maybe order the other plates instead of the set? I would say, the set gives you a taste of pretty much everything, but it's a little bit too much (that's weird, coming from me. I'm a big eater). 2-3 dishes cut would've been just nice, and I could've had some more dessert. Service is excellent, food came out on time.

 To finish off the night, Lindt chocolate. Lindt chocolate is our family's favourite brand of chocolate. Always smooth and silky, the Swiss really know their chocolate.

Thanks to Li Yiing for the box of Lindt chocolates!

I really need to go on a detox diet. Tomorrow is not going to help though. I have a birthday party, and my friend has promised some of the best food. And she and I have similar taste in food. Oh no.