Bonita Bonita

My love for Mexican food has been redeemed. Bonita Bonita is my type of Mexican food. Half of the things on the menu I couldn't even pronounce, and that's how I knew that Bonita Bonita was going to be incredible. When I walked into Bonita Bonita, I was seated at the bar. As usual, I first started to look at the interior of the restaurant. It felt like the inside of a Mexican grandmother's house. Completely made out of bricks with lots of crosses, artworks and of course, skulls. The entire restaurant was lit with dozens of candles. Sure it may have been a little harder to read the menu, but it gave the restaurant an incredible atmosphere. Throughout the entire night, there was loud music playing and it made Bonita Bonita feel like a club. The restaurant was filled to the brim until about 9:00 pm. Every single table had people, food and laughter. I imagine it like every table was a different world to explore, it ranged from young couples, to groups of 8 just having fun ,to people just there because they were hungry. 

 

Inside the building were 2 main sections, the bar and the main dining area. These sections were divided by a brick wall and had an archway connecting them. The bar was relatively small and could only seat around 5 people. The main dining area, being a lot larger, could seat around 25 people. But most people were in the outside seating area, which could seat around 30 people. When I went to order, I asked the waiter if they were doing the "Bonita's Banquet", sadly it was too late to make the entire banquet, but soon after I would realise that I am very thankful for that. She asked if I wanted any recommendations on what to have, and I obviously said "Yes please". She first asked if I had any allergies or if I didn't like anything, I told her that I'm willing to taste anything on the menu and that I don't have any allergies. So she recommended 3 amazing dishes. First, was the "Pork Taquitos" which is her favourite dish on the menu, and surprisingly she had them for dinner. She then asked what my favourite food is, and I replied with: "Kingfish". So she recommended the "Kingfish Ceviche" which I already had my eye on. Finally, she said that I should get one of the "Premium Tacos" to finish the meal with, after some consideration I decided to get the "Panza De Cerdo Taco" which was an incredible choice. 

 

The menu at Bonita Bonita is just incredible. It ranges from complex dishes like "Bonita Style Fajita's" to simple dishes like "Guacamole". Almost every single dish is snack sized which gives you a great opportunity to try as much food as possible. Maybe you're in the mood for half a dozen tacos, or possibly just a simple "Ensalada Picada", or maybe a few completely different dishes. Lots of popular restaurants use this strategy (having small dishes instead of larger dishes) to make customers have everything that they want to eat. Instead of it being a challenge deciding what to order, you can just get everything that you want without having to make that tough decision. When I say small dishes, I don't just mean entrees like garlic bread or a side salad, small dishes are all about those incredible bites that don't fill you up too much (like tacos or Bonita Bonita's "Chile Con Queso". Small dishes are designed to make you enticed to just buy more and more so you get to try as much food as possible. If I could, I would get every single item at Bonita Bonita just to try. 

 

When I go to restaurants to review, I normally prefer to sit at the bar (considering they have one) because it allows me to talk to people that I wouldn't normally talk to. I get to talk to the bartenders and perhaps some other people at the bar. After I had all of my food, I accidentally dropped one of my business cards and didn't notice. However, someone next to me noticed and asked me if I dropped it. I picked it up and then just said "Do you want it?" and handed it to him. Both he and his friend started to talk to me about my blog. We were all talking for roughly an hour. Talking about food, about how they're surprised that I don't use my money on Pokemon cards, and about lots of other things. They asked me if I like spicy food, and me (being a spice lover) replied "Hell yeah". So they recommended that I got a "Virgin Classic Margarita with chilli" and so, I ordered it. While the bartender was making it, I asked her to add extra chilli (I would soon regret that decision). When the drink arrived, it was topped with an air-fried chilli (not too sure what kind). One of the guys jokingly said that I should mix the drink with the chilli, and to his surprise I actually did. I drank all of it in about 3 minutes, pretended it wasn't spicy (even though I was dying inside) and then ATE the chilli on top. Everyone looked at me and said I was insane and so I just told them that "It's mild" (it was certainly not mild). That drink was probably one of the spiciest things that I have ever had, but it was filled with flavour and was downright delicious. Roughly 10 minutes after I had that drink, one of them told me about this drink (not sure if he invented it or not) that is based on the "Frosty Fruit" ice cream. He then told the bartender exactly how to make it, what ingredients, how much of those ingredients, and how much to shake. Sadly they didn't have a few of the ingredients (orange juice, guava nectar, and pomegranate seeds), but the drink was still delicious without them. When the drink arrived, he squeezed some fresh lime juice on top that "cuts out all of the sweetness". The "Frosty Fruit" was just incredible to drink. It was like a beefed-up tropical juice, and the lime certainly cut out all of the sweetness. He ended up paying for that drink which I am super thankful for. 

 

Before I left, I asked the bartender if they had a manager or head chef. Sadly the manager (who was the waiter that gave me the recommendations on what to get) wasn't there but her partner was. So I talked to her partner (Jay) and asked him for her quote or his own quote. He couldn't get hold of her (Genevieve) but he had his own quote: "Why not?". I asked him about it and he said something along the lines of "Well when you do something and someone is against it you ask "why not?" and normally they can't think of a reason why not to do that thing". When I first started this blog, someone asked me why, and I simply replied with "Why not?" (that's a true story). Jay couldn't have picked a more relatable quote. A few minutes after I got a quote from Jay, another staff member (Aisling) came up to me and said "I have a quote for you". After a few failures of trying to remember it, she finally said "Make the choice to take the chance or your life will never change". Every single person on Earth could relate to that. Life is always evolving, every day there is change. But you have to "Make the choice to take the chance or your life will never change". After Aisling said that she followed it up with "Now that's deep". And I think you (the reader) can agree with that.

 

Bonita Bonita has redeemed my love for Mexican food. It uses authentic flavours but makes them easy for people new to the cuisine. Bonita Bonita was filled with music and had one of the best atmospheres in any restaurant that I have been to. The staff were super kind and were fun to talk to. If you're looking for a fun and atmospheric restaurant that has lots of snacks, Bonita Bonita is a perfect choice. 

 

Thank you for reading.