Trippy Taco V

May 2, 2026 

 

   

 

Trippy Taco does not actually appear in the 2006 Cheap Eats guide, but it's entrenched in where's the beef? lore, opening on Smith St in that first year we lived in Melbourne and instantly becoming Michael's favourite place for a workday lunch, as well as a semi-regular nighttime hang-out with friends. It's now been on Gertrude St much longer than it was ever on Smith, and most recently we walked across from the VAS Gallery with some friends for a weekend lunch. 

 

While the menu's not strictly the same, changes to the spread of casual Mexican-inspired foods are subtle: there are no longer sultanas in the salads, and they now offer something called 'heart attack fries'. Everything's vegetarian; vegan and gluten-free options are plentiful; and there's more dietary information than most places on the printed menu. 

 

   

 

A large basket of trippy fries ($9) for the table was essential. (The smaller serving was $4 in 2008 and is now $7 in 2026.) Their seasoning has always been heavy on the smoked paprika and that's how everyone likes it.

 

   

 

Michael returned to an old fave, the tofu asada burrito ($9 in 2008 and now $17 in 2026). It's precisely as it's always been, from his memory: chunky and full of flavour, with bright salad and guacamole, and even better when doused in something from TT's hot sauce collection. 

 

   

 

I've always had a soft spot for the Trippy Taco tamale ($8.50 for a more elaborate version in 2008, now $13 in 2026 + $3 for guacamole + $2.50 for salsa) - so sweet and tender and carby! I still haven't had the dessert version, once a special and now a menu fixture. Twenty years later, Trippy Taco still has a little more to offer us. 

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You can read about one, two, three, four of our past visits to Trippy Taco. Since then, it's appeared on veg*n blogs melbourne with the rocket, Green Gourmet Giraffe, I Spy Plum Pie, Veggo Melburnian, and I Travel For Vegan Food. It's also appeared on omni blogs They Call Me Maggie, FOOD CHEE, Sweet & Sour Fork, Ms I-Hua, The Epicurean of Southbank, and Melbourne Vita.  

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Trippy Taco

234 Gertrude St, Fitzroy

9415 7711 

menu: one, two 

https://www.trippytaco.com.au/

 

Accessibility: There's one step on entry, and there's a clear flat pathway through the centre. Furniture is densely arranged, regular height tables and backed chairs. We ordered and paid at a high counter. We didn't visit the toilets. 

Brunswick Burrito

Update 12/06/2023: Brunswick Burrito is now closed.

May 1, 2021

   

A friend tipped us off about a new vegan burrito place in the backstreets of Brunswick. It turns out that Brunswick Burrito isn't exactly new, but that they've only been fully plant-based since the post-lockdown reopening. It's tucked away in a weird industrial estate between Victoria St and Hope St, filled with mechanics and warehouses and two bustling little venues - this one plus Foreigner Brewing.

Brunswick Burrito has a nice setup - a pool table, some booths and a courtyard-y area they've set up in the car spaces out the front. There's also a mini-cinema upstairs that would be worth a visit one day. The menu doesn't have too many surprises, but there's a good range of burritos, tacos and trimmings with a mix of mock-meaty and more veg-focussed fillings.

Cindy decided to sample a range of their tacos: el planto, cauliflower and Baja ($6 each). The el planto feels a bit like the tacos we used to eat as kids - mock ground beef, lettuce, vegan cheese, sour cream and sauce in an old-fashioned hard taco shell. The cauliflower and the Baja come with guac, pickled onion and a chipotle aioli, with the Baja swapping the roast cauli out for a Gardein fish fillet. Cindy loved them all - a good mix of veggies and deep-fried deliciousness and probably the best way to sample the range of things that Brunswick Burrito are doing.

   

I wanted to order the Con Carne burrito (a mock beef situation, $18), which I'd had on a sneaky unblogged solo visit, but they were fresh out of the ingredients, so I grabbed one of the specials instead, a chorizo and potato burrito ($18). The chorizo reminded me a bit of our tofu chicharrones (a very good thing!) and it worked very well with the potato cubes, beans, guacamole and vegan cheese. Brunswick Burrito have a huge range of hot sauce options - next time I would hold back on the Spicy Sanchez, which almost blew my head off after I slathered it on unthinkingly. 

   

They've got Foreigner beers on tap, a range of Jarritos soft drinks and surprisingly good vibes for something that feels so weirdly industrial from the outside. I'm a huge fan and am hanging out for summertime when it will be an even more pleasant experience.

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Brunswick Burrito

10/102 Henkel Street, Brunswick

03 9043 2803

food, drinks

http://brunswickburrito.com/

Accessibility: Entry is flat and things are relatively spacious inside. There's a mix of high tables with bar stools and picnic tables outdoors, and booth seating indoors. We ordered and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.

Taquito

February 5, 2020

Cindy and I met up for dinner in Carlton, after I went to the launch of Laura McPhee-Browne's very fine book. We took the opportunity to try out Taquito, the newest Mexican place that has taken up the old Markov Place venue on Drummond Street. It's fancyish Mexican, with fancyish booze - the kind of place where you can drop $50 without even trying. The menu is vegan-friendly and they're on top of all kinds of dietary restrictions. 

I stuck with one of their tap beers, but Cindy couldn't resist a housemade horchata ($7), a milky, rice drink with vanilla, cinnamon and a few other spices. She loved it.

We kicked off with a smoked and pickled cauliflower tostada with black garlic and pinenut salsa ($12). This was predictably fantastic - black garlic can really be guaranteed to take any dish to the highest level. 

We followed up with a vegan taco flight ($23 for 4). The selection is pretty changeable I think - ours included a sweet potato option, black beans and battered cauliflower - all were really excellent.

We finished off with a plate of the excellent buffalo milk cheese curds topped with pickled watermelon and peanut salsa macha ($14).

Sadly this review is being written many weeks late, so my memory is pretty sketchy - mostly I have remember feeling very positive about the whole experience. The staff were super friendly, the atmosphere was humming and the food was excellent. It's a strange time to write restaurant reviews - so many places are going to struggle through this period. Taquito are doing their best to keep things going, with takeaway and spaced out tables - grab a bunch of tacos and eat them in the park if you can.

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Taquito
350 Drummond Street, Carlton
0450 651 247
food, drinks
https://taquito.bar/

Accessibility: There's a step as you come in the Drummond Street entry - we didn't check out the entryway off the cobbled laneway at the back. There's a mix of low and high seating and full table service. We didn't visit the bathrooms.

La Tortilleria II

October 25, 2019

Here's a short, updated note of appreciation for La Tortilleria. It was the most convenient place to grab dinner on a Friday night, before attending A Midnight Visit. In spite of its industrial location, La Tortilleria's eatery continues to do very well for itself - the four hopefuls ahead of me were sent away to wait for a half-hour, and we were lucky to squeeze into a table for two with a time limit.

The menu is still gluten-free with abundant well-marked vegetarian and vegan options, including vegan cheese and chorizo. I went for a quesadilla con nopales ($9.50, pictured at 12 o'clock) which is made with a blue tortilla; the cactus gives just the slightest pickley sharpness to an otherwise mild cheesy snack.

I must admit to scraping the raw onion off the papas con chorizo taco ($5.50, pictured at 8 o'clock), but it was worth it for the roasted potato and soy chorizo underneath. My favourite was the frijoles con chipotle taco ($5.50, pictured at 7 o'clock) - the beans were so hearty, and garnished with a sprinkling of savoury crispy rice.

Now that I've figured out my way there by bike, I'm resolving to visit more often. The food is simple and lovely, the staff are capable and friendly, and the atmosphere is lively and colourful. Besides, I didn't have time for a horchata!

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You can read about our first visit to La Tortilleria here. Since then it's received positive reviews on Not My Bread And Butter, Sweet & Sour Fork, The Aussie Coeliac, The New Fave and The Coeliac Plate. 

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La Tortelleria
72 Stubbs St, Kensington
9376 5577
savoury foods, desserts
http://latortilleria.com.au/

Accessibility: Limited! The entry is up some stairs and I couldn't see an alternative. The interior has narrow sections is densely packed with furniture. We ordered at our table and paid at a high counter. There's a single unisex toilet.

Bodega Underground

August 16, 2019

We had a big Melbourne International Film Festival this year, which gave us a chance to catch up on a bit of CBD eating. Towards then end of MIFF, we rocked up for a post-movie dinner late on Friday at vegan-friendly Mexican dive-bar Bodega Underground. It's buzzing on a weekend - you absolutely need to book - with lots of big tables throwing back cocktails and tacos. It feels as least as much a bar as a restaurant, so don't head there expecting a quiet, low-key vibe. We kicked off with drinks - a margarita for me ($20), a tequila, elderflower and aloe cocktail for Jess and a pineapple, mint and lime mocktail for Cindy.

The three of us shared a bunch of dishes, including one serve of each of the three vegan tacos: frijoles (black beans, salsa verde, shaved vegetable chips and pickled jalapenos, $11), ejotes (green beans, apple and mint vegan slaw, salsa roja and guacamole, $12) and batata (sweet potato, pickled beetroot, vegan jalapeno crema, toasted pepitas and coriander, $11).

These were a great selection of fresh and interesting tacos with a good range of different flavours.

Our other pair of dishes were the vegan mole chilaquiles (pulled mushrooms with mole sauce, tortilla chips, jalapeno crema, queso catija, pickled onion and coriander, $16).

This was probably my favourite dish - a big, smoky nacho-style mess with some excellent creamy jalapeno mush and tangy onion bits.

Finally, we had the charred cauliflower (salsa verde, salsa de dos quesos, annata pepitas and radish, $16).

You can't go too far wrong with a charred cauliflower the combo of sauces and extras on top of this one added some bite and creaminess to the tender cauli.

Bodega Underground is a buzzing, boozy option for a late night dinner, with an excellent array of vegan Mexican dishes. Service was friendly and pretty efficient, even with hordes of people there on a Friday night - book in and check it out.

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We found positive reviews for Bodega Underground at The New Fave and Aussie Coeliac (although they didn't love the noise), and a more unenthusiastic one at far fetched & fanciful.

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Bodega Underground

55 Little Bourke St, Melbourne

(03) 9650 9979
menus: drinks, food

https://www.bodegaunderground.com.au/

Accessibility: Bodega Underground is down narrow stairs and is cramped and loud. According to their website, children are not welcome(!). We didn't visit the toilets.

Lorne

September 18-20, 2015

We ducked off to Lorne for a spring long-weekend, managing to luck out with a ridiculously lovely few days of sunshine. We spent most of the time wandering the beach and the lookout tracks, reading books and eating our way through some of the treats that the town has to offer. 

We stumbled across Mexican Republic (which strangely has no website - here's the Zomato page) on our walk up to our accommodation and headed back for an early dinner.

It's a cute little place with a handful of booths and a couple of outside tables. The menu is reasonably veg-friendly, although you'd need to ask for some alterations to get anything vegan. We kicked things off with a mojito ($15) and a citrus margarita ($12), which were boozy and refreshing. Cindy ordered one of the smokey bean tacos (with goats cheese, black beans, corn and smokey salsa, $8) alongside some charred street corn (butter, cheese, chipotle mayo and lime, $6). She was particularly impressed by the well-charred corn, while the $8 taco was a decent if expensive bite.

I ordered the smokey burrito (black beans, quinoa, guacamole, smokey tomato and corn salsa, goats cheese, cabbage, pickled onion and chipotle mayo, $16). Quinoa is kind of a weird burrito filling, but it does a good job of replacing the regular rice option while adding a bit of a crunchy texture. The rest of the fillings were decent as well, but it needed some hot sauce to liven things up a bit and was a bit over-priced at $16 (to be fair, everything seemed a little bit pricier in Lorne than in Melbourne).

We got up super early the next morning to check out the sunrise from Teddy's Lookout (photos in the slideshow below) and wandered down to the main street afterwards to scope out our brekkie options. The early crowds were at Moon's Espresso, and the menu was enticing enough to lure us in to join them.

The menu is pretty eggy - there is a simple toast dish with hummus, avo, basil and tomato ($14) that seemed vegan, but that was about it. I was starving and ordered the biggest dish I could - the Mushington D.C. - a brilliant combo of sauteed mushrooms with goats cheese, dukka, spinach and poached eggs on toast ($17). Cindy had the more modest fruit toast with butter ($8), which was a solid rendition of a pretty straightforward dish. 

We snacked at home and then went for an early dinner at the highly regarded Pizza Pizza. The tiny little shopfront cranks out high quality pizzas - the only seating for now is at the outdoor tables, although there was some work going on in the building next door to add in some indoor seating.

Pizza Pizza feels straight outta Brunswick - crispy, perfectly cooked bases, with an interesting selection of toppings. We split a Pizza for Nelly (napoli sauce, mozzarella, capers, olives, sun-dried tomato and caramelised onions, $16.50) and a Spinner (napoli sauce, mozzarella, spinach, roast pumpkin, feta and pine nuts, $16.50). These were truly excellent pizzas - definitely worth a visit (or a takeaway down at the beach).

On Sunday we grabbed a late brunch at the Swing Bridge Cafe and Boathouse, a cute little cafe perfectly situated by the bridge over the Erskine River. It's a popular spot, bathed in sunlight, with the surrounding picnic tables included in the cafe's service area.

It's a small menu, with nothing obviously vegan. I ordered the 'weeds' - slow poached eggs on sourdough, with smashed avocado, goats cheese, coriander and kale ($17). The super slow poached eggs are pretty gooey - I don't mind them, but they're an acquired taste. The rest of this was ace though, with the kale letting me pretend that I was having a healthy weekend. Cindy grabbed one of the sweets - an apple crumble muffin - with a strawberry smoothie ($8). The smoothie didn't really burst with fresh strawberries, with the unripe banana base overwhelming it all a bit. The muffin was okay - not loaded with apple, but warm, sweet and strudel-ly.

Our final meal of the weekend was at The Bottle of Milk, a specialty burger place with branches in Lorne and Torquay. The menu's got five veggie burger options - three of which can easily be made vegan.  

We had the tofu burger (foreground, marinated grilled tofu with tomato, onion, carrot, lettuce, mayo, chillie paste and satay sauce, $14) and the hot lentil (background, housemade lentil patty with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, carrot, mayo, chilli and lemon yoghurt) plus a serve of fries ($6.50) with bbq sauce ($1). I was really impressed by my lentil burger - an excellent patty, with some zingy condiments and fresh salad. The tofu burger worked well too - marinated tofu at non-vego is often pretty bland, so we were impressed that The Bottle of Milk seemed to know what they were doing. 

We had a lovely weekend in Lorne - the weather was perfect, the setting was stunning and the food was pretty top notch.

Fonda

August 19, 2015

We needed a quick dinner before a show in the city on Wednesday night and decided to try out Fonda, tucked up the Parliament end of Flinders Lane. Fonda rode Melbourne's Mamasita-inspired Mexican wave and has since grown from its beginnings in Richmond to four locations across the city. The Flinders Lane one is massive - it was easy to grab a big table at 6pm, but things filled up as we ate and it was pretty hectic by the time we left.

The menu has a decent range of vego options, including a few veganisable dishes. There's a big drinks list too - frozen margaritas, cocktails, hip beers and a short wine list. They also do an array of non-boozy options, including Cindy's choice for the night: horchata ($6). It was a very sweet version of this rice-milk based beverage, but Cindy was happy with it nonetheless.

We started things off sharing around two kinds of chips: the crispy white and blue tortilla crisps with guacamole and pico de gallo ($9)...

and the crunch-cut potato chips with chipotle aoili ($).

Both were excellent, with generous and delicious condiments. The chipotle hot chips in particular were top notch - probably the best dish we had. Cindy ordered the portabello and shitake mushroom quesadilla, served with a fonda salsa ($15).

This was a pretty disappointing dish - the quesadilla fillings were pretty bland, with the mushroom and greens combo not really packing much punch. The salsa helped a lot, but on the whole this dish didn't really inspire (one of our dining companions had the same filling on tacos and was equally bummed out).

I ordered the black bean falafel, with shaved zucchini and cabbage, salsa, pickled carrot and onion and chipotle aioli ($15, this dish would be vegan if you cancelled the aioli I think).

This was much more successful - the falafel were great, and the fillings added some freshness to the burrito and the smokey salsa was great. A few dabs of hot sauce really topped things off. 

Our Fonda experience was pretty mixed - it's a lovely space and the staff were friendly and efficient, but the food was pretty mixed. If you order wisely you could have a wonderful meal, but the prices are high and the quality is varied. It's a handy spot for a quick city dinner, but there is no shortage of those around, so it's probably only worth the trip if you're hanging for something wrapped in a tortilla.

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There are lots of positive blog reviews of Fonda's city location: Nona Tukang Makan, frenchtoastandindiepop, Spoonfuls of Wanderlust, Edge of My Plate, The Glutton's Diet, Sweet and Sour Fork, Ordinary Girl, Extraordinary Dreamer (who wasn't wowed by the prices), Delightfully Tasty, It's an Expensive but Delicious Habit and The Lifestyle Monolog.

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Fonda

31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
8686 7300

menu, drinks
http://www.fondamexican.com.au

Accessibility: Entry is up a staircase. Things are reasonably spacious inside, with a mix of low and high tables. You order and pay at a low counter, and they bring the food out to your table. One of our companions reported that the toilets are fully accessible, so perhaps there is also an alternative entry that we couldn't figure out.

Taco seasoning

April 30, 2015

We've been using this easy-prep spice mix for years, and I've decided it's finally time to stop googling Best Tofu Tacos!!!! site:inthemoodfornoodles.blogspot.com and record it here on our own blog. 

Instead of making tofu tacos, we tend to make lentil tacos with it. They're savoury and warm and a little bit smoky, comforting rather than complex. We simmer the lentils on weeknights and wrap the leftovers into lunchtime tortillas. I've packed jars of the seasoning on field trips and weekend getaways, sneaking the extra lentils into cheese toasties and onto salsa-slathered pizzas. It's a great stand-by seasoning, and I've pleased many a crowd with it.

Taco seasoning
(a recipe found on In The Mood For Noodles)

1 part garlic powder
1 part onion powder
1 part Mexican oregano
1 part smoked paprika
1 part salt
1 part pepper
1 part chilli powder
2 parts cumin

Stir together all the ingredients in a jar. Use to season tofu or lentils; we use 1-2 tablespoons of seasoning in our lentil taco recipe.

El Chino II

Edit 03/01/2018: El Chino is now closed, and has been replaced by Tootsie Roller.

September 27, 2014

I've been reluctantly working through my recent few weekends, but on Saturday evening I took a break for a leisurely cycle through the inner north with Michael, with dinner at El Chino as our goal. I'm surprised that this cute cafe has been the subject of so few blog posts but regardless, it runs a busy service on a Saturday night.

El Chino are BYO and in addition to the usual beer and wine corkage fees, they offer a mojito deal - you BYO the rum and they'll do the rest. We were happy to skip the alcohol and shared a slushy lime granita with a single garnishing mint leaf ($4.50).

While the mains and specials were mostly meat focused, we still had some options to peruse: empanadas, tall yet compact bowls of nachos, a vego burrito and three varieties of taco. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are well marked and though there are supposedly 'VG's listed for vegans, I suspect they're missing from some genuinely vegan menu items (take our savoury order here, for example). We grazed across the menu by ordering the Fiesta ($28), a meal for two centred around a cast iron pot.

Lined with a cabbage leaf, the pot offered pickled nopales cactus, roasted mushrooms and purple cabbage. We mixed and matched them with a fresh and finely minced salsa Mexicana and a fruity roasted salsa tatemada.

We mopped up our potted foods with five white and blue corn tortillas (then paid $4 for four more), and nibbled at some warmly spiced Mexican rice and black beans.

We thought we'd best give their grilled tofu side ($4.50) a shot too - it didn't have any noticeable flavour or marinade, but it made for nice DIY tacos with the salsa and other fixings. (I noticed later that we were also charged for a side of guacamole that was neither ordered nor served.)

As the room filled up and our finished dishes remained on the table, we had time to build up an appetite for dessert. In spite of the demands on his attention, our server generously took a moment to step us through our options. My mayordomo Mexican hot chocolate was underwhelming - the chocolate syrup lodged unmixed in the bottom of the cup, and the cinnamon quill provided only the barest hint of extra spice.

El Chino were all out of the tres leches sponge cake I'd been looking forward to but the caramel flan ($7.80) was a lovely alternative; the smooth custard and smoky hint of almost-but-not-quite burnt caramel broken up with candied hibiscus flowers and fresh strawberry.

Our experience at El Chino had its flaws, but they didn't sour our night. The cafe is a lovely setting for a quiet meal for two (or a party in the courtyard, from what we witnessed), and offers an unusually thoughtful selection of non-alcoholic drinks and desserts in addition to reliable main meals.

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You can read about our breakfast at El Chino here. El Chino is not getting the blog attention that it deserves; since that post I've only seen it recommended on Poppet's Window and WOO FOOD.

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El Chino
214 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North
9078 7974
menu: dinner, banquets & sides, beverages & desserts
http://www.elchino.com.au/

Accessibility: There's a small step as you enter and a clear corridor to the counter (which we've witnessed another customer maneuver a two-seater pram through), but the tables are quite crowded inside. We ordered at the table and paid at a low counter. We didn't explore the courtyard or visit the toilets.

Sookie La La

17/06/2023: Sookie La La is now closed.

July 27, 2014

Recently we cycled up to High St for some sun, physical activity and takeaway frozen La Panella pies. New cafes pop up on this strip St faster than we ever make it up there to visit them, and this was a chance to try at least one more. I picked Sookie La La from my to-eat list, having read about it on MEL: HOT OR NOT earlier this year. This is a cute hybrid of American diner and inner north cafe, with a stool-lined high counter, dark wood booths, espresso coffee, pies, shakes, fries and - on the specials board - a lamington-flavoured bagel.

Vegetarian options are abundant, there are helpful hints for vegans along the way, and there's gluten-free bread available for those who need it. Veganising the Don Watson sandwich ($12) means sourdough or rye bread instead of brioche; Michael chose the latter. He reported that the slab of tofu tasted as much of mustard as the promised sweet BBQ sauce, and I could see the pickled beetroot, carrot and cucumber making quite the mess as he gobbled it all up (see pic below). I helped out with the shoestring fries (an extra $3) before setting to work on my own meal.

Since the desserts looked good, I decided against cornmeal buttermilk pancakes for lunch and tried The Bacho ($12.50), a toasted bagel thickly spread with jalapeno cream cheese on one side, then layered with black beans, melted mozzarella, salsa and avocado on the other. It was gooey and comforting, and perfectly portioned.

The sundae list is short but irresistable - there's even a vegan option made with 'Coconut Silk' sorbet! I pressured Michael into sharing some 'Strawberry Harvest' icecream topped with a thick hot chocolate fudge sauce, honey-roasted macadamias and stroopwafel wedges in place of the more traditional wafers ($8). I can see why Thanh goes ga-ga for this biscuits, with their chewy strip of caramel through the centre. Three spoons in, Michael ceased acting at all put upon.

Sooki La La is a sweet little spot - I hope we'll find time for more bike trips towards their sundaes come summer.

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Sookie La La  has won other admirers on Vetti Live In Northcote, MEL: HOT OR NOT and Dani Valent.

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Sookie La La 
593 High St, Northcote
9486 5417
breakfast & bagels, sandwiches, drinks, sundaes
http://www.sookielaladiner.com.au/

Accessibility: We think Sookie La La has a flat entryway. Seating has a range of free-standing seats and tables, fixed booths and high stools at the counter with a wide pathway through the middle. We ordered at our table and paid at the high counter. The toilet was unisex and located upstairs.

La Tortelleria

February 9, 2014

We've been trying to make our way to La Tortelleria for nearly a year now, since Claire and Lauren started raving about it. Something about Kensington felt very far away though, at least until we realised that the Upfield train line would get us within 500m or so of the restaurant. It's tucked into a very uninspiring industrial area - there's no way it's relying on passing traffic for its customers, people are seeking it out.

They're seeking it out for good reason - La Tortelleria promises Melbourne's most authentic tortilla experience, hand-grinding their own corn (a process called 'nixtamal') rather than using the finer, processed masa flour that most places use. They've go their own machinery pumping out hundreds of tortillas to serve in the cafe and to sell for people to take home and make their own tacos. They also sell a bunch of Mexican groceries - spices, sauces and the like.

It's pretty tiny - maybe seating for 30. We turned up on a Sunday for lunch and had no trouble getting a table (although by1pm it was more or less full). They take bookings though and it would be wise to call ahead if you were aiming for dinner or had a group for lunch.

The menu's pretty straightforward - there's a guacamole and corn chip dish ($6.90), a selection of quesadillas ($3.50-$4.50), some non-veg tacos, a tostadita de tinga ($4.70) and empanadas (dinner only, $5). There's also a share plate option ($40 for two people), which would be the way to go if you had the hunger for it.

We didn't, so we limited ourselves to the quesadillas and the tostadita de tinga. We ordered three of the four quesadillas (all veganised - although more on that in a jiffy): the frijoles (beans and white cheese, $4.50), chorizo (based on a spicy tofu, $4.50) and hongos (mushroom, $4.50). The tostadita de tinga is a hard tortilla base, topped with refried black beans, lettuce and crema, $4.50).

The tortillas are interesting - much chewier than the standard soft taco and with a lot more flavour. The fillings didn't really rock my world - they were really loaded down with 'cheese', overpowering the mushrooms, tofu-chorizo and beans. The tostadita de tinga fared a little better, with the crispy base and the light crema instead of the cheese letting the bean flavour shine through. We forgot to use the chipotle sauce until right at the end, so we might have made a key strategic mistake.

A note on the vegan options: we were both amazed at how melty and cheesy our vegan quesadillas were, so it wasn't that surprising when we were informed by Toby that the 'vegan' cheese that La Tortelleria is Mini Chol, which by many reports is not vegan. Tread carefully.

Our experience at La Tortelleria fell a bit short of the very high expectations that I had for it - the tortillas were excellent, but the fillings of the heavily cheesed quesadillas didn't measure up to the fresher and more varied offerings at places like El Chino, Touché Hombre or even The Reverence. We'll be back to grab some tortillas and maybe to try the chef's sampling plate and to taste the well-regarded flan, but I doubt we'll become regulars.

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La Tortelleria has been given the thumbs up by Footscray Food Blog, melbourne gastronome, Chef John Smith, TO STAY OR TO GO?, veganopolous, The Glutton and The Lush, thehangrybitch, consider the sauce, The tiny gastronomer, Fika & Kuidaore, Jackie O, Tune Into Radio Carly and hungrycookie, while Eat And Be Merry For Tomorrow We Die(t) and Let's Get Fat Together weren't quite as impressed.

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La Tortelleria
72 Stubbs St, Kensington
9376 5577
menu: 1, 2
http://latortilleria.com.au/

Accessibility: Not good. The entry is up some stairs (see top photo), and things inside are narrow and quite crowded. You order at the table and pay at a high counter. There's a single unisex toilet.