30 April 2008

Maria Bonita’s Taco Shop


If you are looking for authentic Mexican cuisine, Maria Bonita’s Taco shop is the place to go. Located at Um Al Sheif Street, Near Spinneys, Umm Suqeim, Dubai, the bright yellow display sign of Maria Bonita’s Taco Shop is easy to find. A far cry from the otherwise chic restaurants one expects to find in the upscale Jumeirah, this place has a clean and homely feel to it. With little tables arranged outside and inside (which is quite spacious) and a couple of sleeping green parrots in a cage near the door, it did seem like a popular place since some of the tables were occupied even though we reached there for a really late lunch at 3 pm. The décor and ambience did give a feel of being in a laid back Mexican eatery, far from the glitz and glamour of Dubai. As soon as we were seated, the menu cards were brought to us along with some crisp tortilla chips with a mild tomato salsa and a smoked, fiery salsa. We placed our orders for the drinks – a horchatta and Jamaican hibiscus drink. Horchatta tasted like a thin, watery “phirni” was a sweet rice milk while the Jamaican hibiscus drink was lemony and refreshing. The “guacamole on the spot” was prepared at the table and spiced to our liking was the best I’ve had with the perfect blend of avocado, onion, tomato, cilantro, red chillies, salt and pepper, crushed in a mortar and pestle. For the mains, we had an enchilada combo which had three soft tortillas wrapped with shredded chicken with spring onions, sour cream, refried beans and rice and three different salsas. The first tortilla had a salsa verde which was a green sauce made of green tomatillos, cilantro, jalapenos, white onion and lime, the second a salsa rojas which was a red sauce made of tomatoes and red chillies and the third had a chocolate mole salsa. The portions were sufficient for two of us and quite filling. On the whole, the place was not expensive and the food was really good. Yes, we’d certainly go there again to try out more from the menu.

Guacamole on the spot

11 comments:

FH said...

Beautiful look for your blog J, looks like Spring!!:))

Love Tacos. If you see my list, you will know I live to eat!Hahaha!

KayKat said...

Mmm ... I'm still hankering for the fabulous tacos we had in Mexico City in december. Maybe I should hit Dubai to try these out! :)

Bong Mom said...

The name has such an olde worlde feel to it

sra said...

I've seen a hibiscus squash somewhere around - if I find it, I might get it now.

J said...


Asha - Hi! Good to see you back! Thanks, I need to blog more. Right now I only ive to eat!!

Kaykat - Come over, this was authentic as far as I know and food was great!

Sandeepa - At first, it sounded like a "tacky shack" to us ! :)

Sra - The squash may be too sweet to my liking. You can brew your own hibiscus drink, just pluck a handful of flowers from your garden.

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Nanditha Prabhu said...

loved the ambience of the taco shop...

Susan said...

A soft, beautiful red! Nice new look, Jyothsna! I've had hibiscus drinks before. They are very refreshing.

J said...


Ashish - Thanks for the visit.

Nanditha - It was a nice place.

Susan - Thanks :)

Srivalli said...

Jyothsna, lovely looking bowl!..koftas are always so delicate and excellent way of eating veggies we dont' like...heheh...

nice new look!...

J said...


Thanks Srivalli! :)