What should we know about Chilangos?
2024 might be the annus mirabilis of Mexican food in Dublin - hot on the heels of Tacos Lupillo’s out-the-door success in Inchicore and Pickosito’s casual quality challenge to basic burrito joints, here comes Chilangos. Operating out of the Rialto Bridge Café from Wednesday - Sunday evening, they specialise in Mexico City’s 'antojitos' – street food staples that literally translate as little cravings. Much of our questions about who's behind it have gone unanswered, but we know the owners are both from Mexico City.
What should we have?
To start with, advance study time before you get there – the six central items have a choice from thirteen fillings that make trying to taste everything a bit of a headache.
Pambazos (three for €12.50) are the standout, with one Mexican friend we canvassed wide-eyed with joy to see these sandwiches in Dublin. Soft dough is dredged in red pepper sauce and deep-fried 'til dripping with flavour. Papa (potato) con chorizo was the let-down here, with decidedly less of the latter than former, but the tinga de pollo (shredded chicken) and deshebrada de res (pulled beef) were more than generous. Three of either would not be a bad choice.
Quesadillas have house masa dough deep-fried to a puffed package that’s peeled open and stuffed – not the pale pan-fried imitation you might expect. There’s a lightness to them, though the small sizes leave the fillings struggling against mounds of lettuce, cream and cotija cheese. Jalapeno-studded queso and the mushroom hongos both felt bland, with slow-cooked pork chicharron the best. The pollo and res would have been better choices.
Gorditas are more substantial, with thicker tortilla dough giving a kind of taco sandwich. Chicharron would be a better pick here than the frijol we went for – the perils of trying to get to it all – with the rich juicy meat a more fitting partner to the bread than comparably dry chipotle-laced beans.
Free from the lettuce-cheese topping that's on everything else, tacos are where the house meats shine. The slow-cooked beef suadero is superb, with chunky marbled meat dissolving in a puddle of flavour, while chorizo is a smoky-spicy showcase of Mexican cooking making hay with its Spanish influences.
That’s a whole lot of deep-frying to follow with dessert, but they've kept it to one light option - the concha. Brioche-style bread is topped with chocolate or vanilla crumb and baked till it puffs, with the duelling textures as satisfying as the simple flavours.
For all we begged and pleaded, the Chilangos team would only give us a scant outline of what's in their Michelada. This beer-based cocktail is enough to rush to Rialto, with a spiced tamarind paste rim and citrus juices elevating a humble Corona to loftier heights than it was intended for. Through no fault of its own, a margarita looked pitiful in comparison.
Why should I go?
It’s the more the merrier for Mexican food in Dublin. Against stiffer-than-ever competition, Chilangos manages to hold its own, with a price point that should draw in a crowd - everything we ate, without drinks, barely broke a fifty. Flavours and prices with mass appeal.
Chilangos
568 South Circular Road, Rialto, Dublin 8
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