Friday, September 5, 2008

Flying Fajita Sistas - Glebe, Sydney.

The plethora of reviews found on eatability mainly boast that Flying Fajita Sistas ('FFS') is "the best Mexican in Sydney" or comments to the similar degree. Whilst other comments in the negative can be seen: "food = totally awesome, service = completely and utterly woeful - quite possibly the worst service I've ever experienced". (ADACC?) But one must never form judgment from opinions of another - you have to decide for yourself!

FFS is located on Glebe Point Road which is currently a hectic mess during peak hour periods. Why hectic? The more-used city-bound section of the road has been temporary blocked due to road works (which has gradually made it's way up the road slowly) making traffic a detouring-catastrophe. But we're not really here to ramble on about the state of congestion in this area.
Please note, this is the part where my review might appear a bit disjointed as I was fortunate enough to go to FFS twice within a space of two weeks due to one sitting with the FFichiban, pupu and C; and another sitting with C's friends. But from herein I will just recount the food as one sitting (did that even make sense to anybody?).

The Wall of Pain: a selection of chili and the largest that I've seen on display and for a customer's daring-use in a Sydney restaurant. After consultation with one of the waiters, our selection is made!

L-R: Jump Up and Kiss Me (Garlic and Chilli), Dave's Roasted Red Pepper & Chipotle Hot Sauce ("a delicious slightly smoky roasted flavor that will enhance the flavor of most any food" .. Engrish), Melinda's Scotch Bonnet (Sweet Chilli) and Dave's Scotch Bonnett ("a remarkable fresh pepper flavor that will waken up most any dish and give it a little kick").

Here Comes The Food

I don't have an accurate name for this complimentary side-dish, but I'll go by what NQN describes it as: "spiced mexican olives". It's a nice nibbler whilst you wait for the other dishes to arrive with a pleasant filling of .. spices .. that inside the olive.

Platter of guacamole, salsa, crema, pepian, queso fundido and frijoles ($22.90): This is a great dish in terms of value. Instead of getting a trio of guacamole, salsa and crema ($12.90) and a trio of pepian, queso fundido and frijoles ($12.90); why not just get one platter and taste test everything with a small saving too! But be warned, it's big, so I'd recommend it to groups of more than 5 people - save some room for your mains!

Nachos: Fresh corn chips with sweet chipotle chicken and ropa vieja (shredded beef) grilled with cheese and topped with crema, charred tomato, ancho chile salsa and guacamole ($14.90). You can get half-and-half of different toppings so don't be afraid to mix it up. The nachos are crisp and the melted chicken on top of our choices of topping are an instant favorite. It's a great dish - props to FFS.

Quesadilla with Mango and Cheese: 'Why did I even order this? Mangoes aren't even in season!' The thought soon daunts on me. But I was extremely surprised to find that this dish was in fact the favorite out of my two visits. The mangoes are fresh (even though they're sour - it's definitely a plus to know FFS uses fresh ingredients!). There's a overwhelming feeling that this is more of a dessert dish, but suffice to say, I enjoyed it and would happily order it again. The cheese is not over-powering, and is a nice complement to the chargrilled tortilla.

Quesadilla with Ropa Vieja (shredded beef): a generous filling of beef is held together by two chargrilled tortillas that are still warm to the touch when it's served on the very hot plate as the waiter warns us. The beef has a mouth-watering aroma and after my tasting of a morsel, I can say that it's bother tender and is not overly cooked such that it would be dry. What really adds a great kick to the dish is the 'Jump Up and Kiss Me' chili sauce - a clear favorite of the night.


Chimichanga with Sweet Chipotle Chicken ($18.90): A flour tortilla that is quick fried until crispy. Served with mexican rice, cherry tomato salsa, crema, guacamole, cheese, olives and salad ... Muy Popular. One of the things which I notice consistent about the dishes we've been served is that the rice is rock hard. Now, I've eaten all types of rice..but either their really lacking attention to detail or this is main in a industrial-size rice cooker that has had too little water added during the steaming process or this is just how rice is served in the Mexican cuisine: can one of our viewers please shed some light on this?


Tacos with Shredded Beef: flour tortillas served with picarillo, salad, guacamole, salsa, cheese and a wedge of lime ($18.90). It's a nice relief to see something that isn't a quesadilla or chimichanga. Whilst the same shredded beef is used across all the types of dishes, I'm informed that the tacos aren't that great - cold and dry. I guess the corn tortillas would have been an alternative choice; otherwise, stick to the other Comidas (main meals).

Echilada with Shredded Beef: Two corn tortillas wrapped with beef topped in an ancho and guajillo chile salsa, grilled with cheese, served with Mexican rice, black beans and salad ($18.90). Once again the hard rice is back ... harder then ever. But that doesn't spoil the dish. The cheese is perfectly melted with a faint aroma when cut open. I prefer the corn tortilla over the flour tortilla, as it just adds more taste - otherwise it would just be the same beef flavour over and over.

Keep your eyes out for our next entry, which is a continuation on from our outing with FFichiban! (San Churros on Glebe)

Flying Fajita Sistas
Open 6pm til Late, Tuesday to Sunday ($3 taco tuesdays!)
p. 9552 6522 f. 9552 6855
65 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, 2037

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmm I love Flying Fajita Sistas! We didn't see the Wall of Pain until we were leaving as we were seated upstairs. How were the sauces? Did they live up to the name? I'll order the dips next time, they look great and good to know that the mango and cheese is not only good, it's real mango :)

D said...

heya NQN - there's a deep-seated sense of achievement when a person such as yourself with a looked-up-to reputation in the food blogging scene reads our blog regularly. The sauces were not as spicy as I would imagine; but I guess it depends on your spice tolerance. Yep I really appreciate a restaurant that strives to use fresh ingredients!

Anonymous said...

Enchiladaaass!! Let's go Montezuma sometime and Yay for NQN thhhhxxx heaps for visiting us ^^!

Anonymous said...

I think you guys are great! You cover so much of the Sydney eating scene so I definitely love reading about where you go to and seeing your pics!

Love,
NQN
xxx