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2014-01-06
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Fresca Mexican Kitchen and Bar is conceived by 2 adventure-seeking sisters who has travelled the world and found themselves falling in love with Mexican food, and the country's motto “La Vida”, meaning “Living the life”. They wanted to bring classic Mexican cuisine to Kuala Lumpur and thus, Fresca Mexican Kitchen & Bar was born, just over a year ago at the prominent Gardens Mall. Fresca, meaning "fresh" or "cool", is a breath of fresh air in Kuala Lumpur's dining scene, since authentic Mexican r
Walking into Fresca, you'll see a mix of distressed brick and rustic timber, exposed ceiling, dark wood furniture, colourful Sombreros decorating the walls giving an overall modern Mexican restaurant look and feel. Mexico's rich cultural heritage and vibrancy are captured by the striking
coloured talavera tiles as well as hand-crafted ceramics and paintings displayed around the restaurant. There is a long bar for guests to kick back whilst enjoying a margarita or two. The lovely alfresco dining area is perfect for guests to soak up the sun, when it’s around.
Fresca Mexican Kitchen specialises in "botanas", meaning small plates, perfect for sharing with family and friends. The kitchen prides itself on using only the freshest ingredients, and you will be able to tell that the pico de gallo and guacamole are prepared daily. Also, home-made corn tortillas are used only, hand-pressed the traditional way. The sizable menu has a good balance of carnivorous delights and also caters for the vegetarians.
Our meal started off with a plate of Nachos Grande: tortilla chips topped with refried beans, jack cheese, jalapeno, freshly made guacamole and sour cream. It's an explosion of flavours with plenty of fun textures. The accompanying fiery salsa definitely woke our tastebuds up. Following the same path, the breaded and deep fried Jalapeno poppers are crispy, spicy with delicious oozy Monterey Jack Cheese. The sweet mango chipotle salsa is an interesting pairing which balances the flavours. You can also opt for the meaty version with ground beef.
We moved on to the Pescetarian dishes with Tacos Ensanada, which comes with beer-battered fish and homemade coleslaw, and is a classic fish taco originated from Ensanada, Baja California. The fish was excellently done; we loved the crispy batter and the tender, flaky flesh. Once again the flavours were a balance of sweet, piquancy and savoury, definitely moreish. We also had the Tacos Camerones, which comes with sauteed tiger prawns that are bouncy, garlicky with a mild heat. The fish ceviche here is made with raw snapper. Cured with lime juice, this is refreshing and has a great mouth feel when enjoyed with tortilla chips.
To round up our meal with even more vegetables, we enjoyed a colourful Ensalada de Jicama y Mango, a refreshing salad with turnip, mango, kyuri, cherry tomatoes and feta, in a coriander dressing. We loved the play of textures and we couldn't get enough of the crunchy turnip and sweet mango. We were quite full at this stage but I did get a pang of food envy when I saw a sizzling plate of chicken fajitas leaving the kitchen.
One should not leave Fresca without trying their signature dessert: the Churros con Chocolate. Sometimes referred to as Spanish Doughnut, churros are deep fried choux pastry often enjoyed with melted dark chocolate. There is an option for Cajeta dip; a goat's milk caramel, if you have a sweet tooth. The churros here are superb, perfectly crunchy with pillowy centre and the dark chocolate is only mildly sweet to complement the pastry, totally delicious! We had to order a second portion to share because frankly, one is simply not enough.
The staff here know how to make one feel at home, as they are attentive without being disruptive. There is a decent wine list but Fresca is well-known for their cocktail creations. If you are game, try their fiery Jalapeno Margarita. To be on the safe side, the Cinco de Mayo is widely popular. This is a restaurant to visit if you ever crave for Mexican food, or just want to experience an authentic experience. As for me, I shall return to try out some of their meatier offerings soon! E
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