Achiote Taqueria by Chef Robby Goco of Cyma Restaurant fame has opened in Rockwell Powerplant Mall beside Mamou Too! Chef Robby was with Ristras during its heyday until he bailed out.With this new food stop, his concept is to serve hefty Mexican fare with healthy ingredients. For example, the organic vegetables & naturally raised pork are sourced from Costales Nature Farm, free range chicken from Magnolia and kitayama Wagyu beef from Bukidnon.
The resto is homey enough and there’s an open kitchen for diners to see what’s going on. Be warned though that the place is still on soft opening and they don’t have avocados for the guacamole yet or even the requisite side salad. And yes, if you ask me, a Mexican resto without guacamole kinda feels naked. Hopefully, everything will be ready when they fully open in December.
We decided to drop by after the Pacquiao-Marquez match although our decision to go Mexican had nothing to do with Marquez’ humbling defeat 🙂 The queso fundido (P225) was the first thing we ordered and it arrived with ample servings of tortilla chips which just had the right crunch.
The queso – a rich mixture of goat cheese and Mexican cheddar drizzled with some chile – was very hot and quite runny when served. It’s best to let it cool for a while to achieve the right eating consistency.
The Achiote menu has the usual Mexican fare, namely appetizers, salads, tacos, burrito, quesadilla and the whole enchilada. Next time, I’ll gladly try the torta, the generic Mexican sandwich made of bolillo rolls.
The new thing is that there’s a “Make Your Own” option on the menu where diners are given the freedom to mix and match their choices for the filling, sauce and sidings of their enchilada and burrito. I would advise that you do this only if you’ve fully explored your Mexican food though.
My Make Your Own Enchilada (P325) (with the help of the server who suggested some things for me) didn’t really turn out right. The chorizo rice and refried beans that went with the plate were very good but my achiote chicken enchilada slathered with green tomatoes or salsa verde just didn’t taste right. Maybe because salsa verde is an acquired taste and there was greater ratio of salsa to the chicken. Honestly, I could hardly finish the meal and suddenly craved for Pepper Lunch 🙁
We were happier with the house burrito made of carnitas (pulled pork) filling (P330). It was a good portion and had the right flavors, mainly from the carnitas which was marinated well. The tortilla just proved to be too hot when separated from the tin foil it was wrapped in. Maybe the servers should wrap the burrito only when it has gotten out of the oven…. whew!
Because it’s still on soft opening, we’re still giving this place another try for when we’re craving for Mexican food in Manila. There are still many other items to taste on the menu. Avergae meal is at P350-500 per person. Funny, but our favorite Mexican restaurant remains to be in Angeles City, Pampanga – the former Zapata’s (now Iguana Cantina Mexicana) but that’s a long drive away.
Achiote Taqueria
Ground Level
Rockwell Powerplant Mall
Makati City
Mobile No. 09159229336
It is always nice to try a new restaurant but Pepper Lunch will always be around the corner 😉
Our Rockwell store is newly renovated so hope you could pass by soon for some sizzling yumminess!
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This just opened few months ago. You can even consider it ‘new”. You may think the menu haven’t polished yet or the kitchen staff haven’t adjusted yet or whatever. But damn the servers are like so professional, they’re really good, they serve and talk to us like they’ve been there for years now.
It’s great to talk to people like them, unlike other new restaurant, their servers will just say ‘not sure’ “don’t know”. My server won’t interrupt if she sees me talking to someone, I observed that and she has manners. I’ll come back and leave more tips! haha