Melbourne pub life meets Mexican dining at a lively westside eatery primed for summer

Meet you at the pub for Mexican? The old Commercial Hotel, in an industrial part of Yarraville and better known to old-timers as The Mersh, has operated as Hotel Mexico for the past two years. It’s now set for its best summer yet with a highly credentialled new kitchen team in place.

Chefs Luis Sanchez and Leticia Lara – from Central Mexico’s Puebla and Tlaxcala regions, respectively – arrived in Melbourne in 2020. Six years later, they’re running three kitchens, and have received an official seal of approval from the Mexican Academy of Gastronomy for the authenticity and quality of their food. The “Sello M” (M Seal) was awarded to Sanchez and Lara’s Tacos El Habanero truck at Queen Victoria Market but all the food prep for that place, and their El Taco stand at the Grazeland food park in Spotswood, is done here, in the spacious pub kitchen.

This is where they laboriously de-seed dried Mexican chillies for marinades, slowly stew brisket and osso buco to make beef birria and its accompanying consomme, and snip imported blue and yellow corn tortillas into triangles to fry into chips for south-of-the-border nachos. (Nachos are technically Tex-Mex, but Sanchez has fond memories of eating them in Mexico at the start of a meal, plonked in the centre of the table for sharing.)

The team also makes the chorizo used in a banging choriqueso taco. I’m going to need all my cheese like this now, sizzled directly on a hotplate until it’s a golden, bubbling, melty mozzarella mess, snuggled around the chorizo like a warm blanket and left to settle into a caramelised crunch. The balance of juicy spice, the costra (cheese “crust”), and the tickle of freshness from coriander, pickled onion and jalapeno cream make this a satisfying one-hand snack.

Speaking of cheesy goodness, jalapeno poppers are stuffed with a three-cheese mix and crumbed in corn flour (they’re gluten-free, like most of the menu). These molten marvels are striped with smoky chipotle mayo, also made here.

There are many ways to play this menu. You could come by yourself and eat a torta while watching a Mexican documentary on the pub TVs (I learnt a lot about tequila production on one visit). This crusty roll is filled with soft birria beef, and served with dipping soup and fries – a tradie lunch for the ages.

You might come with a gang for a DIY taco night: the $60 dozen-tortilla platter comes with all the fixings, including zesty pico de gallo salsa heavy on lime, and a simple but well-made guacamole.

Maybe you drop by on Friday or Saturday evenings when a DJ amps the vibes, or early with the kids who have their own quesadilla menu. Despite the seal of authenticity, the flavours are toned down; bottled salsas are on hand should you wish to turn things up.

The venue’s design combines the best elements of the Aussie pub with gorgeous hacienda flourishes. A cheery archway painted with a bold “Hola!” leads to a huge astro-turfed beer garden. A mural depicts sun-kissed, cacti-dotted desert landscapes and there’s a games alley, with basketball and air hockey for kids young and old.

Inside, seating areas wrap around a tiled bar with dozens of Mexican spirits, and serving nine different margaritas (including lychee, coconut, strawberry and spicy), some of them on tap, all of them well balanced.

One wall is painted with a map of Mexico that shows which liquor comes from where. Sotol is crafted in Chihuahua from a succulent shrub; raicilla, a type of mezcal, is a specialty of Jalisco in the south. You can try all of them, maybe taking a moment to toast our good fortune that Melbourne pub life and Mexican dining have merged so happily.

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