Mexican food is my favorite, and I consider myself a little bit of a connoisseur. Unfortunately, most restaurants in South Africa that try to do Mexican food get it terribly wrong. You just can’t really get the right ingredients to make it work. The best I’ve had is El Burro in Green Point; they import ingredients like masa harina to make their own delicious corn tortillas. Fat Cactus is a good second choice though. I call it Mexican inspired, because it’s not particularly authentic, but they make some good dishes and offer a wide variety of options for people who are not necessarily super into Mexican food. Fat Cactus has three branches in Cape Town—Mowbray, Gardens, and Woodstock.

The Mowbray location is in a nice, small, atmospheric pub. It’s nearly always packed, so a booking is a good idea. The menu offers a confusing array of choices, many of which are just variations on the same thing. There are a variety of quesadillas, nachos, salad bowls, burgers, tacos, and fajitas as well as ribs, fish, chicken, and calamari dishes. For each item, there’s generally a choice between a long list of fillings. I usually always go for the “Texas beer chunky chilli beef”. It’s chunks of beef in a spicy red sauce with some kidney beans. I’ve had it in tacos, nachos, and fajitas and this time around, I tried the enchiladas. It’s always super tasty, although not probably the Mexican food you’re used to. Portions are generally quite large.

One of Fat Cactus’s greatest offerings is the “iceberg”. It’s a draught beer (Castle or Castle Lite) with a big dollop of frozen lime slushy floating on top. It’s a little bit sweet and very refreshing, and you’ll probably go through more than one trying to cool down from the spicy food. There’s also a big list of margaritas and tequilas. The service is pretty good for such a busy, pub style restaurant and the atmosphere is fun.