The Hornygrazer Goes Mexican at San Julian

Tequila, Tacos & Table Mountain – Mexico Meets Cape Town

I’ve always wanted to go to Mexico. I think I share the sentiments of many young, middle-class South Africans. It’s a sheltered view. I’m sure I’d die if I actually went.

I’d be overly trusting of their hairy bronze bodies and Speedy Gonzales accents and end up hostage to a drug cartel in a place like Ciudad Juarez. Surely. Especially as a journalist.

Or I’d get a little too happy on tequila in a local pub, lose my footing under my giant sombrero and shoot myself in the femur.

What I can tell you is that Mexican food is hot. Not just spicy, but smokin’ – in flavour, aroma, character and feel good factor. Tex Mex restaurants have become a popular trend in Cape Town but last week I found myself at one joint that didn’t make me feel like I was in some rip-off Mexican soapie.

“Tequila – It’s like beer”

Its name is San Julian. Make your way through Cape Town’s Bo Kaap, down narrow cobbled streets past colourful houses, dogs in the alleyways and people drinking and playing on their verandas – and things feel decidedly more genuine, even though this is the more Malay part of town.

I like this location on the outskirts of the city centre, away from the trendy, more pretentious spots. This genuineness is carried through with the restaurant’s rust-coloured walls adorned by Mexican crosses and mirrors, wooden furniture, traditional Mexican cloths and sombreros that I’m sure you could don for the night.

Sometimes the owner comes out to play guitar and serenade guests with original Mexican folk music. It’s like being in a local home in Mérida, the cultural capital of the Mexican peninsula. Plus, there are big-screen TVs for game nights.

San Julian is touted as the place to go for real Mexican food made and served by real Mexicans. It’s owned and run by a Mexican family that are fairly new to the shores of South Africa. Mexican chef Ricardo Garcia-Aispuro grew up making corn tortillas alongside his madre, so you can be sure of quality.

My Spanish is rusty. All I know are a few lines picked up from watching Gloria in Modern Family. In fact I’m one of those people who until I Googled it just now thought they spoke Mexican in Mexico. So finding my way around the menu is tough. Take a streetwise friend if you’re like me, because our waiter’s accent did nothing to clarify things, only entertain, charm and fulfill my fantasies of visiting his country.

San Julian is an authentic taquería (a taco shop), so tacos are big here, such as the taco de carne asada – with fresh guacamole, barbecued meat and chopped onion, and served with soup beans, fresh chilli sauce and salsa. I can also recommend the crunchy deep-fried chicken flauta, with salsa verde and red rice and the chargrilled quesadillas (a flour or corn tortilla with a savoury filling folded in half), which ooze chicken and cheese.

We started with a plate of nachos and guacamole, washed down with whiskey and Coronas. And then tortillas. Soft, homemade corn tortillas. Spread with guacamole and minced beef. Topped with roasted chilli sauce and green salsa. Just the sound of the words together, like the Spanish language itself, make it entirely fathomable why the world has fallen in love with all things Mexican over the years. It’s sexy, fiery land, passionate, and it shows in the food.

San Julian has a warm, family feel to it, with Mother Patricia welcoming diners and one Arturo Jr taking orders with charm.

It’s less hootin’ tootin’, gun shootin’ Mexican craziness, but I imagine Friday nights when the tequila flows and the Mexican wrestling masks they have in the back come out, it shape-shifts into some other kind of animal.

If it’s not a week night, go straight for the imported tequilas, the Don Julio and Sauzo, and the cocktails. Chef Ricardo’s father, Arturo heads up the bar, towering over the wooden counter, whipping up whatever poison you desire. The margaritas are available in two varieties: tradiçional – sharp and sour, served in a salt-rimmed glass, and flor – a sweeter, pink-coloured one in a sugar-rimmed glass.

San Julian is a welcome home for Little Mexico in Africa.

Get there fast: San Julian, 3 Rose Street, Cape Town. Open Monday to Saturday for dinner only. Tel: 021 419 4233.

Read more Cape Town Restaurant reviews here.