Midnight Mexican fix

Mexican pizza with chili con carne topping

All too well-acquainted with spontaneous, 1 am hunger pangs, thanks to his years as an undergrad student at the UK's Kingston University, Chinmay Dhuwali knew he had to tap into "Mumbai's midnight munchies market", as he puts it. Particularly, Tex Mex food in all its refried beans-meets-guacamole-meets-melted queso cheese glory. "In the UK, I fell in love with Chipotle [the Tex Mex restaurant chain]. It was basic, healthy, customisable and something you could eat every day. When I got back, I was craving Mexican food. So, I ordered from a Mexican joint and was dismayed to find that the food wasn't anywhere close to authentic Mexican," he recalls.

Lamb barbacoa quesadilla

And so, armed with his marketing degree, the 25-year-old decided to launch Mexibay a few months ago. A smart portmanteau combining Mexico and Bombay, this Bandra East-based cloud kitchen's menu offers a wide range that is divided into seven main parts, including breakfast, vegan, vegetarian and non-vegetarian main courses, munchies, desserts and beverages.

Designed by Armin Puerto, a chef from Merida, Mexico, with over 30 years of experience under his belt in kitchens around the world, we spotted the usual Tex Mex suspects, the ubiquitous hard shell tacos and burritos and a few experimental dishes on the menu.

Chipotle chicken wings

Take for instance the Mexican pizza topped with chicken chili con carne (Rs 439) that is the biggest of the boxes in our neatly packed and labelled home delivery order. Created on the lines of a giant tostada that sees a deep-fried flour tortilla slathered with refried beans, jalapenos, chili con carne and drizzled with chipotle salsa and melted queso, this hybrid Italian-Mexican pie is messy satisfaction.

Our veg supreme chimichanga with mushroom al ajillo (Rs 259) is a fat, generously stuffed burrito that has been fried to crispy perfection. Speaking of burritos, our next order of the egg breakfast burrito (Rs 239) from the early morning breakfast menu is another success, with its creamy scrambled eggs, delicious queso and black bean components.

We can't say the same for the bland and oily mashed potato flautas (Rs 159 for three pieces) that are spring roll-like deep-fried mini tacos. However, the crispy chicken variant of the flautas (Rs 199 for three pieces) fares much better with its rich savoury flavour.

Our duo of refreshing aguas frescas - as Mexican fruit-based street side drinks are called - is the perfect accompaniment to our meal. The tartness of the aqua de Cancun (Rs 60) made with steeped jamaica (hibiscus) flowers is particularly delicious. As is the citrusy burst of the cucumber and lime citric margarita (Rs 60).

Vegan apple pie taquitos

Paired with a silken cheese sauce, our queso bowl with nacho chips (Rs 229) is a delectable light snack and the perfect foil to the meaty richness of the lamb barbacoa quesadilla (Rs 339) that we so wish didn't have such finely shredded lamb. We'd have rather preferred a bit of a chunkier texture to the meat. But that's forgotten once we bite into one of the six plump and well-seasoned pieces that make up our order of chipotle chicken wings (Rs 259) that we polish off in mere minutes.

Our final sampling shows us the sweet side to Tex Mex cuisine. We savour the deep-fried vegan apple pie taquitos (R179 for three pieces) that are so very more-ish in all their caster sugar-dusted goodness. The same can be said for the original Mexican churros (Rs 149 for three pieces), which, to our delight, are fried just right and are accompanied by a tub of Mexican-style spicy hot chocolate sauce.

At: Shop 13-14, Ground Floor, Building No.2, Shastri Nagar CHSL, Bandra East.
Delivery Swiggy, Zomato and Thrive
Time: 9 am to 2 am (all days)
Call: 9004733733