De Calf Cafe in Cork

29/05/2025: My family and I were traveling through and hoping for a little hit of authentic Mexican flavor. With a motto like “a taste of Mexico” and “authentic Mexican cuisine,” I was optimistic. After all, I’ve lived everywhere from the East Coast to the West Coast of the U.S., spent a few years in Texas (for context, not a fan of Tex-Mex), and even crossed the border into Mexico a few times—so I was ready for something familiar. Unfortunately… this wasn’t it. I’m honestly not sure what part of Mexico this food claims to represent, because the flavors didn’t match anything I’ve had. It tasted a bit more like if an Italian and a Mexican got married, raided the pantry, and stirred spaghetti sauce into the beans. My daughter, ever the food philosopher, argued it was actually Indian fusion. Either way, it wasn’t quite the experience we’d hoped for. Maybe we should have stuck to the little taqueria we saw down the street. On top of that, the service left us feeling a bit invisible. We don’t drink much, so after we were seated and our food arrived, we basically didn’t see anyone again for about half an hour—no water refills, no “is everything okay?” Meanwhile, other tables around us were getting checked on regularly. And hey, we’re a fun family! We would’ve happily chatted. Oh, and the glassware… yikes. One of the glasses had stuff stuck to both the outside and inside. When I asked the waiter for a clean one, he just walked over and swapped it from another table. I couldn’t help but feel bad for whoever got stuck with that trade. All in all, Café Mexicana has a cool vibe, and maybe it hits the spot for some. But for us, it was a bit of a letdown. Here’s hoping the next stop on our travels serves up a little more of the authentic flavor we’re craving.

27/05/2025: Great friendly service and our meal was delicious