Following a trail of Mayan motifs inside the newly opened Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights will directly lead you to La Tablita, Dubai’s latest addition to Mexican cuisine. The interiors of the restaurant boast a funky theme, complete with modern art and colorful murals gracing the walls. It was surprisingly empty, with the bar area slightly more bustling than the expansive dining area.

La Tablita’s Mexican servers are both friendly and exceptionally knowledgeable about the menu and traditions. Corn nacho chips are placed at our table with three simple yet flavorful dips ranging in levels of spice; regular tomato salsa, a smoky sweet Chipotle chili sauce, and finally (not for the faint hearted), a macha salsa consisting mainly of a potent arbol chili.

Starters

We take our guacamole very seriously – it can tell you everything you need to know about a Mexican restaurant. We were served a distinct duck guacamole which was perfectly seasoned with the right amount of chunkiness, topped with crispy duck bits. This was followed by a weekly special, quesadilla huitlocache, or ‘corn mushroom’, a rare truffle grown on corn. Stuffed inside a corn tortilla, this moreish melt in your mouth mixture was exquisite.

Mains

La Tablita is known for its ceviche and taco shops, with the latter offering 16 varieties. The camaron particularly stood out with its perfectly battered shrimps and fresh slaw. At AED 15 each, these tacos are quite small but packed with flavor (silver lining: you can try a bunch of them!). Be sure to use nothing but your hands to chow down these tacos; as the tradition goes, eating tacos using cutlery will bring you several years of bad luck (our server might have made this up). To end mains, we got the enchiladas costeñas which featured succulent prawns in a pool of creamy chili sauce and cheese. The sauce might have been a tad bit much for the portion of prawns served, but this does little to ruin the dish.

Drinks & Desserts

Although we were pleasantly full at this point, we couldn’t leave without sampling dessert. Churros made their way to our table in a metal mug alongside tiny jars of chocolate and toffee sauce. Easily the best we’ve had in the city, these Spanish doughnuts were crunchy, airy and covered in cinnamon sugar. As if one incredible dessert wasn’t enough, the tres leches sponge was almost cloud-like, and topped with an interesting pairing of jalapenos and vanilla ice-cream. Absolutely delicious!

Reasonably priced, La Tablita is an impressive diversion from Dubai’s common Tex-Mex offerings. Head over to celebrate a birthday and experience being serenaded by a group of servers in sombreros, or simply to enjoy some delectable authentic Mexican food and margaritas.

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