If you haven’t been eagerly awaiting the opening of restaurant Rosa in Mona Vale than you probably haven’t spoken to me lately. It is located on Barrenjoey Road in the old Tex Mex building, and the moment you walk in the door you will be surprised by the revamp they have given the space. It is light, open and ever so welcoming.

Our first attempt at turning up on a Thursday night without a reservation showed us that we weren’t the only locals excited by the look of the menu, and luckily my family of four got to sit up at the bar for dinner, much to the delight of seven year old Olivia who has all intentions of running her own bar and restaurant one day and doesn’t understand why her parents won’t let her make margaritas when she clearly has learnt how to from observation.

Restaurant Tasting Plates

We love tasting plates and share plates, so naturally Mexican food is one of our favourite cuisines, and we aren’t afraid to say that Rosa serves up the best Mexican we have ever tasted, all with super friendly service. You wouldn’t think there would be much variance in Guacamole, but these guys have absolutely nailed the flavour balance, it is so light and refreshing, and the corn chips have the perfect crunch to them. On our first visit Lara would have been happy to have that as a main course all to herself.

The Charred Corn Ribs are my favourite! The flavour balance of spicey from the jalapeno and fat from the lime butter is so morish that I may have fought my husband for the last one….surely you don’t need me to tell you that I won.

For seafood lovers the Achiote Salt and Pepper Squid will not disappoint, Mark may have been heard saying more than once “This is the best squid I have ever eaten”, and unlike every other meal we sit down to with our children he didn’t encourage them to try it.

To us what really makes a good restaurant is the hospitality, and when our waitress commented that the Charred Corn Ribs were a good choice and her favourite we asked her to recommend her second favourite dish which was the Chilli Con Carne Taquitos which we smashed so quickly that I didn’t even get a photo of them, they were so good. The bar staff also shake magic into delicious cocktails, and before you walk out the door you are already thinking about your next visit.

The community loving food lover in me wants to tell everyone to get to Rosa….but only if you are happy for us to squeeze on your table when we don’t make a booking early enough on cleaner day 😛 This is the place of soul food.

For more restaurant reviews click the link.