To begin with, it’s open throughout the day, meaning that despite a lot of hype, there are no ridiculous queues to get in. At least not when we were there, which admittedly was during the day.

Then there’s the the fact that it’s attached to a pub, meaning you can sit in the front bar enjoy reasonably priced drinks with your meal, including a reasonable selection of beers. And Mexican is certainly good drinking food. You can sit in the ‘cantina’ section and sip on margaritas.

It’s really the food though, that give El Loco the advantage. We only tried the tacos, but we did try all five filling options – pork with pineapple salsa; lemongrass beef; prawn; chicken and corn salsa; and tofu. All five choices come with cabbage, coriander, spring onions, salsa verde and pico de gallo.

I doubt that any of these flavour combinations are particularly authentic, but the important thing is that they work together and they’re very robust. I was particularly surprised by how good cabbage tasted in a taco. The corn-based taco ‘shells’ are soft of course, and have the tiny corrugations that are common to most good tortillas, and which help the filling bind to the shell. All were good, but I’d have to give a slight edge to the pork and pineapple

They’re served in little bamboo ‘boats’, which are presumably quite environmentally friendly, and possibly even reusable.

The prices – $5 per taco – would make anybody from Mexico, or even the US for that matter, gasp, but here in Australia they’re fairly standard. Serving sizes are reasonable, and certainly more generous than at Mamasita, meaning three tacos are adequate for a fully grown male.

In addition to tacos, there are a other choices on the menu, including Mexican-influenced hot dogs, salads and grilled dishes.

Having been to both Mamasita and El Loco on multiple occasions, I think the more casual and less ‘too-cool-for-school’ El Loco has the advantage, and I hope Dan Hong decides to expand south of the border.

Raph Rashid of Beatbox Kitchen fame obviously had a similar idea, except unlike me and my friend, he actually did something about it, with the imaginatively named Taco Truck opening for business just over a week ago.

The flavours and textures of the fish tacos (which was all I tried, but they also do a vegetable taco) are absolutely fantastic. I wasn’t expecting the fish to be battered, but it was a pleasant surprise, with the crunch providing a contrast with the softness of the fresh tortillas. Flavour was provided by the unlikely combination of cabbage, coriander and a sort of mayonnaise, plus some chilli sauce. The trouble was, they simply left me wanting more.

Even after eating two fish tacos, my appetite wasn’t satisfied, so at $6 each, it’s hardly a cheap meal. They are more generously filled than those at Mamasita, but still quite small for the price. If it weren’t for the fantastic Los Latinos in Maidstone, I’d be thinking it wasn’t possible to offer reasonably priced Mexican in Melbourne.

The other drawback is that they’re obviously relatively labour intensive to make, so even on an only moderately busy night expect to wait at least 15 minutes. This isn’t a problem on a warm night, when you can sit back on the grass with a cold beer (BYO) while you wait, but it won’t be so pleasant in winter.

You’ll find it pulled up on Park Street near the intersection with Rathdowne Street most Friday evenings, although as with Beatbox Kitchen it’s best that you follow them on Twitter to find where Taco Truck is going to be next.

Nothing much had changed at Mamasita since my initial visit in the first week of opening, apart from the hordes of people. The servings may have been slightly larger, the flavours were fresh (although a bit lacking), and the prices were still steep.

In most ways, Los Latinos is the polar opposite. For one thing it’s located in a tired looking shopping strip in Maidstone, which is a long way from the ‘Paris end’ of Collins Street in the CBD. Then there’s the actual dining space, which is basically a daggy cafe (complete with television, which was running with the sound muted), as opposed to the pleasant modern interior of Mamasita.

The location and fitout go a long way to explaining the price differential. At Los Latinos three generous soft shelled tacos, overflowing with tasty fillings, will set up back $10.50. At Mamasita you’ll pay $16 for three far smaller soft shell tacos. And it’s not as though the flavours are any more interesting or substantial – in fact, I’d like a bit more flavour in the tacos at both restaurants.

We also tried the mixed pupusas (4 for $10), which were pleasant and surprisingly filling, although the differences in filling weren’t particularly obvious.

Guanacos Carne Asadas ($15) was grilled steak seasoned with some Latin spices, and accompanied by rice, tortilla and refried beans. It’s simple food, but very satisfying.

Service is another area where the two differ. At Mamasita the wait staff are professional and polished, but also keen to free up your table as soon as possible, to get the next group in line seated. No such problems at Los Latinos, which is not nearly as popular (how could it be?), the service is less slick, but very friendly. It’s a family run business apparently, and this shows.

Yes, Maidstone is a bit of hike from the CBD, but given I don’t particularly want to arrive for dinner at 5pm on the dot, or queue for 45 minutes or more, I don’t necessarily see this as much of a disadvantage. Especially given the food is of a similar quality (okay, Los Latinos doesn’t have anything to match Mamasita’s corn appetiser) and far cheaper, I think it’s a great alternative.

The newly opened Mamasita (level 1, 11 Collins St, Melbourne. ph 9650 3821) gives Melbourne another authentic option. There’s nary a burrito or enchilada in sight, as the folk running the show are at pains to point out. Instead the menu covers tacos, quesadillas and tostaditas, amongst other offerings.

On this occasion, the choices at the table were limited to tortilla chips and a number of different tacos. The tortilla chips were made in-house, and coupled with marvellously fresh salsa and guacamole, were delicious. At $8, they represented reasonably good value, given the serving size and quality.

Tacos were even better, at least in terms of taste. I chose a fish taco, a chicken taco and a lamb taco. All used soft (read: real) tortillas, and came with a very small amount of filling, each of which tasted very different. My favourite was the pulled lamb, which was served with shallots and mojo verde.

The problem was really with value for money. My three tacos set me back $16, which isn’t too bad given the quality, but I was still quite hungry after finishing up, as was the rest of the table following their meals. I’d barely classify it as a light lunch, making $16 very steep.

To be fair, we were warned about meal sizes, it was only the first week, and the manager was happy to listen the feedback. Still, I feel Mamasita, which doubles as a bar (with a good range of tequila) will struggle to attract repeat diners if they don’t improve the value for money.

The burritos and enchilada dinners are both excellent, and cost only $9.60 and $7.50 respectively. In the case of burritos, the beef & japapeno is the best bet, with nicely shredded meat and delicious flavours. The honey chipotle chicken burrito is less successful. A couple of vegetable-based burrito options are also available.

As alluded to above, it’s really take away that represents the best value. Prices when you eat in are considerably higher.

Update: The service seems to have gotten very slow