PETALING JAYA, July 29 — Welcome to Comprendes, Mendes, where you will find your dream tacos, just like those made in Mexico.

Your taco experience will be elevated beyond the standard flour tortillas filled with grilled meat and grated cheese, typically served in the Klang Valley.

This newly-minted place celebrates handmade corn tortillas filled with ridiculously tender pulled pork or grilled pork combined with salsas, offering heat and flavour with every bite.

Behind the scenes, Mervin Chin is the passionate soul driving this Mexican taco wave as he was fed-up with bad tacos.

Chin started Undisclosed Location in 2022, building it into a taqueria in the heart of PJ suburbia that honours Mexico with its food and drinks.

Early this year, the restaurant received a letter of appreciation from the Ambassador of Mexico to Malaysia for introducing tequila and mezcal agave to locals.

Chin’s push to start Comprendes, Mendes located above Undisclosed Location, is to change people’s perception of Mexican food from being just Taco Bell.

The name is based on a phrase from a popular hip hop song in Mexico by the band Control Machete, which in slang asks, “Do you get me?”

After many months of research and development, Comprendes, Mendes’ debut menu offers three types of tacos and a soup.

Diners can also swap the tacos for burrito bowls filled with buttered cilantro rice, guacamole and fresh salad, which are easier to share among a group.

For a larger menu, look towards Undisclosed Location’s offerings, which include beef, prawn, a meat-free taco and the Chilli Crab Nachos – a case of Malaysia meets Mexico – which can be ordered and sent upstairs.

Tacos Carnitas (RM28 for two tacos, RM34 for burrito bowl) is the classic Mexican taco pairing, featuring a generous portion of pulled pork, complemented with salsa verde, smoky hot salsa negra, crunchy onions, cilantro and lime.

Fresh pork shoulder is used, slowly cooked for four hours in the fat rendered from the pork.

This confit method – cooking the meat low and slow – results in rich, tender pork.

An unexpected ingredient is orange juice, which infuses the meat with its natural sweetness while the acidic juices break down the muscles and add richness to the braising liquid.

Even the ratio of that pulled pork matters (70 per cent meat and 30 per cent fat) leaving you with a mix of richness from the melt in the mouth fat mingling with the tender pork.

The orange braising liquid and oil draw everything together, capturing the flavours from all the slow cooking of the pork.

It may get messy but it’s worth it, as you try to get all the flavours in one bite. Just don’t wear white though... you have been warned!

On the other spectrum of textures, the Tacos Pastor (RM32 for two tacos, RM38 for burrito bowl) features grilled achiote-marinated pork with grilled pineapple, diced onions, salsa roja, cilantro and lime.

Typically spit-roasted on a vertical rotisserie like shawarma in Mexico, this version uses sliced pork shoulder grilled to achieve charred edges.

For spicy fiends, Tacos Cochinita Pibil (RM32 for two tacos, RM38 for burrito bowl) is the one for you, featuring juicy, slow-braised achiote-marinated pork combined with habanero salsa, pickled red onions, fresh cilantro and lime.

Don’t leave out their Pozole Rojo de Cerdo (RM40), a red-chili broth combined with slow-braised pork to be enjoyed with their corn tortillas and a squeeze of lime.

You will also find hominy inside; it looks similar to chickpeas with its puffy texture but it’s actually nixtamalized, or alkaline-treated, corn kernels.

With the crunchy diced onions and shredded cabbage, it’s a spicy soup that will warm you up, as you knock back shots of tequila and fiesta like you’re in Mexico.

Comprendes, Mendes

1A, Jalan SS4C/5,

Petaling Jaya.

Open: 5pm to 11pm (Friday to Sunday)

Tel: 012-9026648

Instagram: @comprendesmendesmy

* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.

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