Holland Village has seen better days. Back during my JC and SMU Bukit Timah campus days, I had sought solace in its mishmash of cafes and coffee chains. I even had my first Subway encounter there - hated it on sight and smell but am now a convert. Unfortunately, the ever-ongoing renovation works these days and hellish parking experiences have quenched any incentive for me to visit. Furthermore, its position as Bohemian Central has since been usurped by the likes of Dempsey and to a lesser extent, Rochester. Still, for old time's sake, some friends and I decided to head there for dinner last Friday.

Waddling past the usual suspects Crystal Jade and Sushi Tei, I was tickled by the thought of Mexican food. I'm embarrassed to say that much of my Mexican food experiences have been largely restricted to Dorito Nachos and Taco Bell.

Yes, I deserve to be stoned, but Your Honour, I plead ignorance. I also hope you would grant me pardon and three months supervised probation at a Mexican restaurant where I will hopefully learn to tell the difference between fajitas, tacos and burritos

There was a lot going for the menu but it might as well have been written in Hebrew. As we were flipping through the menu, a basket of nachos and salsa appeared a la Speedy Gonzales, disrupting my thoughts and distracting me from life's more important question - fajitas, chicken or beef?

Hmm, shall we have (ohhh nachos) quesadillas? The fajitas (mmm finely chopped salsa) sound good too... Waiter, we'll have the (dang, no more chips) chili con carne, quesadillas (could we ask for more chips) and fajitas (well, maybe not), chicken please?

My first experience with chili con carne ("chili" for short) was in Copenhagen, prepared by a German who read the recipe as Chili CORN Carne and added well, corn kernels. I'm not complaining though. Here at Cha Cha Cha, their chili was essentially comfort stew made with ground beef and beans, with a dash of melted cheese. Within the context of "first time trying", this was easily my favourite dish of the evening.

L-R: Chili con carne, quesadillas, tapas.

Any GourmetMexican 101 professor would tell us to order quesadillas, flour tortilla with cheese, served with finely sliced lettuce, guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

I don't know how authentic the Tapa is, for when I googled "Mexican Tapa", all I got was a bunch of listings for Mexican Tapas Bars. The tapa, according to Cha Cha Cha, consists of deep fried rolls stuffed with shredded chicken, served with "finely sliced lettuce, guacamole, sour cream and salsa." Though it was supposedly a hit with the regulars, I found the over-fried dry chicken shreds just passable.

Following the trail of Les Familairs, we had the chicken fajitas, served on a hot plate for that ohh-hot-hot effect, served with the usual da-das. The fajitas sans green chili reminded me of American-Chinese stir fry and I meant that in the nicest possible way - like a good stir fry that you are probably too embarrassed to admit liking.

I'll be the first one to admit I am no more of an expert on Mexican cuisine than say, a Mexican mule. Throughout dinner, images of supermarket lanes and bottled sauces filled my mind and while tasty, Cha Cha Cha left me with the impression that everything could easily be bought from Cold Storage. Perhaps what we ordered barely scratched the surface of what Mexican food had to offer. Secondary research reveals that Cha Cha Cha has been around for more than a decade - well, they must be doing something right then.

Cha Cha Cha
32 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
(S) 277690
Tel: 6462 1650
Opening hours: 11.30 am - 11.00 pm (daily)

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