MELBOURNE | For lovers of Mexican food and sandwiches, the torta, a popular street food in Mexico City, is the perfect snack. Frankie’s Tortas and Tacos introduced the torta to Melbourne a few years ago, and now Cumbé in Brunswick East is putting its spin on things.
Cumbé opened on Sydney Road a few months ago. It’s from Melbourne-born chef Ross McCombe, who has lived in Mexico City for several years, and you might know from his stint back home at Hacienda, and his mate, Rafael Bravo. Raff fell in love with Melbourne’s coffee scene while studying engineering here, and opened his own Melbourne-style coffee roastery when he moved back home to Mexico City. Now Raff is back in Australia, and it’s Melbourne’s turn to get a taste of Raff hometown. I was invited in by Raff’s wife aka Cumbé’s marketing manager, Eve, to take a look.
The menu features three tortas, also available as bowls, pies and sausage rolls, and a small selection of pastries from Suburbia Bakery. The tortas consist of bánh mì (similar to the Mexican bolillo) from nearby bakery Dat Thanh, filled with chilaquiles (fried tortilla chips, sour cream, onion, green or red salsa, and coriander). Fillings include Milanesa (chicken schnitzel), cochinita pibil (pulled pork), and huevo frito (fried egg).
I tried the Milanesa and the cochinita, opting for spicy over mild. Both are great, but latter really stands out. It uses a recipe that Ross perfected while working at one of Mexico’s best restaurants, Quintonil. The Yucatán-style pork neck and shoulder is marinated overnight and slow roasted for 17 hours before being pulled. It’s juicy, and full of intensely wonderful flavour. It’s a juicy, crunchy, sloppy mess of a sandwich, and it’s great.
Pies and sausage rolls put a Mexican spin on the Aussie favourites. I highly recommend the sausage roll al pastor. It features a dense filling based on taco al pastor pork, and pairs great with the house tomato sauce, made using five-day fermented tomatoes.
For drinks, it’s top notch coffee using Seven Seeds and Market Lane beans, and Mexican sodas. I recommend trying the coffeechata – house horchata spiked with espresso.
Cumbé
551 Sydney Road
Brunswick
Victoria 3056
Australia
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Website
Open
Mon – Sun: 8:00am to 2:30pm