Choose from more than 100 tequilas and affordable deals on tacos and margaritas.
Dos Donkeys is a Mexican restaurant – but if you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry, I’m here to help: dos means two, and donkeys means donkeys.
In my experience, there are two types of good Mexican restaurants:
Despite the asinine name, Dos Donkeys is the second sort, though its decision not to rely on natural light was no doubt helped along by the fact that the main dining room has no windows.
If you’ve not been to Commercial Bay, it has a corridor of awkwardly shaped but high-quality restaurants that take a bit of getting your head around (you walk past the kitchen of Dos Donkeys, for example, before you get to the front door), but it all works pretty well.
In fact, once they tucked me into a soft seat in a cosy corner, I was quite happy to be hidden away from the world. The pretty fairy-light ceiling is seductive too; I hope it doesn’t sound like faint praise when I say that this would be a great place for a staff Christmas party.
You do sometimes get the feeling you’re in a bar that does food. It offers more than 100 types of tequila, which is impressive even if we Kiwis don’t often get amongst them (“they’re more popular with people who’ve lived in places like … Australia”, the waiter told me) and chances are you’ll find a cocktail more appealing than drinking the stuff neat.
Puzzlingly, the drinks menu goes to great lengths not to use the M word, and I was about to ask somebody, “Do you do classic margaritas?” when a waitress walked past in a T-shirt that said, “Yes, we do classic margaritas”. It’s an unusual medium to spread the word, but I guess it worked on me.
Dos Donkeys does a brilliant combo offer of two tacos and two margaritas for $45, which, given the drinks themselves are $20 each, seems like some sort of accounting mistake. I ordered it before staff had a chance to realise their foolishness, and so found myself two cocktails deep rather quickly - margaritas combine three ingredients that are undrinkable on their own and yet disappear very quickly when mixed together. Look out in particular for the “Bandolier”, a pineapple-led variant that includes plenty of spicy chilli.
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As for the tacos, you should ask about a lovely off-menu fried chicken, but make room too for the al pastor, a delicious porky mess with more pineapple and lots of spice (hot sauce is provided on your table, but despite being crazy for chilli, I couldn’t find a dish that needed more heat than the kitchen provided).
It’s not all super authentic. I’m not convinced the tortillas had any trace of corn in them – they seemed closer to something you’d get in the bread aisle at New World, but they did the trick.
The menu is laminated, which always makes me think of Wimpy Bar, a 1980s restaurant chain that I was shocked to read still has operational outlets around the world (well, in South Africa). These menus don’t scream class, but they do scream “you can wipe me down afterwards”, which I’m sure is appealing to the staff, if not the customers. Speaking of the staff, you wouldn’t describe this lot as career waiters, but they’re mostly energetic and seemed to enjoy having the chance to engage when I showed a little interest.
One of them talked me into paprika-dusted Yuca chips with chipotle mayo, and I was glad he did. They were long and angular, the texture of the starch was interesting, and though their insides were drier than your average French fry, it just made you dip a little deeper to compensate.
Against my better judgment, I ordered the corn ribs – mid-winter sweetcorn is not exactly famous for its seasonal punch. But it wasn’t bad and, despite probably being cooked from frozen, there were enough toppings (salsa, mayo, parmesan) that you would have been hard pressed to notice the difference in flavour.
My only underwhelming dish was the salad bowl: decent guacamole, a pumpkin seed puree that was hard to find, some unexciting beans along with very deep-fried corn fritters, barely dressed slaw and tortilla chips. It felt like lunch for the joyless.
I left Dos Donkeys happy, and I’m certain it wasn’t just the strong drinks. It’s quality, fun, Mexican-themed eating and, now I think about it, Auckland city doesn’t have much of that. Put it on your list next time you’re looking for dinner and drinks, but don’t want to think too hard about it.
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Cuisine: Mexican
Address: Commercial Bay, Level 2/1 Queen St
Contact: 09 869 7147, dosdonkeys.co.nz
Drinks: Fully licensed
Reservations: Accepted
Opening hours: Tuesday–Thursday, 12–2pm, 4–8.30pm; Friday, 12–10pm; Saturday, 12–11pm; Monday-Sunday, 12–2pm, 4–8pm
From the menu: Yuca chips $16, corn ribs $18, fried chicken taco and roast pork taco $45 (with two margaritas), Dos Donkey bowl $20
Rating: 15/20
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