Hot Tamale

This place was recommended to us by some flight attendants who fly up regularly and let's say it lives up to the hype. The food was delicious and cocktails and margaritas hit the spot on a warm Darwin night. Would recommend the fish tacos any time. The service was quick and friendly with a creative atmosphere, this is a must visit.

Have been attending since 13/6/2025 8pm with my partner and mates. Margaritas so generously intoxicating it can get you by 2 drinks! Tacos are lovely especially the fish ones, the churros are a classic as well! Love occasionally coming here for brunch or dinner, no reservations needed usually can do walk ins no matter time or day.

Food was amazing! Their portions good enough for one person, I got the lamb enchiladas (very lamb flavour) and my friend got the chicken enchiladas (more on the cilantro flavour) . We also got the corn appetizer, (I don’t remember the name, nor did I take a picture) but definitely worth trying the appetizer!

We were very grateful for the service given to us by Andrea. She was a great hostess welcoming warm and friendly advising us on the their menu and recommended the quesadillas which we thoroughly enjoyed; along with our cocktails. The food portions were generous and delicious! Andreas warm and friendly approach was very refreshing and we really appreciated her help on advice of where to shop in Darwin. Thank you Andrea! From the three ladies….

We had dinner at Hot Tamale in Darwin and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The food was absolutely delicious, with a fantastic variety of flavors that truly stood out. One of the highlights was their happy hour, offering some dishes at discounted prices if ordered before 6 PM—a deal that’s hard to beat. We especially loved the taco special with fish; it was fresh, flavorful, and perfectly prepared. The combination of a lively atmosphere, good view, excellent Mexican food, and great value makes Hot Tamale a must-visit.

About a 15 minute walk from our downtown hotel for dinner. Being from south Texas along the Mexican border my expectations were low but, wow, was I surprised. I had the pork carnitas tacos and my other half had the chicken enchiladas. Both were delish!! Friendly staff and great service. A big thumbs up from me. 👍

Terrible tacos. I came in for the taco happy hour – I ordered 2 to start and that is also where it ended. Both tacos were cold. The pork taco was dry as all hell and lacked flavour. The chicken taco, although not as dry, was as bland as a soy boy. I would have loved to smother these in hot sauce, but the refrigerated sauce provided was congealed and would not come out of the bottle – rendering it useless. The one star is for the service and lagoon view. I would have loved to try the interesting desserts, but the taco experience left such a literal bad taste in my mouth that I just got the heck out of there, never to return.

Had a great time having dinner there with family. Shared all of the food and was tasty! Staff is friendly. Plenty of gluten free options

First off, I loved the location of this place. It's hard to beat the views compared to anywhere else in Darwin. The waterfront is gorgeous, and there's also plenty to do in the area whether shopping or simply sightseeing. We arrived during their happy hour in which they were offering $6 tacos as well as cheaper beer and drinks. Definitely consider going during this timeframe. While I don't recall the hours exactly, I believe it was from 4-6pm. With that being said, I elected to get an al pastor as well as a pair of their birria tacos. The food was decent, but it wasn't the same as back home whether you're talking authentic Mexican or TexMex. The portions were also on the smaller side. Even with 3 tacos as well as shared appetizers of chips with salsa and queso fundido, I was still relatively hungry. The fish taco a friend ordered seemed like a better bang for your buck. Service was relatively slow for not being very busy which was a shame. If you happen to be in Darwin with a craving for Mexican, give this place a shot.

If i could give 5 negative stars i would. firstly, we came in and the lights were off, pitch black and my friend fell over and tore her ligaments after having surgery and stitches a few hours prior, see photo evidence. secondly, we have been threatened that they will call the supervisors. we were confused as to why thirdly, the pepsi was flat. furthermore, the cleaning station was exposed, but it took them about half an hour to clean one table. additionally, they only provided pepsi, the red lemonade wasn't red and the water was warm. Lastly, the music was way, way too loud giving myself and others a migraine and we couldn't t have a humane conversation. oh also, the seating was made for giants, too low. and, they keep watching us, it reminds me of a past childhood trauma. overall

On the Darwin waterfront this is definitely the place to stop by. So my friends and I pulled in to Darwin and took part in a cultural event hosted by Australia. We decided to make Kalua Pig as an entree to serve but due to customs restrictions we had to have locally sourced food options. In comes Hot Tamale, the manager who I believe her name may have been Stephanie helped us through our ordeal. We came in for a few drinks and told her our dilemma, after listening and serving us cold drinks to put out sorrows to rest, she started giving us food options that her kitchen could provide us with to make our cultural event a success. After bringing out taste plates of different options, we decided that Hot Tamale would make a pulled pork which we ordered for the next day. In preparation for our event we needed to get a few things from the grocery store down the way and sure enough she was there buying serving pans to house our needs! We are truly grateful for all the help this restaurant has provided us, and it goes without saying that our event was successful. 10/10 would always come here when I am in town!

Not really Mexican food at this place i got really disappointed with every meal i got ! Drinks are good .

Nice waterfront place with terrace and bar stools. Great for a few drinks with a view. Had a few snacks that weren't bad, but did not blow us away either.

After arriving in Darwin on the Qween Mary 2 we decided to dine and shop at the waterfront to support local tourism and businesses, everyone in Darwin town were so gracious and welcoming in every way. The lime cafe at the waterfront were so lovely and the service was great, then we made the biggest mistake we have ever made by choosing The Hot Tamale for lunch, My mum is 77 as I was looking for a cool spot to sit, I found a table in a near empty outdoor dining area and we sat down only to be barked at by the waitress (apparently the manager) her attitude was beyond rude. so I put it down to having a bad day I mean it happens to the best of us right?.. but oh no it got worse she flung the drinks menus at us then tutted, the proceeded to swear at us in your own language (cant repeat what she said on tripadvisor but it was bad) while cleaning the next table. I asked for a classic margarita she said fine, what I got a frozen pineapple juice with little or no tequila served in a 70's white wine glass with a dried up thick slice of rotten pineapple , I said there must be a mistake to which she barked its the special of the day YOU should have known I asked how should I know and she barked again its not my job to tell what the specials are ??? I said I ordered a classic wait for it ..we don't serve classic MARGARITAS which is very odd for a Mexican eatery and bar...I cancelled our food order only to be barked at again to say its done and you have to pay or she will call the police, the chef came out he was also rude and agressive. I actually paid and asked for the food to be bagged up as my mother was getting so stressed and after a heart attack I did not want my mother to be any more upset than she was from the appalling staff, especially the so called manageress. I looked at the food and that wasn't even what I ordered so I just left the food in the bag on the table and left. I'm in the restaurant business and have been for 30 years and dine out a lot I can safely say that she was the most disgusting service person I have ever come across. I understand having a bad day but this was on a totally other level. What is dreadful about this whole experience is that they knew we were from the ship and that we would be leaving so they served watered down drinks and delivered appalling service knowing we were setting sail that evening . The sordid episode left us leaving Darwin upset and disgusted which is a shame as every other place we visited the service was great and the people lovely..Little missy so called manageress needs to go back to Europe ( I hope never to see her in Europe though as its my home) and not drag down the wonderful reputation of Darwin and its lovely hospitality .

Terrible food and terrible service - from the moment we were yelled at when we arrived telling us to 'wait over there for the hostess to show you to a table', to the gruff waiter taking our order, to the pork tacos that were a joke - pork? What pork!!! Where's the salsa!!! Could've been a taco filled with plain cabbage! To being charged $2 for a little extra runny sour cream for my husband's nachos - the whole experience was a dud!! My suggestion when looking for tasty food and great service on the waterfront - try Chow - now that's a big WOW!

Nice place right on the water of the Darling Harbor with a view a view of the Wave Pool and ocean. Interesting mix of music. I felt it strange eating at a Mexican place while in Australia, but something about the weather, music, and view that pulled me in. I ordered the fresh reef ceviche which was tasty, but rather boring. My wife got the chicken enchiladas which had a nice flavor, but were a little too crunchy to be proper enchiladas, more like "flautas" if you know what those are. The rice was ok, just a little dry. We shared a Tommy's margarita jug, which very refreshing. Our server was super sweet and just let us sit for a while after we were done eating to just hangout. Overall, it was a good time and really put me in the vacation mood but the food was lacking.

Great food great sangria and the smokey Margarita is unbelievable wonderful location Reccomend you visit

My husband and I dined here on our first day in Darwin thinking the menu sounded delicious and the set up was inviting. We were exhausted from a long international flight and so at this point you'd think any food would be devoured, but this was not the case. We ordered the ceviche prawns and they were very spicy hot yet cool and refreshing. It was misleading to the palate but decent. I ordered Chicken Tinga Tacos because you can't go wrong with tacos, and rice and slaw on the side (weird combination for Mexican food but I thought I'd give it a try). DO NOT order the rice and slaw! It was ridiculously bland, almost like eating dry cardboard. I literally had one bite and pushed it away. It was awful! The tacos sounded delicious on the menu by the description, but was such a small serving compared to the overly large tortilla that it too was tasteless unless you ate the chicken separately with a fork. I would not recommend dining here as the food was not desirable.