Birthday cheers at Mestizo

I finally have eaten at a proper Mexican restaurant in London, not a taco stand or take away, the first for so many years, and yes I had a good time.

We were gathered to celebrate the birthday of Mr G, who had no idea that a bunch of his closest were turning up to join him for his romantic birthday dinner with Little M.

We all managed to get in before 7pm, and take advantage of the “Happy Hour” cocktail deal. After a long day of writing copy I was in need of a strong drink and the margarita with crushed ice certainly had the kick I was looking for. God I love tequila.

Little M took charge and did the ordering for us all, which thankfully she did as it would have been a tad of a nitemare. I never actually looked at the menu, but since them I have and it looks pretty good, a little taco starter heavy, but the mains lloks fine. I was especially interested in their Sunday Brunch offer of “eat all you can” for £20. We’ll see.

So a few beers some mixed antojitos plates came forth, empanadas, flautas and quesadillas were delved into and split between us all. They were all a tad cheese heavy, but that was fine with us, as we’d already had a few drinks and was feeling the pangs of hunger. I can’t remember too much at how they tasted, but they were minus a kick, which is what I need these days.

The main event was the 4 Molcajetes, these very hot volcanic stone mortars filled to the brim with chicken and beef, chorizo, cheese, grilled spring onions, with two being with salsa roja and two of chipotle chilli, and a lot of flour tortillas as well. This was beer food.

I’d had this once before in Puebla, a small town outside of Mexico City many years ago and enjoyed the DIY taco making experience. Here was no different. 

The Chipotle was by far the superior of the two, but by this time the beers were flowing pretty well and drinking on an empty stomach is never a god idea. I do talk shit when I am at this stage.

All in all it was a bloody good night and one we needed after a particularly bad news weekend, food was good, drinks were good, we met loads of great people and witnessed some of the best card tricks I have ever seen. Eat your heart out Paul Daniels, competition is on your heels.

I’m not sure whether I’d return to Mestizo, unless it was in a big group as it had that vibe about it. On the other side of the restaurant were a dozen or so pregnant women enjoying some tacos as well. A most odd sight.