Us Brits love a good taco. Mexican food has become one of the most popular cuisines in the UK and these days, London’s Mexican restaurant scene uncovers the varied and rich flavours that goes beyond the cheap and cheerful takeaway burritos and soggy quesadillas.
Situated on Sydney Street, in Chelsea, Mezcalito is a restaurant bar that offers contemporary Mexican cuisine and a range of excellent crafted cocktails, tequilas, mezcal, wines, beers and spirits.
The restaurant’s interior and vibe is impressive, a sort of Mexican oasis if you will. Wooden planked walls painted with coloured cactuses, aztec prints with sombrero lights adorned on the ceilings and an outdoor garden seated space. Reggaeton and Latino renditions of famous pop tunes blast through the speakers while colourful neon lights turn the restaurant into an otherworldly shade of blue. It all feels much like a beach shack bar in Tulum, Mexico with a contagious energy that permeates the space. There’s also an optional sombrero to get you into full fiesta mode. With other restaurants, this could suggest the food falling by the wayside, but the Mezcalito team have managed to successfully combine a lively atmosphere and punchy first-class cocktails whilst ensuring quality, delicious food.
The food menu runs the gamut of Mexican staples from tacos to quesadillas and everything in between. Classics include the likes of nachos, calamari and savoury pork scratchings for starters and hearty prawn, marinated chicken, vegan and steak fillings/toppings for the tacos, quesadillas and burritos.
Our charming waiter kicked us off with a portion of tortilla nachos mounded with tender toppings of marinated chicken, smothered in paprika nacho cheese, jalapeños filled with cream cheese in a crunch bread crumb and fresh crispy battered squid served with tajin and lime mayo. Let’s not forget the drinks, non-alcoholic cocktails - Riviera Nayarit, a mouth watering concoction with a passion fruit base and my favourite, the Acapulco, a soothing slushy textured twist on the pina colada. Both drinks also come in alcoholic versions.
Next up, a selection of colourful mains. The Camaron Baja Style tacos with crispy fried prawns were enlivened by the acidity and subtle sourness of the mango and avocado salsa. Quesadillas were the Camaron & Cactus juicy prawn filling and the tangy Chorizo a la Mexicana - both flavours were boisterous, with sweet hits of chili habanero and mexican & garlic lime and a creamy melted cheese centre - absolute bliss to the palate! The Insta-ready Carna Asada burrito was stuffed with a creamy centre of marinated sirloin steak strips and mashed black beans all generously seasoned and tightly wrapped up in a purple beetroot flour tortilla.
There are only two desserts: freshly made deep-fried churros filled with chocolate and fried sweet plantain topped with condensed milk and black pepper. The churros were an obvious win and the plantains were sticky, sweet and had us hooked after the first bite.
Is it the food? Or the atmosphere? It’s most likely both that'll keep you coming back for round two, three and however many more you can handle. Whether you're looking for a sharing type of situation or a filling and warming dish all to yourself, Mezcalito delivers the food and fiesta, all in one!
