FOOD & DRINK REVIEW · All You can Eat Sunday Brunch @ Mestizo, London

"Mestizo is the concept of a group of Mexicans to bring to London a restaurant-bar offering a fine and authentic Mexican cuisine"

About every Mexican restaurant out there claims this, but very few deliver. Mestizo does. And it's easy to tell because it's filled with Mexicans! This may come as a surprise to some, but real Mexicans abroad don't go burrito-hunting when they miss their food. They go looking for the authentic food and that's exactly what Mestizo has on offer.

From top left to right clockwise: Tamales, pollo en cuitlacoche, totopos, rice and salsa verde.

The Sunday Brunch (from 12:00 to 16:00) offer was indeed pricey at £20 a head, but it's so worth it if you really have a craving for the real deal. Besides, it's all you can eat, so we were more than happy to pig out on chicken in cuitlacoche (corn truffle) sauce, pepper and cheese tamales, Mexican white rice, pozole, quesadillas, totopos, tostadas, black beans and peppers stuffed with cheese, all washed down with horchata water (a very sweet soft drink made of rice, vanilla and cinnamon). Also, there was a choice of two desserts and we went for the "Bienmesabe de coco" a delicious coconut sponge cake drenched in condensed milk and topped with fluffy whipped cream.

Horchata water and "bienmesabe" de coco. It literally means "tastes good to me"

The place was packed and apparently it is best to make a reservation. The brunch deal is a buffet, which gets quite busy so you may have to queue to  order your quesadillas, which are filled with whatever you fancy and cooked on the spot. The waitresses were kind of coy and not too engaging at all, but hey, it's self service and it's all you can eat so who cares!

Vegetales al ajillo (garlic seasoned vegetables), pastel de espinacas (spinach bake), pescado (fish)

Mestizo : 103 Hampstead Road, London NW1 3EL T 020 7387 4064

FOOD & DRINK REVIEW · "Café Pacífico" in Covent Garden, London

Café Pacífico is a Mexican cantina in Covent Garden that opened in 1982. Its decor is breathtaking, it definitely doesn't get any more Mexican than that.  The walls are covered in vintage posters and painted in a lovely turquoise colour so reminiscent of traditional markets. After a few Coronas you could easily forget the fact that you're in middle of London!

We were a bit bummed to realize that, foodwise, there's a bit of a TexMex vibe going on in the menu. We ordered the Enchiladas and the Chicken Tacos, to try and step away from other less Mexican options such as Burrito Especial and Chile con Carne... 

Anyway, the presentation was perfectly genuine. The accompaniments of arroz rojo and frijoles refritos  on the side are typically Mexican. On the other hand, we found the tortillas to be fairly soggy. They tasted of maiz dough alright, but they weren't crispy or crunchy at all. Chicken tacos or tacos dorados are supposed to be thin enough to fit in your mouth and crispy enough so you can hold in your hand without the filling coming out. In this case though, we had to use knife and fork as they were so thick and pulpy. 

The enchiladas were red (red tomato based salsa rather than green tomatillo, a very elusive ingredient in the UK it seems) and  tasted suspiciously peppery and very similar to wannabe Discovery Roasted Pepper Salsa (Pro-tip: real Mexican salsas, whether red or green do not contain roasted peppers. Peppers are sooo Tex Mex, don't be fooled!)

Last but not least, the drinks. We ordered Micheladas and boy were they good. The mix of chilli, lime and spices was just right. You might as well be in a proper cantina in Monterrey with this baby:

All in all, a fabulous place with a truly Mexican atmosphere. Food is, again a bit too on the TexMex (and pricey!) side although not nearly as much as other restaurants out there such as Chiquito.