Tequila - it makes me happy: Mestizo Review

Lately, I’ve noticed an increase in popularity of “authentic” Mexican restaurants in London. Now, I’ve had many an enjoyable TexMex meal over the years, but having spent a bit of time travelling in Mexico myself, I am keen to see how our capital is representing the country’s fine cuisine. I’ve visited Wahaca a few times which does a pretty good take on Mexican street food, but for a while I’ve been keen to check out Mestizo’s more substantial dishes.

Located on Hampstead Road, close to Euston Station, Mestizo is a smart, contemporary place with a very impressive bar, said to contain a choice of around 120 tequilas. They are currently holding a Margarita Festival (August 2010) and so we were promptly handed a three page margarita menu with variations on the famous cocktail (verging from the inspired to the ridiculous – a Tiramisu Margarita, anyone?!). We ordered a classic and a cherry version to have with our complementary nachos, and fortunately, we chose correctly. I’d even go as far as to say that the Classic was probably the best margarita I’ve had in London.

Although tempted by the tamales, it was the main courses we were there for, and so we went straight for their house specialty, the Molcajete ‘Mestizo’. We chose the chicken version in a chipotle sauce and it arrived shortly after in an impressive, big, sizzling stone pot, which kept the temperature so well I could still feel the steam coming off it ten minutes after it had arrived at our table. This Mexican stew contains (along with the chicken and chipotle sauce) cheese, chorizo, whole spring onions, coriander and avocado; and it’s served with tortillas so you do a bit of DIY to make your own tacos. It was rich and tasty, with the chipotle sauce giving it a that lovely smoky flavour, although chilli fans should not expect to feel a burn It’s more of a comforting, warmth and worked well with the icy zingy margaritas.

With eight tortillas between us, we were pretty stuffed afterwards, so given that we were not particularly inspired by the deserts (Mexican crème caramel, an assortment of ice-creams, cheesecake etc) we skipped straight to coffee. An Americano for me was nothing special (disappointingly, no mention of it being made with Mexican coffee beans) but my boyfriend was duly impressed by the cafe cortado, as he has failed to find a London establishment which can serve a proper cafe cortado or follow his instructions on how to make one. This is definitely more upmarket than your typical Mexican restaurant (think Chilango, Benito’s Hat, the new Chipotle) and the prices reflect this. Most of the mains were around £14, with starters and tacos tending to be around the £7 mark. They were amenable to groups (we saw them twice moving tables together to fit a large group) but it still managed to avoid that cheesy, forced party atmosphere that so many TexMex restaurants try to promote to bring in the Saturday crowds. Will I be back? I don’t see any reason why not to, but on the other hand, I’m just as likely to skip the food and instead head straight to the downstairs bar for some more delicious margaritas, the Classic of course!

Food: 7/10

Ambiance: 7/10

Service: 6/10

Value for money: 5/10

Overall: 6/10

Chicken Fajitas

We are big fans of Mexican food in our household. The food is so fresh and vibrant, and inherently fun to eat. None more so than fajitas. This is a great recipe for fajitas and a great way of using up leftover meat.

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The secret ingredient here is chipotle paste, which are smoked, dried jalapeno peppers. We found this in Waitrose, made by the Discovery brand. We usually avoid using the pre-made sauces and kits, but this is a great little ingredient, especially given that we cannot easily make this ourselves. A teaspoon of this stuff goes a long way, and we keep finding more and more uses for it.

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Ingredients:

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Left over chicken, shredded

1 onion

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Sprinkling of allspice

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 tin of plum tomatoes

3 teaspoons of chipotle paste

¼ iceberg lettuce

Cheese

Sour cream

4 Tortillas

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Method:

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Cut the onion into slices. Heat up some oil in a large frying pan, and add the onion, sugar, cinnamon, allspice and some salt and pepper. Cook for a medium-high heat for 15 minutes. Then add the chopped garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

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Add the tin of plum of tomatoes, breaking up the tomatoes into smaller pieces with the back of your spoon. Now add the chipotle paste. Stir in a teaspoon at a time and have a taste to get the spiciness right for your tastes. We like it spicy so we put in 3 teaspoons. Cook on a gentle simmer for 15 minutes.

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During this time, prepare your accompaniments. Finely spread the lettuce and grate the cheese. Place these in separate bowls and put on the table, along with the sour cream. Heat the tortillas in a frying pan with a splash of water to stop it from sticking.

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Once the sauce has been simmering for 15 minutes check the consistency. It should be fairly thick by now. If not, cook for a big longer. Stir the shredded chicken into the sauce and give it a good stir.