About 2 years ago, Jack was lucky enough to discover King Cross’s Mestizo, a restaurant with an approach to Mexican food (and drink) which delivered way beyond expectations. Keen to see if they could still knock our socks off (Día de Muertos or not…), we head back to see if they still had it’. And do they? Well yeah, we think so…
Rating:
Cuisine:
Mexican
Appeals To:
Explorers of the wide (but largely unknown) category of Mexican food and drink. This is the place to do it properly. Tequila (fkn proper tequila), delicious mezcal, pollo ticul, bunuelos…. you’ll discover better versions of things that you know, and great things that you didn’t know existed. Mestizo is a mind and mouth expanding experience that steers well clear of the mariachi sombrero stereotypes, opting instead for Quetzalcoatl and the Sun Stone.
Mexican expats. For much the same reasons above, both times I’ve visited I have ended up beside people speaking Spanish with a South American accent.
In a Word
Emocionante!
TexMAX
Mexican is already quite familiar to us by now in its derivative ‘Texmex’ form (…and there can’t be anyone left who hasn’t tried nachos and guacamole?).
2 years back, I visited here with my mother in tow and was treated to an experience that set the bar somewhere up in the troposphere. Slightly worried that I’d be disappointed, I tried not to direct expectations quite so highly on my return. I also vowed to consume less tequila because I’ve learned a little about my body since then too :3
In terms of appearances, not too much has changed since then. Mestizo’s decor is still minimalistic with a few Mexican touches, there are TVs playing what looks like footage from the Mexican tourism board on loop, and Aztec gods look down upon diners with their fearsome faces. I’m here on a Tuesday in November and once again the upstairs area is energetic and almost entirely full.
As before, the majority of the staff are Spanish speaking, though service standards have slipped since my last trip. Our waiter is nice, but new – he makes the kind of schoolboy errors that’ll get you a serious talking to on a WSET course. There’s also quite a lot of waiting to be served and seated – much more than last time, and despite there being less people.
The Food and Drink
Perhaps Mestizo’s biggest claim to fame is its bar and its 300(?)+ tequilas and mescals. The recurring theme is choice, and so accompanying this amply stocked bar is a prodigious a la carte menu – many of its treasures unknown to me.
I don’t know if this is me, but the online menu appears to be smaller than the printed version. Said food menu is divided into various sections, such as ‘platos fuertes’ (main courses) and antojitos (kinda like tapas). As I say, lots to choose from. I think you’d have to come back here maybe 6 times or more to really get through its various sections in some detail.
There’s also a paper printed monthly specials menu that changes on the regular, almost insuring the impossibility of getting completely familiar with Mestizo’s menu.
As for the drinks menu? It has an entire section devoted to Margaritas for a start – plus the aforementioned revolving door of 300ish Mexican spirits (to see what’s currently ‘going’, check the bar). Plus Mexican beer, freshly juiced stuff and a bunch of wines from all over the the Hispanophone world.
Unable to return 10 times in the space of 3 hours, or come here 12 times over the course of a year, I opt for a bunch of stuff I didn’t try last time (with the exception of Ensalada Nopales – a type of tasty tasty cactus salad…)
Here’s what we try this time around:
Tamales Costenos (with chicken)
If you’ve ever experienced the thick, throat encroaching culinary satisfaction of polenta, then you’ll have an idea of what biting into one of these bad boys is like (unwrap it from the banana leaf first!). To be fair, it’s more cornflour than chicken, but the paltry poultry you find in there is hugely flavoursome and goes nicely with the polenta in which it is buried.
Ensalada Nopales
Cactus leaf has such a distinctive ‘clean’ flavour and chewy texture that I wonder why we don’t see more of it around here. Probably because it’s not easy to grow cacti on the British isles. The bed of said cactus leaves (no spikes in sight) contrast nicely with the salty queso fresco and moderately lively chiles piled, somewhat haphazardly, on top of it.
Sopa Purapecha
A type of thick black bean soup that, when combined with a large dose of sour cream, creates something that does NOT photograph very well. But if you like things made with beans (…and most especially black beans) then you’ll enjoy the fact that this is a semi liquified version of that taste you know and love. Very hearty and savoury, the dollop of cream slowly succumbing to entropy cuts through the slightly spicy and ‘dry’ flavour of the beans in a way that SATISFIES…
Arrachera
This is a very different approach to steak than you may be used to if you’ve eaten steak in the European style. They take hanger steak, cook it more than the French would be happy with, and marinade it in a salty sharp sauce (again, more complex sauces). It has a metallic quality to it that I’m not entirely keen on, and the way they serve it reminds me a little of something of canteen food. Not bad, not great – not my preferred way to serve steak…
Pollo ticul
This is a wonderfully complex dish – demonstrating the exciting variety in textures and taste that Mestizo are all about! Mestizo’s sauces deserve a writeup all of their own, and this one – which has a citrus base, is unlike anything else I have ever tasted before (which is a good thing). The chicken is tender and portioned generously.
Tamal de calabaza
A perfectly non excessive dessert. Texturally it is dry, rich and satisfying in the way a good brownie is (though unlike most brownies it arrives wrapped up in a banana leaf…and it’s made out of pumpkin). Whilst the likes of pumpkin pie is quite popular in the UK, this is a novel take on the squash – good luck finding it served this way in other places. That said, I could probably do with some cream or sauce to cut through the dryness.
The Verdict:
What I said about Mestizo last time still stands. Unless unusually familiar with the food and drink of Mexico, you are likely to discover a bunch of new things here. This really is an excellent place for the adventurous eaters amongst you, or for people who really like Mexican food in its ‘native’ form (not that there’s anything wrong with Texmex).
The service seems to have slipped since my last trip, but asides from that, there is really nothing I can fault about the place – lively atmosphere, varied and exciting food – reasonable (though not cheap) prices, considering the area.
Well done (again), Mestizo.
The Details:
103 Hampstead Rd, London NW1 3EL
020 7387 4064