Mestizo (Euston, London)

Even though I’m running out of new places in central London to try and am regularly in the area; I’ve been subconsciously avoiding Drummond Street’s Indian veg restaurants for several years now after a highly underwhelming curry there.

Finally managing to overcome my apathy I asked twitter for recommendations, instantly changing my mind to Mexican round the corner following a suggestion from @messycook. The deal was sealed with the kind offer of free Margarita from @mestizomx’s twitter account, which I appreciated but didn’t redeem – where’s the fun in reviewing a place you’ve received free goods from?

I’ll be claiming my drink next time however when I undoubtedly return - food was good, location convenient, service friendly, prices reasonable.

I don’t generally do non-vegetarian restaurants out of choice – I eat too often at crap ones with colleagues. Occasionally I make an exception, but only if I can be convinced first that they know what vegan means, have more than one item marked on their menus and aren’t simply removing all offending ingredients until there’s no remaining flavour / texture / reason for eating it (even vegetarian restaurants are guilty of this sometimes).

Mestizo clearly have put some thought into the matter though – they’ve a separate vegan menu on their website and printed if you ask. I only had time for one course, but look forward to trying more things next time.

It’s both difficult not to compare them to Chesters in Worcester (non-vegetarian Mexcian with huge vegan choice) and difficult all at the same time (totally different atmosphere and style of food).

Whilst Chesters shares a special place in my heart it’s definitely Tex-Mex meets Glasgow – fake cheese, deep frying and salt. Having never lived in Mexico I can’t vouch for Mestizo’s authenticity, but it seems more in the foreign flavour camp than Chesters or tex-mex I’ve eaten in the US. Spanish speaking diners are always a good sign.

I went for the mole option of:

ENCHILADAS DE PAPA (2) Rolled corn or flour tortillas
stufffed with potato, smothered in a roja (red), tomatillo
(green), mole (n) - the one with chocolate and 25+ other
spices, chiles and herbs, or Cancun (achiote, orange juice,
onion & garlic) sauce, served with rice & beans 9.80

It's difficult to photograph this without it looking like brown sludge, but I came close to licking the plate clean. I'm already a converted fan of chocolate in chilli (done properly as opposed to a gimmick) and this didn't disappoint.

Not a lot more to say for now until I've been again, but am looking forward to the opportunity to do so. The cocktails menu is vast and impressive - I could easily spend a few hours there in the right company :)

Quesadillas

This isn't really a meal - more of a high calorie snack.

The concept is simple - 2 fried corn tortillas with melted cheese and salsa between them.

Fry half a red onion in a pan with a little sunflower oil, then add spices. I'm lazy and buy packets of fajita spice mix (Discovery in the UK is vegan), from which I use about a quarter.

Fry the spices for a couple of minutes, then add finely chopped seiten chicken pieces (I use Redwoods). Cook for a further minute or so, then add 200g (half a standard tin) of chopped tomatoes in juice.

As it starts to reduce down add half a tsp of black treacle and a half a tsp of smoked paprika (or as much as you like to get the desired level of heat).

When most of the liquid has boiled off and it tastes good, transfer to bowl and wipe out the pan.

In a second pan fry a corn tortilla in a little oil. When the edges start to brown flip it over and cook the other side.

Whilst this is in progress fry the other corn tortilla in the original pan (again with a little oil) and place meltable vegan cheese on top.

Spread the salsa mixture ontop of the cheese. You'll want the heat quite high to ensure it goes crispy and the cheese melts properly.

The tortilla being cooked on its own will finish first, so take it out the pan and place on top of the other.

When cooked both tortillas should be golden brown and starting to go crispy, without burning. Carefully remove the quesadilla from the pan (using 2 spatulas slid underneath) and transfer to a chopping board. Divide into quarters with a sharp knife and eat immediately.

Chesters (Worcester)

I'd not been back to Chesters since the first time in 2007, so jumped at the chance to return when invited out by a group of vegan friends.

As a general rule: I don't voluntarily do non vegetarian restaurants. I've been vegan long enough now to have had enough crap restaurant experiences to last a life time.

There are however a few hand picked exceptions to this rule, who whilst serving non vegetarian food; do completely understand the concept of veganism and have a choice of items on their standard menu.

Chesters is a Mexican restaurant in Worcester with an impressive selection of vegan offerings. They use vegan sour cream, cheese, tofu etc and seem to have really thought it through.

I've eaten a lot of nachos over the years (when you meet me you'll realise I'm telling the truth) and Chesters have gotten it just right. The chips aren't over salty and they don't scrimp on toppings.

Being the adovcate of deep drying you know I am; for mains I had a 6 bean chimichanga. Due to them messing up my order and serving salad not chips I ended up with both! Their chips are very good and salad (from a salad hater) pretty good too.

The chimichanga itself wasn't so great, but they do a variety of fillings so next time I'll try a different one. Their standard menu is for 2 chimichangas (£12), but at lunchtime they've the option of one (£6). I could probably eat 2, but it would be sheer gluttony if I did :p

Uncommon for non vegetarian restaurants: Chesters have a choice of vegan desserts. There did however seem to be some kind of availability cofuffle (I think in the end they decided they could do it), but with minutes to spare on my parking ticket I had to make a run for it and miss out on pudding.

In hindsight running is probably better for me than cake, but it's OK - I got the deep fat fryer out when I got home. More on that in another post.

The picture that follows is of their carrot cake, from the last time I visited:

It's large, warm, moist, slightly odd and served with vanilla swedish glace. Slightly odd in a good and tasty way though.

I'd certainly return (probably a few times) when back in that direction. I should probably start going walking in the Malverns - they're less than an hour from me and there's some very pretty countryside in the area.