LardButty food reviews

Impressive cocktail list and fresh Mexican food at El Camion and The Pink Chihuahua in Soho.

Probably the first thing to make you smile on entering this basic cafe-style restaurant is the vast collection of pepper sauce bottles on four shelves that run right along the back wall, and the Mexican wall art including day of the dead paintings.

The second is likely to be the impressive cocktail list – it’s vast! I ordered a cadillac margarita (tequila with lemon juice and grand marnier) @ £9.50 and H had a tequila espresso martini (tequila with kahlua, tia maria and espresso) @ £9.50. Along with the friendly service, this was an excellent start.

 

Cadillac margarita and tequila espresso

 

Margarita and tequila drinks selection from the extensive cocktail list

 

This Mexican menu takes inspiration, apparently, from the Baja Peninsula in North West Mexico.

We ordered a few starters to share (we thought they’d be light but they were pretty filling): guacamole – a generous bowl of fresh guacamole @ £3.50, tortilla chips again, a generous portion @ £1.50, chipotle salsa – very hot and fiery pepper sauce @ £2.50, and chicaron described as being like pork scratchings but probably more like Quavers (we left most of these), a large portion served with a bowl of guacamole @ £3.95.

 

Chicaron – ‘pork scratchings’ with guacamole

 

For main course – along with a bottle of Malbec red wine @ £26.00 – we ordered mixed botanas a sharing platter comprising three tacos, three tostados, three quesadilla slices and three jaladas (jalapeno chillis with cream cheese, or ‘poppers’) @ £24.00, and you can choose your own fillings.

 

Mixed botanas – 3 tacos with slook cooked pork, 3 tostados with slow cooked chicken), 3 quesadilla slices (spinach + mushroom) + 3 jaladas

 

Jaladas – jalapeno chillis stuffed with cream cheese, deep fried in bread crumbs

 

That’s a lot of pepper sauce!

 

Basic cafe-style interior with colourful table coverings
 

Loos by the Pink Chihuahua cocktail lounge in the basement

 

Too full for dessert, H had an amaretto @ £8.00 (a double) and I had a sparkling wine @ £6.50 as a digestif. Altogether, our meal for two came to £114.41 including service.

 

The verdict: No fuss, no frills Mexican food with an enticing cocktail menu.

 

Restaurant info:
~ Lardbutty rating: 3.5 / 5
~ Type: Mexican
~ Address: 25-27 Brewer St, London
~ Postcode: W1F 0RR
~ Nearest station: Piccadilly Circus
~ Website + menus: El Camion website
~ Photos on flickr: images of El Camion
~ Location: El Camion map

 

Filed under: LardButty food / restaurant reviews, Mexican | Tagged: 25-27 Brewer Street, 3.5 / 5, 3.5/5, Baja California, Baja Peninsular cuisine, cocktails, El Camion, Lardbutty, LardButty London, London, Mexican, pink chihuahua, Soho, W1F 0RR, Westminster, Westminster borough |