Mexican Kitchen — Restaurant in Chelmsford

An evening meal with low expectations, that still managed to disappoint at every opportunity. As someone who has lived in Texas and visited Baja California (Mexican peninsula) dozens of times, I have sampled my fair share of Mexican food. Ordered an appetizer of chips and salsa - a Mexican staple almost impossible to screw up. No salsa verde (sold out) so instead settled for their (moderately) hot salsa, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. On that note, pico actually has more than the two ingredients that ours comprised...so I recommend adding jalapeños, cilantro (coriander), salt and lime juice if you really want to call your tomato and onion mix pico de gallo in the future. The plate of tortilla chips that accompanied would have just about filled a cereal bowl but was generously refilled (for an additional £2.50). Ordered the grande burrito to follow...thankfully I ordered the large as I doubt the regular sized entre would be visible with naked eye. Requested it be filled with carne asada (sold out), so opted for chicken instead. Not willing to spend another £9.50 on an over-priced, salty margarita I instead opted for a Mexican beer. A Pacifico (sold out)...Modelo (sold out)...Sol (sold out). OK, enough with this game...how about you just bring me any Mexican beer you DO have. The waiter brought me an Estrella...from Barcelona. Close enough, right? At least they're both "cerveza". One of my lucky fellow patrons ordered the quesadilla with char-grilled chicken. I will say that the aroma of that dish proceeded itself and could be smelled as soon as it left the kitchen. Not due to the aromatic spices used in the chargrilling process, but because it had clearly been left on the stove for about 5 minutes too long and the tortilla was completely burnt. That immediately was sent back prompting a visit from who I can only assume was the "chef" responsible for this abomination. He actually had the "huevos" to justify the still smouldering, carbon-coated dish, stating it was "chargrilled", somehow implying that not only the chicken was supposed to be served that way, the tortilla surrounding the meat was also supposed to resemble something desperately pulled from a house fire in the vane hope it could somehow be saved. (It couldn't) To summarize, a Mexican restaurant that has no salsa verde, carne asada, or Mexican beer is akin to your local McDonalds running out of burgers, special sauce, and coke. Perhaps instead of opening your doors for dinner this evening, you might want to consider a resupply trip to Costco. Just...

If you are a fan of Mexican food like burritos nachos etc then this is the place to go! The food tastes great. We had the nachos to share between two of us to start with the beef chili on which was good. We knew we were onto something when we tried that. We both went for burritos for the main, I had the chicken, pork and Mexican chorizo in the large burrito. It was very very tasty. You found as you chewed the food other flavours came through. It was without a doubt the best Mexican food I have ever had. I have eaten at a few different places some chain and some more independent that claim to be great but this place really was good. When you read the menu it even says we are big on flavour not just spicy food. This is a great concept as you get to have the tasty food as spicy as you want and enjoy all the flavours. We both had a medium spice which I found was less spicy than a medium nandos if you have had that before. Honestly if you are thinking of going stop thinking and get going. The service was good we were left alone and also attended to as much as we needed. The staff were not overbearing trying to constantly sell you more food or alcohol. The churros were lovely and crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle. They were not greasy either and the chocolate and chilli dipping sauce wasn't bitter as sometimes it can be it was just right. The lime cheesecake is a really refreshing dish as well and I found it felt like it cleansed the pallette. I tried a jarrito which is a Mexican fruit flavoured fizzy drink. The mango one I tried was lovely.

I cannot believe I haven't found this place sooner and do feel I will be going here again in the near future.

They do have a gluten free option on the main course on the menu as well for anyone that has that dietary need which someone in my close family does so it will be another place...

We dropped in 'just to see what it's like". We were greeted nicely by a young man who turned out to be the waiter. There is a waiting desk as you arrive, but some people seem to walk straight past... That's because there's a cocktail 🍸 bar at the back. Cocktails are not our thing, so pass on that one! Sat at a wooden table, with a very sticky surface, to be handed a wooden stand with the food and a drink menu. All four of these menus had been clearly wiped... With a mucky cloth. Could it be this bad on these first impressions? Looking around, there were clearly others enjoying themselves, a party of 12 having a birthday bash, another couple of tables, and others disappearing to the back or out a side door (yes, they have an outdoor seating area that seemed busy). So we decided to order. Guidance by the nice young man with a head of very wobbly hair was brief, and despite saying we know nothing of Mexican food, was not very informative. However, we went for just the main course, quesadillas with different fillings. 1 pork, 1 Chicken with chilly and chocolate. They eventually turned up as the party was served just before us... Pork was tender but fatty, chicken was just bits of a bit of chicken in a brown sauce. I'm assuming it was chocolate 🍫 as it was sweet, but the rest of the taste bland. Not a hint of chilly! When I asked the waiter about this, he explained that it was because the chocolate and chilly blend was designed that way.

In conclusion...The only thing that resembles a real Mexican restaurant was the sticky tables and makeshift look. Nice cocktail bar (loved the guy on the bar) but again...