Senor Dick's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in England

A sign outside Señor Dick´s in picturesque Newquay of Cornwall boldly promises that authentic Mexican food can be enjoyed there.

After recently eating dinner with my family at this place, I am beyond a doubt convinced that the kitchen staff at Señor Dick´s have never eaten authentic Mexican food and therefore haven’t a clue how it should actually look, smell or taste.

In addition to not being able to synchronize the arrival of our few orders, the fish tacos and side dishes of salsa, guacamole, sour cream and tortilla chips we’d ordered tasted about as far from being home-made as Newquay is from Cancún.

The chips and tortillas seemed stale and tasteless and in the rest of what we were served I was unable to recognize any herbs or spices (like cumin, cilantro or pepper) which are typically incumbent in Mexican cuisine.

While not an entirely fair comparison, I think Taco Bell makes dishes that are closer to being authentic Mexican food than what was put in front of us at Señor Dick´s.

I actually can’t remember when I last had a meal that was so utterly flavorless. And since this restaurant is located in the UK, a wonderful country in so many, many ways, albeit not culinarily, that’s actually quite an accomplishment.

I’d wager that if I ever was given the dubious opportunity to peak into the kitchen at Señor Dick´s, I’d see at least one shelf loaded with the full range of Old El Paso products, from stacks of taco shell cartons to rows of glass jars with savorless salsa. Now, as a base or boiler plate solution, Old El Paso is just fine. But their products need a lot of TLC to be useful when making Mexican food.

Would I call Señor Dick´s a fraud, a scam or even a ripoff? Well, that might be taking my disappointment a bit far. The overall service wasn’t too bad and our waitress was kind, appropriately apologetic and friendly.

But to first claim that Señor Dick´s serves "authentic Mexican food” and then charge £73/€84/$93 for what was essentially off-the-shelf, prefab food, is certainly bending the Tex-Mex concept way beyond what I think is ethically acceptable.

If I was the owner of Señor Dick´s, I’d immediately hire an authentic Mexican chef, pay him or her a good wage and then aim at becoming Cornwall’s premiere Mexican restaurant. Not just another Newquay pub serving pricey, unauthentic and terribly tasteless...

Great service but not so great food. Firstly the staff fit us in without a reservation and were spot on through the experience. The food was poor and over priced. I ordered the fish taco's. The dish was £15 without a side so ordered chips along with it bringing the meal to 20. At £5 per taco I didn't bother asking whether the fish was fresh because for that price I expected it to be. The taco's came and on picking them up a stream of water poured from each one. I would hazard a guess that is was frozen or the chef did his level best to ruin a fresh fillet but never bothered asking. I ate two and left the third which left me unsatisfied. The chips were ok. My partners dish came out wrong and they changed it quickly which was appreciated and great service. The dish was ok but for any vegetarians you will be charged the same for a vegetarian meal as the meat/Fish options which always gets ordering a dish off to a dissapointing start. £16 for veg enchiladas wasnt good value. I don't know whether changing the wrong order made the dish any different but they weren't anything special veg was watery and flavourless. Good pint and a nice cocktail. I feel fish wasn't the wisest choice in the place and is probly rarely ordered but if it is going to be poor quality for fresh prices then take it off the menu. For the meat eaters possibly yes. Veg or Fish...

Honestly one of the BEST meals I have EVER had!

I had a Chimichanga for my main...never had one of those before and only know what they are because of Gordon's 'Kitchen Nightmares'. It arrived, looked delicious and tasted even better. I had it with cajun chicken, which was stringy and succulent, just how it should be. The tortilla wrap was crispy, and the flavours in there were fantastic! The rice was cooked to perfection and had a slight kick with the spice, but it was not too hot, it was just right. Overall an extremely delicious dish.

I then ordered a honeycomb cheesecake for dessert. The presentation of it was pretty, and the sweetness of the cake was spot on. The biscuit layer was also very nice.

Our waitress, who unfortunately I wasn't able to get the name of, provided an excellent service. Speed of service was great, not slow but not too rushed either. She was polite and smiley too. Young woman with long blonde hair.

Overall a faultless and phenomenal experience, I would definitely return here in the future and I would highly recommend dining here for anyone looking to go to a...