Mestizo Chelsea: Mexican Restaurant & Margarita Bar — Restaurant in London

Avoid this place like the plague! We went here for my partners birthday last week with our family and friends, awful service and we all got food poisoning. As someone who has previously worked in hospitality, definitely do not dine here!

When we arrived it all seemed quite nice, they sang Happy Birthday and gave my partner a sombrero. We then went up to get food from the buffet which according to their website included “tacos” and “tamales”, it had neither. The options were very limited with the main dish being meat and rice, the one thing I will say we enjoyed was the soup and the cheese quesadillas were okay to fill us up.

As for the service, the waiters pretty much didn’t acknowledge us and when I asked the head waiter about the cake we had brought he said we would have to pay an extra £20 just for them to bring it out as a “punishment fee” for bringing food from outside the restaurant. This “fee” information wasn’t shown anywhere on their website, nor in the booking details. The waiter tried to say that they had called all reservations to tell them about it the “fee” which was completely untrue. We ended up asking them to bring the cake anyway as it was a big cake for 10 people and paid the “fee” but refused to pay the almost £40 service charge which the waitress seemed visibly annoyed at, however, they hadn’t even served us to begin with and took everyone’s glasses away before we had finished our drinks so we didn’t see why we should pay for their “service”. Before leaving we asked for the cake box back and had to wait about 10 minutes for them to bring it which was ridiculous.

The day after the meal was absolutely horrid for all of us, we were all incredibly ill, I personally spent the entire day throwing up and ended up going to urgent care as I was so weak from being sick all day. Would only recommend if you want a good...

Popped in for a quick dinner at 5:30. The host staff, largely disinterested, asked if I had a reservation. I did not. The restaurant was empty. She then informed me that I could not sit in the dining room as it would be full in 30 minutes. So I was sat in the bar/lounge on a tiny stool table.

The server also had little interest despite having nothing to do with their time. I had to call them over for a drink order. They also brought a tiny cup of salsa and approx 7 tortilla chips. The drink, a “spicy” the El Diablo margarita, took a long time to be made and then sat on the counter. When it finally made it to me I was disappointed to see approximately 4 oz of liquid and a cup overflowing with oversized ice cubes. It was priced at 14.50 which worked out to be about £5 a sip.

By the time I got it I had eaten the chips and salsa and I asked for more. The server then brought me another cup of salsa but no chips.

I ordered the lamb shank (Mixiote de Cardero) which is purportedly steamed in banana leaves. The dish arrived and it was indeed covered with banana leaves which dominated the plate. The sauce was quite tasty but the lamb shank itself was cold in the middle and moderately warm outside. I guess it had been cooked prior and then quickly reheated.. but not all the way. The warm bits of the lamb were nice but there was not much to it. This was priced at £33.50 and served with a minuscule bit of rice and beans.

I understand the location partially dictates price. Still this is an exceptionally poor value for small portions of mediocre food. Combined with a disinterested staff this made for a dismal dining experience that has little in common with Mexican traditions it...

A packed restaurant full of hopeful diners like us only to be very disappointed and shuffle home into the cold and dark. The ambience is crowded, loud, with a mix of local diners and a sprinkle of hen parties....

A nice waiter who did his best but was clearly winging it when asked about the menu and recommendations and we felt was better suited to working in a book shop like Daunt.

Our Mesticomo began with soggy complimentary Tortilla chips and some tap water whilst we scanned the small menu. Things looked hopeful as our Mestizalito's (Mohito) arrived but alas full of ice and not much else (bar the mint garnish).

We ordered prawn tacos which arrived with a teeny mouse size thimble of lettuce, thimble of tomato, larger thimble of awful sauce and 8 prawns plus little mouse sized tacos.

Mouse sized portions for two adults with a healthy appetite and love of Mexican food.

We also ordered chicken tortilla with their famous spicey sauce - two small rather soggy things arrived with a mouse thimble of beans and larger thimble of rice. Very bland and downright disappointing.

We ordered two more Mohito drinks hoping they may put Tequila in this time and it would cheer us up but alas, more ice on the coldest night of the day but much more mint garnish which we ate with relish as we were so hungry.

Service is swift but waiters vague and not fully trained. Food is dull and lifeless and sadly flatlined during our visit. The drinks weak with no obvious sign of Tequila.

Shame. We have eaten at some of the best Mexican restaurants in the world and we both had hoped this would be our new...