Zapote — Restaurant in London

4.5 stars but I’ll round up as I live right around the corner and have high aspirations for this place. Firstly, this place has the makings of a (fun) Michelin starred restaurant. The decor, atmosphere, and tableware (plates were so beautiful) are all incredible. It’s not quite Kol level given the kitchen vs seating layout but it is up there and tbh I had more of a relaxed fun time here.

Okay onto food and drinks.

Cocktails: the tequila/mezcal drink was incredible but way too small - I finished it in a few sips, could charge more and give a proper sized drink

Wine: interesting selection of wines focused on organic/bio, shoreditch prices

Food: The idea behind all the dishes are amazing but the execution left something to be desired. It’s almost as if the menu concept and the chef were two different people. I feel like British restaurants in general have been hesitant to allow for stronger Mexican flavors

Tuna and Crab Tostada - YES. This was the highlight. There’s a separate chef/area where they make these and the chef here was killing it. It was so good we ordered another one. We also got the anchovy tostada but it wasn’t as good - the anchovy taste felt obscured, please let the anchovy shine!

Beef Tartar Taco with Bone Marrow - I mean, on paper this sounds like heaven. But the bone marrow lacked intensity and there was no sauce/spices that really made this taco come together the way it could

Seafood Croquettes - well executed in terms of crispiness and soft melty inside but the filling didn’t showcase much of a seafood element, loved the jalapeño touch though

Taco Al Pastor - the pork was missing flavor but the texture was good (again the theme of underseasoning/spicing), the pineapple was nice and could’ve offered a good balance to a stronger tasting filling

Coal Roasted Al Pastor Skewers - was this a different chef to the tacos?? The pork here was very flavorful and was perfectly cooked. Spices were on point and it tasted great so clearly there is potential for the tacos. Steep at £17 but it was tasty

Ox Tongue - cooked perfectly but again lacking in spices and depth of flavor, also the dish felt very empty with essentially just tortillas and the ox. Without an explosion of flavor from the ox tongue it just kind of fell flat. Some accompaniments would definitely have been nice to have had on the dish

Smoked Aubergine - flavor and texture were a miss here. Maybe they were trying to balance the softness of the aubergine with the oyster mushroom? Neither had enough flavor or texture to carry the dish. Coal roasting the mushrooms could’ve been nice

I’ll definitely come back as the restaurant is still fairly new and has tons of potential. The service was great and friendly. I think at times though the dishes came out almost too quickly albeit in a back to back fashion (we could’ve been done in 30min probably for an initial 6 dishes had we not...

Absolutely loved this place. An excellent small plates Mexican restaurant and bar with good service and cocktails. Its in a cool part of London, in which its not easy for a restaurant to differentiate itself. I think Zapote has managed to do just that.

We came here for dinner on a Saturday night. We booked late so could only get a table for 6:00, which is a bit early for us on a Saturday night.

We arrived early (I do like a snifter before dinner) and were the first in the restaurant. We were quite worried that there would be no atmosphere and would regret booking for such an early dinner. As it happens, the place soon started to fill up and there was a great buzz about the place.

Theres a large restaurant and a drinks/snack area. Great decor.

The menu is excellent. We were advised that for the three of us, six courses would be plenty. Honestly… we struggled to narrow it down because there is so much interesting stuff available. That said… six plus desert is enough.

The wine list is pretty good. Not bad prices and a decent selection. Nothing one would define as “fine wine” but certainly good enough.

The food is really interesting and well presented and prepared. Personal favourites were the lamb skewers, spicy chorizo and pork belly but thats not to say the other dishes were anything other than lovely. Do save room for desert, you will kick yourself if you don’t

Service was excellent. You’re not looked after by the same person all night and sometimes that can mean you don’t get any connection. Not so in this case. The staff were super friendly, good fun and knowledgable. Most impressive though was their enthusiasm for the business. Its only been open a few months and all of the staff were keen to talk about the business and seemed genuinely excited about its prospects - that says a lot about the owners/management as well...

If there's anywhere in London that you are hankering for some good quality mexican food, I implore you to give Zapote a try. We went there for casual dinner and didn't know what we were actually in for. First of, I think every dish that you'll order will be excellent. We ended up ordering quite a few and couldn't fault a single one. The sweet prawn ceviche started us off in splendour. The prawn was delicate and the pistachios added the crunch and the constrast. Having it together with the hard tortillas was just a perfect pairing. Next, the ox tongue and suckling pig are both highly recommended. The suckling pig in particular was melt in the mouth tender. It's served with mexican corn soft tortillas which are served warm and kept in a nice little pouch. We ordered the blue fin tuna with the crab Tostada which was the right blend of spice with creamy crab goodness and the tuna just added to the richness and the moreish bite. The scallops were very different from what you'd expect and our server's recommendation to have it with the jus that it came in was spot on. Lastly the corn, don't let the simple name fool you. It was one of the best roasted corn I have ever had. And that would be saying quite a lot as a lot of my childhood has been spent roasting corn over coals and enjoying it with family. Suffice to say, the memories came right back. With all this, we also ordered quite a few cocktails and they were equally impressive. Our favourite would have to be the Don chava but the Mexican 55 and the El corazon deserve special mention too. The service also deserves a special mention. We were looked after very well with excellent recommendations and quiet efficient service. All in all one of the best meals I've had this year and highly...