Dinner For Seven
El Mexicano, Brighton
While we are doing our best to entertain the in-laws, I'm still talking about Saturday, you know. Such an eventful day it was. And among all the cooking I've been doing lately, it was a gift from the gods not to cook a single thing the whole of Saturday. As a bonus, the dinner was so good that it made up my terrible lunching experience.
I've been talking about going to a Mexican place for a while now (read that as "forever"). I really like Mexican food, it feels so natural to me to cook/eat Mexican food. It's spicy and flavoursome, it incorporates plenty of cheese and tomatoes in it's cuisine, it's basically everything I like and look for in food. So when a friend of mine, a Mexican, told me that she found a place in Brighton that serves authentic and well-made Mexican food, I was all in for it. Organising a small event for 5 of our friends, Mr.Boyfriend and I were ready to rock our stomachs with deliciousness!
The restaurant is rather small and busy, so I would most definitely recommend making a reservation at least few days prior. I'm almost certain that you won't be able to find a table if you just walk in on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening. On the other hand, thanks to the fact that it's so busy, all of the food arrived really quickly and it was all fresh and aromatic.
For starters we ordered all 3 possible Mexican starters - Nachos (with extra guacamole), Quesadillas (with added jalapenos) and Queso Fundido (with added jalapenos and chorizo). The Nachos were an abundant portion, covered in more than enough melted cheese. In addition, they came with a tomato salsa that was oh-so-yummy and the creamiest, most delicious guacamole that i have ever tasted. The guacamole left me wondering how on earth it could've tastes so fluffy and creamy and so fresh and avocado-y in the same time. Oh, the the tortilla chips was obviously home made (extra points for that). The Quesadilla was a bit of a disappointment in terms of how big the portion was (more like how small) but otherwise it was fine. Well, I wouldn't recommend ordering this starter in particular - it wasn't all that impressive. The Queso Fundido was amazing as well, with a big bowl of freshly melted spicy Mexican cheese and lots of freshly made tortillas on the side. A nice big portion for at least 2 people!
We are guilty of playing rather safe with the mains. Four of us ate Enchiladas (three de Pollo and one de Vegetales) because it just sounded so good that we couldn't think about anything else, two had Mole and one tried the Enfrijoladas de Pollo. We were delighted with our hot, spicy and full with goodness Enchiladas/Enfrijoladas. The were all prepared with home-made from scratch tomato sauce (yes, I can taste the tomato sauce and tell if you made it from scratch or not) or with amazing, again made from scratch bean sauce. The food was pleasing for all of the senses and I was basically blown away by it. Oh, and the Mole as well - a rich chicken dish consisting of chicken, beans, rice and dark chocolate and chilly sauce. Mmm, I'm already salivating again when I think about this thick, amazing chocolate sauce. Who to know that chocolate and chilly go so well together?! And yes, you guessed right, I was the pig who tried all of the food on the table, every single dish on it. I woud've been worried about my figure if it wasn't for the fact that I'm always on the move, doing some time of (un)planned exercise.
I also had dessert, as you may expect me to, and it was what our hostess recommended me - an Almond Cheesecake. It was fresh and slightly bitter from the almonds, but not too much. It was a nice change from the oh-so-popular berry-ones, and I most definitely prefer it to them. Maybe a scoop of ice cream on the side would've made it a tad better. Or maybe this is just me, obsessing over ice cream, as per usual.
During the dinner we all drank beer. Mexican and Spanish one, nice, cold and on very reasonable price.
And this was it. A nice place, with nice food, nice atmosphere and wonderful staff!
Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Interior: 5/10
Location: 7/10
Pricing: 7/10
Overall Grade: 8/10
Would we go back: Yes, and I think I would even take my Grandparents there.
You can't get lost if you don't know where you're going...
