Picture of Mestizo, NW1 3EL

Historical version 12 of Mestizo, NW1 3EL (view current version)

Mexican restaurant (with a tequila bar downstairs), near Euston Station.

The building is not much to look at, and Hampstead Rd hardly provides an attractive location, but inside this is a well-appointed square room, with a bar and service area at the back, and nicely laid out, some smaller tables near the front and the windows, with larger tables towards the back. At 5:30pm on a Saturday it is very quiet, but fills up quickly, meaning reservations would probably be necessary in the evening. When Ewan visited, we had trouble getting through on the phone line but showed up in person and were able to get a table until 8pm, which suited us fine.

The menu is divided into the 'antojitos' (small dishes, like tapas) and 'los tacos' (two corn tortillas with a range of fillings) on the first page, then main dishes on the following pages. Ewan and friend shared a couple of antojitos and a couple of the tacos, and found this suitably filling.

All tables come with small bowls of crispy tortilla chips and a spicy dipping sauce on arrival. Our order of guacamole (£5.50) was a large plate loaded with more of the tortilla chips and a very tasty freshly-made avocado dip in the middle. The tamales of 'pollo con mole' (£5.40) were also lovely, wrapped up in corn husks and steamed, producing a spongy, tasty snack. Tacos were also excellent, with the filling laid neatly over the two tortillas, and a side of salsa on each plate.

To drink we shared a two-pint jug of the house margarita (£26), nicely frozen and certainly not disappointing. The dessert menu is far more basic, but my friend's flan received high praise, while Ewan had a crispy pancake-like dessert drizzled with sugar syrup, which was simple but satisfying.

Damon says: Mestizo offers very good quality, authentic Mexican food at a reasonable price. It's the best I've had in London so far. They also have good margaritas.

poooook says: They have a very large selection of tequila! Thursdays are 'Jueves Mexicano' (Mexican Thursdays) in their downstairs room (they describe it as "a club lounge") so are expected to be busy.

See also:

Last visited by Ewan and friend, 16 January 2010. Opening hours taken from website, January 2010.
OS X co-ord: 529200 OS Y co-ord: 182584 (Latitude: 51.526888 Longitude: -0.137321)
This is version 12 (as of 2010-01-18 10:05:06). View current version. List all versions.