Mexican

Empellon is a Mexican restaurant in New York. It has 3 branches and Empellon Taqueria, where we went, is one of their more formal (but still quite casual) restaurants in West Village. The restaurant opened 4 years ago and serves Mexican dishes focusing on tacos. We booked a table here for Friday dinner a few hours before coming here, and they could accommodate us (although it was an early dinner). The restaurant has a buzzing bar at the front and a restaurant that is equally buzzing at the back and by the end of our dinner the dining room was full and people seemed to be having loads of fun.

I frequently watch the TV show Food Junkies and during one of the episodes the cabbie Joey went to Cantina Laredo and gave it 10/10 (if people say I am an easy marker of my restaurants, they should look at him!). I love Mexican food and for years have been thinking that New York does it so much better than London, so I am very keen to find that Mexican restaurant in London that rivals the New York ones, so I was keen to try this 10/10 restaurant Cantina Laredo.

Casa Negra, a Mexican restaurant and a sister restaurant to La Bodega Negra, recently opened in Shoreditch on the premises where Great Eastern Dining Room (part of the E&O and Eight Over Eight group) used to be. I went there for lunch with my friend Paul, so I could not really feel the atmosphere fully, as only a few tables were taken for lunch, but I can see how this place with the Mexican food and drinks could be a great place in the evening with great atmosphere.

This place scores highly on so many levels … La Bodega Negra is a new restaurant in Soho (same owners as La Esquina in NY where the entrance is hidden behind a taco counter), and the entrance of this place is a sex shop (so you can’t see from outside that it is a restaurant at all, you need to know the address – 9 Old Compton Road and when you go there it is from the outside a sex shop advertising lap dances, etc…). Once you enter the restaurant (sex shop) and say you have a reservation for dinner people are very friendly and the waitress takes you downstairs to the main dining area, which is quite dark, plays funky music and has a great atmosphere (a bit like Hakassin in the city, has that cool vibe …). Now I usually don’t say anything about service, but here it was excellent, the waitress explained all the signature dishes and was genuine and nice and seemed very happy to help.