#Christmas time, mistletoe and wine, children singing, fajita time#, as the Cliff Richard song goes. Following St Cliff’s lead, we popped to Cockburn Street to visit Viva Mexico, a place where I have a vague recollection of drinking far too much tequila, many years ago.
Ceviche
Tonight, I was joined on the questing trail by Iain, Milo and Mel, all of whom have quested to various spots, over the course of our adventures. MJ was by this time back in the good ole US of A, spending time with her family, over the festive season.
The place is a split level operation, with ample seating provision offered across their floors and rooms. We were seated at a table one level below street, in a room that was full without being overly busy.
Fajitas
Menus offered a good range of starters, then a choice of main courses that focussed on singling out your meat/seafood/veg, then matching it with a serving style.
Milo went prawn and fajita, Mel went potato and chick pea and enchillada. I opened with ceviche, then followed with fish tacos, while Iain opted for their shredded beef quesada. Rather than watching me eat fish, solo, the folks decided to share an order of calamari.
Quesada grande
Starters arrived in good time, and I had firmly come out on the better end of the deal. While there was gentle appreciation of the squid, the depth of admiration was reserved for my fish, which looked tempting and profuse. The soft white fish was “cooked” in beautifully acidic fashion. It was rather more rustic than you might expect, as ceviche is often served in an elegantly minimalist way, but it pleased the whole table in no small measure.
When mains arrived, we had a range of envious looks to pass, as all dishes looked rather good. My three fish tacos kept their end up, well. The crisply crumbed fish, with softly fresh flesh, was beautifully good.
Fish tacos
Portions sizes were good, as everyone was crammed full, once we were done. We decided that dessert was worth contemplating, though.
From the selection, I felt compelled to help Milo out with his desire to find out what flan was. For those uninitiated, flan is the sweetest dessert in the history of the world, with a subtle blend of sugar and sugar to achieve a slegdehammer wallop of sugary sugariness.
Flan
Good coffees rounded out what had been a top evening.
Overall, I found Viva Mexico surprisingly good. The dishes we had were of better than good quality, with my dishes both being towards the very good end of the market. Accordingly, I’d say this place was a very good choice for those seeking culinary entertainment of the Mexican variety.
Scores
Blythe scores Viva Mexico
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3.5/5 for service
3.5/5 for setting
giving an overall 14/20
We ate: calamari, ceviche, potato and chick pea enchillas, king prawn fajitas, shredded beef quesada grande, fish tacos, flan especial.
We drank: red wine; white wine; water; coffees
We wore: roll neck sweater, not a backpack, blue duffle, pink shirt
Total bill: £91
