Beauty, Brains, Bites & Being: La Bodega Negra, Soho

A new Mexican in town

The entrance to the restaurant downstairs is attached to a sex shop

London has a well-deserved reputation as being the centre of the food world. It’s arguable whether it has the best restaurants in the world, but it’s beyond doubt that it has the greatest range of different cuisines represented.

But there’s always been one exception: the lack of decent Mexican food.

Interior

La Bodega Negra which opened in Soho a couple of months ago, is a tale of two restaurants; both serve Mexican food but each has its own floor, entrance and style. At 16 Moor Street, you can enter into the more casual, diner-like cafe, which serves Mexican street food and fruity cocktails.

The Old Compton Street entrance (painted black and with a neon 'sex shop' sign, which doesn't really narrow it down very much in that part of the world) leads down into the dark, sleek basement where bigger and more expensive dishes are served.

We opted for the restaurant. The menu isn't that huge in the cafe; basically, you can have various forms of street food (tacos, quesadillas, etc) or, if you're in the mood for something meatier, there are steak, lamb and roast chicken options.

We started, at the recommendation of our waitress, with the Mexican equivalent of a bread basket, whilst we looked through the menu – tostadas with a side of guacamole (£5). The tostadas were crispy and crunchy and the guacamole was thick and creamy.

We also had a portion of the Camarones and Scallop ceviche, before sharing a really good dish of Grilled pork Belly, a Chicken Paillard and a Spiced Shrimp tostadita with a side of Heart of Palm salad and white beans. Yum...

The restaurant is really buzzy and full of pretty people everywhere you look. The music (mostly chart songs) is quite loud and the whole place feels cool. It’s dark and in every nook there’s something to look at, the restaurant design is really unique.