Taco Frenzy at Cargo Cantina

It’s no secret that Wapping Wharf is knocking it out of the park with their food offerings. I have only tried a small number of them but everything I have had so far has been pretty special. So when Kym messaged me to tell me we had to go to Cargo Cantina, I sat up and listened. The brains behind Bravas set their sights on Mexico’s favourite snack, the taco.  The menu consists of five different types of taco, plus sides to go with them, and some specials. To make it simple everything here is gluten free. From the blue corn tacos to the chilli sauces. 

 

If you like tequila you are well provided for here, they offer up a variety of ones to sample and some cocktails for those who don’t want the mixers for their spirits to just be salt and lime. As with much of Wapping Wharf booking is not offered but Kym and I sauntered up in the rain with hope and a dream and we were welcomed in by two handsome angels just as two spots at the bar opened up. It was kismet, one might say.  As Kym had been here before I followed her lead. For £18 a head you can get all five of the regular tacos with all the sides and salsas, which is just as well because I enjoy a full sample of a menu.   

 

A tray of delights was brought to us shortly afterwards, blue corn tacos make for a moody insta food shot I can tell you.  Being able to build your own combination of taco means that every experience will be different but the food is nothing short of superb. One of my surprising favourites was the avocado and cactus the ancho chilli gave it a real warmness and was bursting with flavour. The slow cooked meat options of pork shoulder, pibil style and the rich ox tongue and cheek, braised overnight, melted in the mouth. The food is fresh, clean and moreish. The only filling that didn’t shine for me was the seafood mix of octopus and prawns. To me it could have had a bit more oomph, octopus can be sublime and I could have taken a smokier flavour. 

 

Cargo Cantina’s food excites and judging by the constant queues of an evening, the rest of Bristol agrees.  I can’t wait to return and sample some of their specials. Bare in mind you cannot book tables at Cargo, it’s small so is a turn up and see affair. With some great food options at Wapping Wharf you won’t go hungry if you can’t get a spot at your first choice, you should be able to find something just as good and a new favourite behind door number two. To see what Cargo Cantina has to offer visit their website.

Midweek Feasting at Wahaca

We were invited to Wahaca this week to sample their newly opened wares, Rich is here to tell you all about our visit...

Wahaca’s anticipated and well-publicized opening in Bristol was met somewhat cynically by myself. Having grown up with Mexican food, and tasted numerous bad examples of it in this country, with many of the worst offenders having gone out of business, and some desperately hanging on, and with Wahaca being a chain (albeit a respected one), I was fairly ambivalent about the whole deal. Reading the numerous good reviews it’s already received however raised my view on the restaurant, but I still went in with a good degree of caution.

The initial surprise when you go comes from seeing just how big the place is. From the outside it doesn’t give much away, as all you can really see is the bar area and a tiny portion of the dining space. It’s much larger than it looks, and they’ve used the space well, considering they’ve had to add a kitchen to what used to be a homeware shop.

Anyway, enough about all that, the food.

First up for us of course were some tortilla chips and guacamole. So far so standard you may think. And this is exactly what I thought. But I was pleasantly surprised here. Most places that do ‘chips n dip’ do so very basically, very ‘economically’, and are very often obviously shop bought, and of poor quality. Most guacamoles commercially available for instance hardly even have any avocado in them at all. So I was impressed with Wahaca. The chips were obviously made in house, and the guacamole was both nicely fresh and full of flavour, but also had decent chunks of avocado, rather than it just being a pureed creamy green mayonnaise.

Chipotle chicken quesadillas were the first of our main dishes to arrive, and it too ticked all the right boxes. The chicken was tender and perfectly smokey and spiced with the chipotle, but not overly so, so as not to risk overpowering the meat, and there was enough cheese to add flavour and a nice texture, without it smothering everything.

The sweet potato chips side was good too, with each piece being the right size so that it had a nicely crisp yet chewy skin, but still enough of the distinctive sweet potato flavour. Our other side, the coleslaw, was by comparison fairly unexciting. But it would be – it’s coleslaw. That undersells it though, as it was cool, crisp, had a light tang to it, and with the just right hint of creaminess (no-one wants watery creamy coleslaw).

Advertised as a main dish, the fish tacos were served as three slightly larger corn tortillas filled with fresh pickled vegetables, chipotle mayo and panko bread-crumb covered fish. The mayonnaise really complimented the fish and the portion of goujons was generous. It managed to be both generously sized and a great tasting dish. 

fish tacos

Another smaller dish from the street menu was the more fusion sounding, bound to have the authentic cuisine zealots up in arms, salmon sashimi tostada - one of Abby’s highlights. Two crispy corn tortillas with good size portions of salmon, enhanced with a creamy avocado and chipotle, and topped by a garnish of crispy onions. This was fresh and surprisingly moreish, definitely one to order on a return visit.

salmon sashimi tostada

My pork pibil tacos worked brilliantly too. The pork was flavour-some and moist (dry pork is even worse than a creamy colesaw) and had the perfect accompaniment of pickled pink onion. Apart for looking really rather nice, they add a nice sweet and sour hit that really raises the dish.

pork pibil

I’d chosen chicken caesar taquitos as my third small main – though I confess partly out of suspicion. Chicken taquitos, yes fine, no problem, but chicken caesar? Sounds like a wrong mix. But it worked. The taquito itself was properly crisp and the Caesar flavoured chicken really did go well with it, and the salad that it comes with. Best of all, the taquito was nice and dry, there wasn’t any grease running out of it, or dropping off and congealing on the plate.

chicken caesar taquitos

Now, the thing I was really looking forward to was dessert. Wahaca do churros. And I love churros. Rather annoyingly though, finding good churros tends to be quite difficult. Not a lot of places do them, and many that do have a habit of making them soggy, greasy lumps. Wahaca’s churros then made me very happy, coming both as a decent sized portion and nicely crisp with a decent smattering of cinnamon and sugar. We had two dips as well – the standard dark chocolate and the more exciting salted caramel. 

In truth, the dark chocolate, though the right consistency, was perhaps just a little too bitter for me. Not bad but personally not my flavour. The salted caramel however was just fantastic. The phrase ‘deliciously sinful’ may well have been created just for this, and I found myself having smaller bites of the churros, just to get more dipping in. If you have to choose between the two dips, there really is no contest. Salted caramel all the way.

honeycomb chocolate bites

churros with salted caramel dip

One funny thing with Wahaca is the perceived portion size. You order a few things and it may not look a huge amount, but they are packed with food, and also are incredibly filling. We perhaps under-estimated exactly what we were getting, and finishing the desserts was a mission. Luckily I wasn’t going to waste anything that delicious, so you’ll be pleased to hear there was zero wasteage. But we were both pretty full afterwards.

Food then, is very good, and is an excellent addition to the array of casual dining eat-out options in town. It’s a slick operation too, with plenty of staff, in both the kitchen, and out and about in the restaurant. All of the staff seem to be very well-trained, knowledgeable and friendly, and all appear to have their own genuine opinions on their favourites. We were lucky enough to briefly meet Wahaca co-founder Thomasina Miers too, which though nice in itself, also highlights something else as well. Despite it being a chain, she is making sure she is involved, and is actually being hands-on, unlike other chain venues, and specifically other celebrity chef owned restaurants, where a place is opened and the name is just stuck on there – no names mentioned.

I’d happily go there again.

Although we were invited as guests of Wahaca this did not impact our opinion of the food. To learn more about Wahaca visit their website.

Friday Night Feasting at Viva La Mexicana

Last weekend was a weekend of eating. It started on Friday evening with a trip to Viva La Mexicana on East Street in Bedminster. Jamie and Boz had kindly bought me a Groupon deal for my birthday so we both had one and could visit together. It was a freezing evening but we managed to find a parking space outside the Wetherspoons round the corner. Bristol doesn't really have much in the way of Mexican restaurants which is a shame as they are definitely one of my favourite cuisines so I was looking forward to trying Viva as I had heard many good things. 

Viva La Mexicana stresses very strongly at the front of their menu that they are Mex-Mex not Tex-Mex so don't visit expecting burritos, chimichangas, fajitas or even sour cream these are not true Mexican dishes. There are plenty of tantalising menu choices to be had, the names may be unfamiliar but the ingredients won't be. Our deal was a cocktail, corn chips and dips and something from the street food menu. We added a bowl of guacamole and some more corn chips to our order and waited for them to arrive. For my main I chose the flautas, fried corn tacos filled with pulled chicken with lettuce, green salsa, cheese and cream accompanied by rice and refried beans. Rich went for the panuchos, two corn tortillas topped with refried beans, chicken, salad, cheese and guacamole.

mixed dips, cheese and olives

big bowl of guacamole

My oh my, forget what you know about chips and dips. These little unassuming pots were packed full of flavour, one was smoky roasted pepper and the other a zingy jalepeno dip. The guacamole was the best I have ever had, I would have eaten bowls and bowls of it, plus you definitely know the difference when you have freshly made corn chips.

flautas

Three crispy tacos with refried beans and rice accompaniments were brought to me, stuffed with juicy chicken. Delicious. The crispy crunch of the fried corn tortillas contrasted nicely with the soft toppings. Plus the refried beans were just heavenly, melt in the mouth and seasoned perfectly. We just about had room to order some bunuelos to share, light wheat pastries smothered in honey.

bunuelos

If you have thought about going to Viva la Mexicana please do you won't regret it. These guys know what they are talking about when it comes to Mexican food. The service is welcoming and homely and the flavours are wonderful. They do a great set lunch deal on Saturdays, two courses for £7.50. I personally cannot wait for my next visit. To find out more about Viva la Mexicana visit their website.

Refuelling at Mission Burrito

It had been a long time since our last Mission Burrito visit and it seemed the best place to pop in for a bit of post cinema munching. Mexican food is definitely one of my favourites, and it is great to see Bristol now has two central places in which to get a burrito or taco fix quickly.

Mission Burrito, for me at least, pips My Burrito to the post, in taste and construction.  This time round I went for the steak burrito, steak cooked in chipotle, my favourite chilli, sauce and gently roasted. Rich went for a carnitas burrito, slow cooked pork seasoned with thyme and orange zest then cooked for hours very slowly. We always go for pinto beans over black beans because they cook them in pancetta and onions which really add an extra something to the whole of the burrito.

What is really great is that they are very generous with the portions in Mission Burrito and they wrap them so tightly that there is no danger of escaping items or leaking all over your hands that I experienced in My Burrito. Having said that the chicken in My Burrito is superior than the shredded option at Mission Burrito. We also chose a luridly coloured Jarritos soft drink to go with our meal, which actually tasted better than it looked.

Steak Burrito

Carnitas Burrito with Cholula and Jarritos

These are some tasty and weighty burritos, there is no excess liquid and the flavours really come together I chose the salsa verde to go on mine which was meant to be medium but there was no heat that I noticed but the flavour was good. To add some spice I used some of the Cholula hot sauces they have dotted around the place, they also sell these at the counter. Now there are four types of Cholula hot sauces available that I am aware of. I already buy the chipotle one for cooking with, really zings up fajitas and chilli without being too hot. I order mine online but you can also get them in Asda Bedminster, if you aren't a fan of super hot but still want a little kick this is a great sauce range to go for. I tried the hot garlic one at Mission Burrito and that was another winner, may add it my next chipotle order.

Carnitas Burrito

So looking for your next Mexican hit? Check out Mission Burrito, mind you their Park Street location would be hard to miss. Check out Mission Burrito's website for a full menu. You can compare and contrast Mission Burrito with My Burrito by checking our review here. Next week hopefully will include some lovely Eurovision snacks and a curry review.

Lunching at My Burrito

Mexican food definitely ranks as one of my favourite cuisines, so when two burrito venues opened within weeks of each other last year I was there like a shot. Mission Burrito on Park St but I followed up a visit to My Burrito, opposite the Hippodrome, a month or so after that. I kept returning to Mission Burrito but I thought Friday it was finally time to pay my second visit to My Burrito.

A gorgeously sunny day in Bristol greeted me on the way down to Mexican flavoured lunch joy, the first few sunny days of the year always brings smiles to people's faces, and it added that extra spring to my step. It was fairly quiet when I arrived which meant I could get to building my burrito right away. I went for a chicken burrito with pinto beans, smoky salsa, salad, cheese and sour cream. The chicken and the roasted vegetables are grilled fresh on the hot coal griddles behind the counter which filled the room with a lovely barbecue scent.

I sat in the little seating area which is made up of some mismatched sofas, tables and chairs and the strong sunshine filled the back of the restaurant and it was refreshingly light and Spring like as I sat down to eat. The burrito itself was very heavy and well filled, it was going to be a challenge to finish it, but I was up for tackling the task.

The taste was good on the whole, I definitely would recommend the chicken, the chunks work better than Mission Burrito's shredded chicken and was well flavoured. However the burrito itself was quite wet inside, more than it should have been, which made it fall apart quite quickly and very messy to eat. The pinto beans were tasty though and the salsa smokiness came through. There was no flavour coming from the cheese at all which makes me believe it is either very mild or there was just not enough of it, and a bit too much sour cream which threatened to over power the whole burrito.

These are fairly minor quibbles however and I would recommend My Burrito to those looking for something fresh and different for lunch, they fill you up without having that heavy feeling in the stomach, you know when your eyes take over stomach size. I do personally prefer Mission Burrito's burritos but I shall review them at a later date so will keep my comments on the comparison to a minimum, for now.

To browse for your lunch burrito choice visit the My Burrito website.