Mexico City is pretty much the hottest city in the world right now. But transatlantic flights aren’t cheap, so save your money and visit one of the many extremely capable Mexican restaurants in London, of which Shoreditch’s uber sleek Zapote is the latest.
Fifteen years ago, it was nigh-on impossible to get a decent Mexican meal in this city – you’d make do with some overly cheesy enchiladas at La Perla in Covent Garden and be happy about it. Now we’re basically drowning in barbacoa and carne asada, from the classy Kol, El Pastor and Breddos Tacos to the 10 London branches of the omnipresent Wahaca, as well as Sonora Taqueria’s first proper restaurant after graduating from the street food trenches, and all the many tostada slingers in between.
A beef tartare taco with roasted bone marrow was smoky, fresh and impossibly butch; like St John on a vacay to Tulum.
Zapote sits in the massive shell of the short-lived but much-vaunted St Leonards, its smooth concrete floor feeling like a very classy car park or an industrial sized roller rink. It’s just around the corner from another Mexican joint, the rather more casual Santo Remedio, and on an early weekend evening quickly fills up with big groups of colleagues and pals picking over a menu packed with punchy meat and elegant seafood dishes. They come from the mind of Yahir Gonzalez, who after a decade has jumped from the Spanish kitchen at Regent Street’s flash Aqua Nueva to cook the cuisine of his native Mexico.
It’s something he does extremely well. An off-menu special of duck quesadillas with a gooey smoked chipotle jelly announced we were in for a highly flavourful ride, while a scallop ceviche hosted the most beautiful bivalves we’ve seen all year. A deeply sensory plate, the scallops are left almost whole, big, fleshy things placed neatly in a blood orange and kumquat ooze and studded with slithers of chilli – though some foamy batons of jicama can be ignored, adding to the visual impact of the dish, but little to the taste.
It goes on. A £8 beef tartare taco with roasted bone marrow was smoky, fresh and impossibly butch; like St John on a vacay to Tulum. A £10 plate of five crispy baby artichokes scattered with panko breadcrumbs were perfectly bite sized (if your mouth is as massive as mine) and came swimming in a smooth, pumpkin seed pipian verde. A tempting curl of charred octopus was the priciest dish on offer at £26, but came complete with crispy suckers like a gothic reimagining of The Little Mermaid. It also came with the same pipian verde, which we’re not sure was so great as to warrant two servings, but I am never not going to order octopus when I see it on a menu.
The ‘save room for dessert’ trope is total a cliche, but at Zapote you would be a fool not to. A pistachio doughnut with morello cherry jam has all of the crisp and comforting dough of a seaside treat, tasting like it’s fresh off the beachfront doughnut machine in Margate but without the threat of bumping into a member of The Libertines while you consume it.
Mexican food might still be London’s most unstoppable restaurant trend, but the nuanced Zapote is a more than welcome addition to the pack.
The vibe Understated class in the busy Shoreditch dining district.
The food Mexican classics with super special ingredients; scallops, suckling pig, bone marrow and octopus.
The drink Signature cocktails come heavy on the Casamigos. The Zapote 70 is a tequila, mezcal, orgeat and lemon masterpiece.
Time Out tip There's a streetside terrace for sunny evenings. And a massive mezcal menu for all other times.