A FESTIVE FIESTA AT CHIQUITO

on our last day in london before heading off on our christmas bobs, bex and i headed into the centre of hell for a little pre-holiday mexican fiesta at chiquito. why anyone other than us needed or wanted to be in central london that close to christmas, i'll never know, but once we were inside the restaurant and sat in our cosy booth, we literally could have been anyone. it was lunch time in london, yet we basically had the whole place to ourselves. so far, so good.

we started with a plate of super nachos (£3.50) with jalapenos, sour cream, a heavy dose of guacamole, fresh chillies and one metric ton of cheese. yes gawwwd. if anything, there just weren't enough tortilla chips to mop all the tasties up with, but we had our festive cocktails - a 'gingerbread soda' with homemade cream soda ginger beer, cloudy apple juice, vanilla syrup and vodka, and a 'glitterball' with elderflower liqueur, raspberry puree, prosecco and edible glitter (both £5.95), to wash the remainder down with instead. *hic*

while sipping our drinks, we ordered. i was starving, and basically picked out the first items my eyes landed on. i started with peri peri prawns, and finished up with the hero burger (£13.75) with sweet potato wedges on the side. the burger was insane; beef, pulled pork, and chorizo, plus monteray cheese, red peppers, bbq sauce and chipotle mayo, all on a brioche bun. it was a lot, and i struggled to even cut through it, so knew eating it would be a chore. to combat a mess, i went in with knife and fork instead, and wouldn't you know it, still managed to slop it everywhere. classic me, but my god, the meat combo was incredible! the potato wedges were really sad though; soggy and limp, and nothing like the crispy sides i expected, so was grateful for the extra skin-on fries that made their way to our table as well. saviour!

the peri peri prawns (£6.95) were supposed to be king prawns in a tomato and citrus sauce served with tortilla chips on the side, but again, there wasn't enough of either. i mean, there was plenty of sauce, just not a lot of anything else. i had maybe three prawns, and bex had no more than me, and they were definitely not "king" prawns. the sauce was super spicy, and i was gutted there wasn't more chips to go 'round, as i would have happily mopped up the sauce despite the lack of prawns. that was a taste sensation!

full to the brim, but not wanting to desert without dessert, we typically chose to finish up with some churros. the chocolate, hazelnut and salted caramel sauce had a festive twist about it, which was a delicious blessing, because there wasn't enough powdered sugar on the actual churros! not that we needed it, of course, but i just do like my churros sugary. and because clearly, i can't be pleased. to be fair, it was both of our first time at chiquito, so we didn't know what to expect. i knew it was a chain, but i'm a tried-and-tested wahaca gal, so it was about time i gave it a go.

the menu is sooooo varied. there's a whole 'nother menu for just lunch, or just brunch, and even just breakfast. there are non-holiday cocktails, and tequila, and smoothies, and - well, you name it, the mexican cantina has it. and, it's reasonably priced for london. we probably overindulged a little, but tis the season, after all! speaking of which, they're offering upto 50% off meals on new years eve, so i might just have to head back and try one of their incredible-looking flatbreads.

have you been to chiquito before; what's your favourite dish?

*we were guests of the restaurant, but all words are my own*