We needed to eat early as we figured out the only way to see the Manet exhibition at the RA (expensive but very pleasant restaurant) without excessive crowds was to go there during late opening on Saturday night (it works but go there late e.g. after 9 pm). The exercise was to have a cheapish meal somewhere between Waterloo Bridge and Picadilly. I considered many options, but I chose Chiquito's as it has been fairly reliable in the past, but mostly I knew about weekday use. Even at 6 p.m. on a Saturday night, this place is heaving, and if you come at a regular meal time, you have to take a bleeper to the bar. In retrospect, I should have chosen somewhere quieter, but there was nothing that had capacity that I could think of, and in the event, we got in (no reservation possible on a Saturday night) almost immediately.
If you have not used this place, the concept is simple: a Mexican family restaurant and Bar. However, if you have ever been to Mexico, you will understand that the theme is symbolic only, and owes more to the Tex Mex cuisine of south-west USA, but Anglicized in taste and portion size. There is nothing Mexican about the food. The menu is pretty standard stuff, and the pricing is reasonable. Take a look on http://www.chiquito.co.uk/site/pdf/menus/Chiquito_Main_Menu.pdf.
The designers have done a good job here, and basically it be almost impossible to tessellate any additional tables in, making navigating through the upper floor where we were tricky at times if you were to miss the serving staff.
I had stuff I had had in the past,but time has caught up with this chain, and in keeping the price down, the quality and quantity has suffered. You used to get a plate of nachos and salsa dip on the table, which was almost enough to be a starter. This has now slipped and you get a dish of popcorn (I have not worked out the Mexican connection here)
For main course I chose a Fully Loaded Burrito:
Fully Loaded Burrito £10.95
Oven baked soft flour tortilla packed with Texan cheese sauce, black beans and melted cheese, topped with our signature tomato sauce, more cheese, sour cream, guacamole and salsa.
Choose your filling: Veggie five bean chilli V , beef chilli, spicy chicken or BBQ pulled pork
I have had this before, and its size had overwhelmed me. This latest edition is somewhat miniature and as you can see the word 'packed' is not used literally. It arrived cold in the middle (I assume these popular dishes come pre-chilled, and all the cooks do is shove them in a oven until the bell sounds). It was worth a 5 on the scale, and I decided to send it back. The return was done without question and with good grace, and someone else's burrito was rushed to me, this time at a 7.9 on the CHOF scale (almost hot enough and certainly palatable). The manager hovered over me until I had cut, tasted and approved. I had chosen the beef option (brave in the current times), but if it had not had the little flag attached, I would not have guessed as the beef content was drowned out by the black beans. Whilst tasty and spicy and ok in every way, it was a bit of a disappointment compared to previous (a bit too long ago) visits. My wife had the sizzling hot fajita, which in retrospect was a much better idea, as they are served on a sizzling iron platter, and you can see from the scorch marks on each table in the same location that this is the hot one. The moral of this is beware of oven baked dishes on a Saturday night in busy restaurants, and if hot is important, if the dish says sizzling, then it is likely to be so. I did not see anyone else reject their food, and it may have been because it was tourists (Pound at a current low against the dollar and Euro at the moment) and theater goers just wanting to shovel some grub down before the bigger night out.
The supervising staff were pretty nice to me, and I could not fault the service and politeness received. In fact when the bill came, they offered me a discount on the burrito which I was not expecting. I would not suggest that everyone tries this, but I maintain that hot food should be served hot, and when it is not, it should be rejected.
Would I go there again? Probably yes, but I would concentrate on the mains, and order something sizzling.
Note that the drink is slightly above average, and a large glass of house wine was £4.95.
Whilst they did not get top CHOF points, they get a big plus for service and reacting when there was a complaint, without tooth sucking or carping. Perhaps they know, or perhaps it is just simpler to keep the customer happy, which is good considering the huge demand to eat there in this prime location.
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