Do vivacious blondes, tanned playboys and Margaritas with a chilli rim sound up your street? The team behind Mayfair Mexican Peyote launched this fun little sister in July, so we headed to Notting Hill to discover if this summer opening has substance beneath that spicy surface gloss…
Words: Jennifer Sharp and Neil Simpson
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If you think Mexican food is mouth-searingly hot, cheap and a bit messy, you’ll be surprised by Peyotito. Tex-Mex clichés have been replaced by the modern haute-couture version of the cuisine found in smart areas of Mexico City. The talent here is Eduardo Garcia, whose Máximo Bistrot is among Latin America’s best restaurants.
Peyotito joins a cluster of fashionable restaurants in Notting Hill, currently trying to win back foodie credentials from east London. This place rocks with the confident crowd who set hipsters’ teeth on edge: vivacious blondes and tanned playboys.
The stylish industrial-chic interior has exposed brickwork, bare tabletops and a moulded concrete bar. The narrow frontage opens into a larger space at the rear with lush foliage and glassed-in roof. An eye-catching neon sculpture announces ‘Tequila is for the living, mescal is to wake the dead’. DJ decks hint at weekend party times and there’s a quirky semi-private dining room downstairs.
Start with cocktails, perhaps a Margarita, the salty rim enhanced by chilli and a small bottle of mescal on the side. There’s also a Mayan take on the Pisco Sour, Negronis made with Tequila and Hellfire bitters, and a short but well-priced international wine list.
The menu is short too and food comes in elegant sharing portions. Ceviches include succulent octopus a la Mexicana with homemade clamato juice, and the sensational blanco scallops with chilli, tomato and coconut.
Crisp fillets of sea bream arrive with a bright slick of salsa verde, fragrant but not overwhelming. There are also neat tacos, holding grilled fish with avocado, or lamb slow-braised to delicious richness. Charred baby chicken is enhanced by a complex sauce with hints of coffee, sesame, chilli and chocolate. To finish, desserts such as mascarpone cheesecake with cactus-fig compote are more familiar – a rarity at this singular establishment.
