Anthea Gerrie channels Mexico City’s buzzy casual dining scene at El Pastor in the shadow of London’s Battersea Power Station
It’s hard to imagine being anywhere but London when dining in the shadow of Battersea Power Station, one of the capital’s greatest architectural icons. Yet within five minutes of entering the newest branch of El Pastor, I was back in the Mexico I love and know so well.
You can credit the properly made margarita – available if you order it made to your own recipe, in this case the one I learnt following my first addictive taste of the country’s national cocktail in Mexico City decades ago – and you can also credit the corn chips. For, to misquote a well-known supermarket commercial, “this corn is not just any corn, but El Pastor’s nixtamalised corn”.
Nixtamalisation is an ancient practice still harnessed in Mexico to improve heritage breeds of corn, the only kind they use at this restaurant which aims above all at authenticity, by washing it with lime(not the citrus variety, but a liquid extracted from limestone). So laborious, it was hard to believe this process was being practised in Borough Market, where I learnt the Mexicophiles who run El Pastor were opening a humble taqueria, following their decade running a nightclub in Mexico City.
Its success spawned a more elaborate Soho branch packed with all the colour and buzz of a large Mexico City dining hall, and now the newest extension of the empire is enriching London’s most engaging riverside dining scene.
A fabulous mural – huge wall paintings are as Mexican as nixtamalised corn – sets the scene for the more industrial decor intended for this branch, but there is plenty of greenery to soften it and vibrant colour in the menus and serveware. There’s a smallish bar as well as covers for 90 diners, but even at table the party doesn’t get going until the first margarita, mezcal or Mexican beer has been downed. Almost every table orders a dish of guacamole, a tad pricey at £9.75, but the recipe is authentic, and a more affordable vehicle for those home-made corn chips is the suite of five salsas for £5 with free refills.
Tastes you won’t find anywhere else in the UK, and which will leave a taste memory for months, include the pineapple and habanero version named for the Mayans who invented this hot and sweet taste sensation, and a really original combination of toasted pumpkin seeds with arbol chile, a variety rarely seen outside Mexico, and garlic.
Tacos are the usual continuation course, and great value, coming fully loaded with sides for £10-13; two orders would arguably serve three. But although only the whole sea bream marinated in two different salsas(£40) is listed as a homage to Contramar, a favourite Mexico City seafood haunt, its famous raw tuna tostada has also been appropriated – highly recommended with its garnish of chile de arbol, sesame and a soupçon of guacamole (£13).
The mains are so huge they should be considered a sharing platter for up to four, notably the Angus short rib(£43), dry-rubbed with chipotle, muscovado sugar and coriander seeds before being roasted till fork-tender, shredded at the table and served with pickled red onion, a family-size pack of warm corn tortillas to wrap the meat in and that addictive salsa la Maya.
The only side which is a must-try is the corn on the cob, grilled as on Mexican streets, and authentically served doused in cream and cheese – messy but so, so good. And just when you think there could be no other way to serve corn, it turns up as the best dessert on a short menu of sweets – roasted corn ice-cream, served with corn cake(£8.50) is one of the best finishes to a dinner you’re likely to encounter anywhere.
When it comes to drinks, be aware it costs an extra £5 to customise your margarita, regularly £12 for the house version, but you will not need more than two. Shots of the smokier, more blokey mezcal, intended to be drunk neat, start at £9.50, beers from £6. The only silly price on the menu is the £2 to “Mexicanise” your beer with the lime juice and salt hit which would come free in its home country, but you can forgive any restaurant which takes so much trouble with the corn which is its foundation and serves its chips free to all diners who order something authentically tongue-tingling to dip them in. Viva Mexico!
Tell Me More About Eating At El Pastor
El Pastor Circus Road West, Battersea Power Station, London SW11 8EZ
El Pastor is open noon-11pm
