El Centro

LEGALVINCE

Saturday 11 October 2008 - Late Lunch - Opposite s 12th October 2008

0 found this helpful

I went to El Centro this saturday (11 October 2008) for a late lunch with a friend, she knew that place and recommended it. I must say that the decoration is really loud, but this is how it is supposed to be, the food is good and prices quite reasonnable.
I felt like I was actually having my (late) lunch with a very pretty girl sitting opposite to me on the other side of the room. I couldn't resist letting her know that I appreciated her (somehow distant) company and expressed my liking. Although my intention was not to get any phone number, had it been given to me, I would have used it maybe for a (less distant) lunch at El Centro, or alternatively for dinner date in Paris, France. This idea still remains open.
Vincent
(con tact would be : legalvince -at- aol -dot- com)

coldclimate

Quirky, funky Mexican fun 24th June 2007

2 found this helpful

Early afternoon Mexican food and cold drink - a guilty pleasure nobody should be without at some point in their life. The other thing you should definatly try at smme time is white sangria - a new one on me. Normally sangria is an excellent way for a bar to get rid of it's red plonk, and should be treated as such. White sangria on the other hand was very tasty, though I'm not sure what had been mixed with the white wine, possibly peach juice, or maybe white grape juice.

Anyway - the food. Mexican food is universally done badly in the Uk, but the USA seems to fair a little better (though I've not yet been to Mexico). Thick tortias pre-wrapped around "sizzling" chicken and with a pile of burned onions and peppers. This place was very different. The specials had a salmon and mashed potato burito on, which was excellnt aparently (I don't like mashed potato so ignored it). My chicken tacos had a velvet smooth mole with them, and some bitey sour cream and grated radish on top - an excellent combination I'd not thought of before. The other dish was my sweet potato and coconut soup, with had a beautiful texture, and was surprisingly sweet yet very tasty. I'll be having a go to make it once I get home.

The place certainly seems to be run by Mexican guys, and is decked out in (slightly over the top) glitter and, erm, tat. The table tops are glass covering a field of bottle tops, and the walls are covered in yellow peg board with is used to peg thosaunds of pressed tin foil decorations to the wall that are probably Day of the Dead decorations. The candeliers are made of Corona bottles, and outside hangs a huge cactus sign covered in broken green glass. It's fun, if a little shiny.

The other thing I tried whilst there was a Mexican Soda from a company called Jarritos. I asked for the hibiscus flavor (very exciting) but they had run out so I ended up having limone (a cross between lime and lemon), which was unbeleivably sweet, but very tasty. It washed down the taco perfectly.