¡Buen provecho! (Chiquito)

Member Name: bollinger28

Product:	Chiquito
Date:	26/05/08 (587 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loads of choice - good sized portions - lively atmosphere

Disadvantages: Food can be over-processed and bland - bit noisy for couples

Sometimes Mexican food makes a welcome change from the usual. It can be as hot and spicy as you like it, but there are plenty of milder choices if you don't like too much heat from your food. I'd been wanting to visit a Chiquito outlet for a while, and finally got my wish one rainy bank holiday afternoon earlier this month. For those that aren't familiar with the name, Chiquito are a chain of 50+ Mexican themed restaurants scattered throughout the UK, with their flagship restaurant based in London's Leicester Square.

Chiquito restaurants offer a huge menu of Mexican style cooking, with more than a nod towards a more universally appealing Tex-Mex menu. If you're not familiar with Tex-Mex cuisine, it's best described as a style cooking which originated in Texas (and the other south-western states), blending US food products with the culinary dishes of Mexico. For example, there's a high usage of beef, beans and melted cheese, not to mention lashings of barbecue type sauces, all served with maize or corn based products such as tortillas or tacos.

In addition to an extremely extensive menu, Chiquito outlets have a very lively atmosphere (punctuated by loud latino type music), and laid back, but efficient service.

~~~ DÉCOR & AMBIANCE ~~~
Chiquito outlets are done out to look a little like a traditional Mexican hacienda or Wild West style cantina. There are lots of rough hewn walls and dark wooden furniture, interspersed with brightly coloured wall hangings and pictures. There's a fair bit of booth seating, as well as many other wooden tables and chairs dotted about. Add in the Latino stylee music (I was singing "Mama Loves Mambo" in my head for days afterwards!) and this creates a very upbeat and lively venue. In fact, they often do special party nights offering Salsa lessons, or children's birthday parties.

If you're looking for a quiet lunch or dinner then Chiquito is definitely not the place for you. There's lots of to and fro-ing from the waiting staff and the music is more than a little loud. However, it's all very sociable and it's extremely family friendly. No one is going to throw their hands up in horror if you spill your drink or your child smears barbecue sauce all over themselves. It was all go there when we had a very late lunch at our local Chiquito (Port Solent, near Portsmouth in Hampshire) on Bank Holiday Monday. Even at 4.00pm the restaurant was 75% full, but the staff were all very unstressed and friendly. Despite recently having to deal with a small child locked in the lavatory, the manageress seated us with a smile.

~~~ MENU ~~~
The menu has all those classic Mexican favourites you'd expect it to have, with lots of Tex-Mex choices thrown in for good measure. The Chiquito trademark dish is the sizzling fajita, which comes with a variety of different fillings. It's basically flash fried meat served with sizzling vegetables, salsa, sour cream and cheese, all of which you stuff into a tortilla and then roll for ease of eating. Delicate it isn't - you need to roll your sleeves up and get stuck into this one. If you don't fancy getting your hands dirty, there are loads of other dishes to choose from like chilli con carne or omlettes. Then of course you've got your other Mexican classics like burritos (rolled and filled tortillas), tacos (crunchy filled corn shells), quesadillas (cheese flavoured tortillas), nachos (crispy tortilla chips with melted cheese) and enchiladas (tortillas with spicy chilli sauce), all of which I get mightily confused over as they're all quite samey but different if you get my drift (which is why I've included a brief description of each). In addition, to the Mexican accented dishes, you also have your more Tex-Mex fayre in the form of ribs, steaks, burgers, wraps and sandwiches. There's also a special children's menu (The Little Explorers' menu) which offers blander and less spicy options should they so wish.

The menus are massive and simply brimming with choice. They're well laid out and easy to follow, basically listing starters, main courses and additional items (garlic bread, salads etc;), as well as lighter bites like sandwiches and wraps. There's a nicely laid out wooden framed dessert card at each table/booth which also tempts you with some wicked sounding cocktails.

All in all, there is an H U G E amount of choice on offer (including a fair few vegetarian options). I'm not going to list the whole menu in my review as there is a downloadable one (with prices) at http://www.chiquito.co.uk.

~~~ STARTERS ~~~
There are plenty of appetisers on offer with more Mexican accented dishes being Magnificent Nachos (corn tortillas with a variety of toppings as well as cheese) or Chilli Poppers (jalapeno chillis stuffed with cream cheese and fried in breadcrumbs). If you don't like too much spice in your meal, they offer a milder and less exotic range from Tiger Prawn Cocktail, salads or garlic bread. Prices range from £3.95 to £4.95, with their platters to share starting at £7.95.

Despite being tempted by their Ultimate Combo Platters to share (Buffalo Wings, Loaded Potato Skins etc;), we decided to make do with some Tear 'n' Share Garlic Bread as our starter. It turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment, consisting of rather doughy white bread with a melted cheese top and a very brief passing acquaintance with a garlic clove. I really wish I'd tried something a little more exotic, but remained hopeful that our main courses would prove a little more tasty and authentic.

~~~ MAIN COURSES ~~~
There are a bewildering array of main courses on offer at Chiquito, and it will take you more than a brief five minutes to work your way through their menu before you make your final choice....and even then you may change your mind several times. It all sounds really rather tasty, and you'll certainly be spoiled for choice. You can choose from a vast range of burgers, salad bowls and sandwiches, or plump for the more expensive options like barbecue chicken or ribs, steak or a mixed grill. The Mexican options range from sizzling fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, burritos, wraps, paella or chilli con carne. Prices range from around the £7.95 mark up to £14.00 for a steak or £17.00 for the mixed grill.

Their Famous Sizzling Fajitas certainly looked (and sounded) very tempting. The couple at the next table barely had room for their drinks on the table top once their sizzling fajita platters were plonked down in front of them. However, I decided to plump for El Gringo's Chilli Con Carne, as it's a dish I love (and I rarely get to eat at home as himself hates kidney beans). The waiter assured me it was on the mild side of spicy, which greatly appealed to me as I like to be able to taste my food rather than having my palate blasted with red hot flames. The dish came served with tortilla chips, Mexican style rice and sour cream. The chilli con carne itself was very tasty, being rich but not overly spicy and with a good mince and kidney bean ratio. The tortilla chips were purporting to be handcut, but I can't see it somehow. They were, however, very crunchy if somewhat bland tasting. However, the Mexican style rice was extremely chewy and not very warm. It wasn't the fluffy and light rice you'd expect in a good restaurant, but had the consistency and texture rubber. I suspect it had been reheated in a microwave once too often already that day!

My partner opted for the non-Mexican dish of a Big Eat Bacon Cheese Burger. The burger itself and the surrounding filling were very tasty. However, the stodgy white roll it came with did it no favours whatsoever. It came served with fries and coleslaw; the fries were good, but the coleslaw disappointing - being factory processed mush that had probably lost its crunch sometime last week.

~~~ DESSERTS ~~~
We didn't stop for any puddings as we were rather full, and sadly, the dishes so far had proved to be somewhat disappointing. However, I must say that the dessert menu card (which is located on every table) looked very temping. The Fried Ice Cream (vanilla ice cream rolled in cinnamon and cornflakes, deep fried and served with honey and whipped cream) caught my eye, as it sounded rather unusual and different. So too, did the calorific Banana Taquito, which is a cinnamon dusted banana, deep fried within a tortilla and served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce. The Churros (mini doughnuts served with chocolate fudge sauce and maple syrup) sounded tempting too, if a little sickly! In addition, there are a variety of different cheesecakes, gateaux and sundaes on offer. Dessert prices range from £2.95 to £3.95, which I thought was rather reasonable.

~~~ DRINKS ~~~
Chiquito restaurants offer an extensive range of beverages, as you'd expect from a menu (and chain) of that size. There are quite a few different wines to choose from, mainly from the vineyards of Spain, California or South America. Spanish and Mexican beers such as Corona, Dos Equis and San Miguel feature quite heavily on the menu, but there are other better known brands on offer as well. However, I'd say that one of the major plus points Chiquito offers is their extensive range of cocktails. Tequila based ice cold Margaritas are a huge hit with their clientele, being sold in regular or giant sizes (or in a pitcher to share) and to a variety of different recipes. If you don't like Margaritas, you can opt for a prettier looking Tequila Sunrise or a Strawberry Daiquiri. Cocktails, of course, never come cheap and these will set you back £4.25 for an individual glass or a whopping £12.95 for a pitcher to share.

If you just want a coffee or tea, there are a full range of hot drinks on offer as well. You could top your meal off with a Caffe Sombrero (single shot of espresso topped up with cold milk and a shot of Kahlùa).

~~~ SERVICE ~~~
On the afternoon in question, the restaurant was about 75% full, but it was a rainy Bank Holiday afternoon. There were lots of families of all ages dining there, as well as several couples and larger groups of friends. Everyone seemed very happy and appeared to have been served quickly and efficiently by a large team of young (and very good looking) waiters and waitresses (who are all rather nicely dressed in black apart from some silly logos emblazoned on their T-shirts with their sex i.e. "Dangerous Desperado" or "Sassy Senorita"). Personally I think they'd look better in sombreros and ponchos, but it would probably contravene 922 different health and safety laws if they wore large hats and woolly cloaks in a catering environment!

Although the restaurant was busy, we waited no more than a minute to be seated. The drinks order was taken very promptly and they gave us plenty of time to peruse the menu. Once we'd placed our order the starter arrived very quickly and we did not wait all that long for our main course either. All in all the service was friendly, quick and efficient. The bill came quickly and promptly - another plus point in their favour. I hate hanging around waiting to pay in any restaurant, it drives me up the wall. Service is not included in the bill and is left at the discretion of the diner. The bill came to a rather reasonable £27.00, which I thought not too bad for a starter, two main courses and several drinks.

I did avail myself of the facilities, after quickly trying to remember my Spanish GCSE and the difference between damas and caballeros (it's a good job there were some pictures on the cloakroom doors too!). Although the facilities were clean, they seemed a little dated. There were chipped floor tiles and missing bits of grouting on the wall tiles. All in all, the rest rooms looked in need of a bit of an overhaul or at least a bit of TLC.

~~~ RECOMMENDATION ~~~
There really is a hell of a lot of choice on the menu at Chiquito, and you'd really struggle not to find something that would suit any palate. The prices are reasonable and the portions more than fair. However, the lyrical and flowery menu descriptions did not really match up with what was actually being served on our plates. In reality, the food was a bit of a let down, as on the whole it was rather bland and tired looking. Maybe we just choose rather badly from the menu that day, but we did come away thinking that the food was distinctly average and definitely not all that authentic. Their menu is a very European version of Mexican food - maybe it's been dumbed down to suit our more delicate sensibilities? If you're looking for authentic Mexican cuisine you'd be better off trying elsewhere. It's a bit like someone telling you that they speak fluent Spanish, and the reality is that they're speaking English and just adding an o or an a to the end of each word!

However, despite the rather lack lustre food, the Chiquito chain is still a reasonable venue to take the family out for a meal. The atmosphere is very lively and the service top-class. Just don't expect your meal to be anything all that special. A well rounded three stars because although the food is on the average side, Chiquito gain favour with their lively atmosphere and super service. Recommended ....if you're no major gourmand, and as they say in most Spanish speaking countries, bueno provecho.....enjoy your meal!

~~~ WEBSITE ~~~
Chiquito's website can be found at:- http://www.chiquito.co.uk. It's a nicely interactive site which tells you everything you need to know about the chain. All the current menus and prices are available for viewing. The website also has a venue locator so you can find your nearest restaurant by keying in your postcode. You can buy a pre-recorded latino themed CD such as they play in their restaurants, and there's also a Kids Zone with some downloadable screen savers.

~~~ OTHER STUFF ~~~
Chiquito outlets are open seven days a week and take all the major credit cards.

Monday to Saturday = 12.00pm to 11.00pm
Sunday = 12.00pm to 10.30pm

The Chiquito chain is operated by City Centre Restaurants (UK) Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Restaurant Group plc. The Restaurant Group is one of the largest independent restaurant groups in the country. The group has over 300 restaurants throughout the UK, with restaurants in high streets, retail parks and airports. The group also owns Frankie & Benny's, Garfunkel's, Blubeckers, Est Bar Est, as well as Chiquito. Websites can be found at www.trgplc.com or www.ccruk.com

The Restaurant Group plc
5-7 Marshalsea Road
London
SE1 1EP

Tel: 0845 612 5001
Fax: 0845 612 5011

Summary: Mexican / Tex-Mex style eaterie which is very family friendly