I won't be popping down to El Popo's again (El Popo Mexican Restaurant (Warsaw))

Member Name: Praskipark

Product:	El Popo Mexican Restaurant (Warsaw)
Date:	29/10/09 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good location in the city, colourful decor, professional waitresses

Disadvantages: Tasteless food

I can't believe it is eight weeks since I ate at this restaurant. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon in downtown Warsaw and the one time when 4 generations of my family were actually sat at the same table in a restaurant. It was my mother-in-law's treat to take us all out for Sunday lunch but as usual we couldn't decide where to go. Seeing that my son eats out more than I do we left the decision to him and El Popo was the restaurant he chose - a very colourful Mexican establishment situated at number 27 Senatorska Street. A very fine location, close to the Wielki Theatre and Bre Bank. This area is very popular with us as a family as my husband worked as a consultant with Bre Bank when he first moved over to Warsaw - a graceful white building that has been re-built in its original style when it was the Town Hall before it was blown up by German tanks. Now, the new building stands out from all the other regal buildings in the street and it can be seen from the terrace of El Popo's..

We met my son and his little family outside the restaurant and I could see that a wooden terrace was decked out with tables and chairs but nobody was sitting on them. I thought this was odd as it was a glorious day. Walking through the outside hallway of the restaurant was delightful as the building was very cool with stone floors, high ceilings and enormous terracotta pots lining the area filled with cacti. Before we entered the interior we had all made our minds up to sit outside so when the waitress approached us with a menu and asked us where we would like to sit we expressed our wishes. She immediately said, that it was too cold to sit outside and it wasn't the done thing. She then walked away and left us all in limbo. We assumed she was going to open the huge glass doors that led out on to the terrace.

In the meantime I studied the interior decor of the restaurant and I was very pleased as it was really vibrant with Mexican coloured pottery, terracotta tiles and the whole room had a light and airy feel to it. On the back wall was a huge mural depicting pictures of Aztec life. Crazy shapes and figures in colours of purple, pink, blue, green and red lit up the wall. The design of the bar was interesting and fun to look at - it was like something out of The Good, Bad and the Ugly and I was just waiting for Clint Eastwood to walk forth; dressed in poncho, hat precariously perched, cheroot in the corner of his mouth. Bar stools stood in a long row on the customer side of the bar - a great place to sit with a Margarita in hand while listening to zany Mexican music.

I forgot to mention the parrot - yes, a real one. Joey or whatever his name was, sat in a cage in the corner of the room squawking away. The colours of his feathers certainly were well co-ordinated with the rest of the decor. Nice touch.

Seating was of the wooden variety - long sofas with triangular, square and oval cushions; again in aztec designs giving the dining areas a soft, cosy atmosphere. There is another room for dining upstairs with a separate bar but the waitress had returned before we had chance to visit. We were at last allowed to go and sit outside! Regarding the other room I think this is mainly let out for big parties and special office functions.

Because we had my 3 month old granddaughter with us and she was in her pram we chose to walk along the decking to the very end of the terrace so that we wouldn't disturb other customers if she started to fidget or cry. I thought the terrace was simple and very pleasant - varnished wooden tables and chairs on a decked floor with flower boxes hanging on the railings and on the pavement below more tall vases with cacti. There were 6 members in our party and the little one but obviously she wasn't eating. The table was large and long enough to fit us all in with enough leg room and space if we needed to get out to go to the toilets or order an extra beer.

Within 5 minutes of sitting down a different waitress came with menus, a smile, a plate of tortillas and bowls of salsa. She asked us if we wanted to order any drinks which we did - we all had a large glass of Tyskie beer which was delicious, cold and much needed on a warm day.

Immediately we started tucking into the tortillas while looking at the menu. Some were floury and others were greasy but they were definitely home-made and not bad. The salsa that came in two very pretty blue bowls was definitely freshly-made but I thought a bit weak, watery and tasteless. It didn't have much of a bite to it so I was a bit disappointed but didn't comment as it was a treat from my Mum-in-law.

The menu was of the card variety and there seemed to be too many pages. To be honest, I couldn't concentrate as I was too busy playing with my granddaughter and admiring her pretty dress. Someone suggested perhaps it would be a good idea to order lots of different dishes so we could all try a bit of each others. Although, at one time I saw chilli con carne and I thought I might order that but then I thought that was a bit boring as I can make that myself.

So here comes a run down of the meals we ordered; nachos with guacamole - you can't really go wrong with nachos - crispy, just the right amount of spice and not too greasy. The avocado dip was fine - smooth and tasty. Full marks for both.

Queso fundido - we seemed to have a large proportion of these tortillas which worked out at about 3 each person. I didn't think these were that tasty - very bland and the melted cheese wasn't of a strong variety so all in all - rather boring although my son managed to chomp his way through the plateful.

Empanadas - same goes for this starter - far too bland for my taste buds. Corn dumplings were okay but the cheese again was too mild.

Quesadillas - this was my son's choice - each person had two tortillas fried with cheese and choice of fillings whether it be minced beef, cheese or chicken. I tasted one of the minced beef tortillas and this was tasty.

We also ordered a variety of appetisers for two people which was all the starters above only double the quantity. This might sound like a lot of starters but each starter was only small in size and two members of the party including myself are small eaters.

Although the starters looked attractive served on antique looking dishes with an added salad decoration, I wasn't too impressed. At this point of the meal I thought the food was dry and pretty tasteless.

Moving on to main meals - this is where I thought we would all be pleased and find the food tasty and filling. Was I correct? - let's take a look.

Chicken breasts served with a cream and red pepper sauce. Delicious. Chicken was smooth and tender and the sauce was creamy and piping hot.

Baked zucchini stuffed with baked vegetables. This dish looked very colourful and was served on a long white dish with a side portion of Mexican rice and salad. Vegetarians would find this dish enjoyable because there is no meat in it whatsoever and it was actually scrumptious and a nice balance of seasoning.

Avocado salad with shrimps. This was my daughter-in-law's choice but I think she was a bit disappointed because I shared the dish with her but we didn't actually find many prawns. What we did find were plump and juicy. The avocado was cubed and I thought was deliciously smooth to taste mixed in with red pepper, cucumber, onion and dressed with lime and lemon. This salad was served in a wooden bowl with wooden salad tongs - very nice.

Finally, the 'drunken pork chop.' This was my mother-in-law's choice. We all thought it was a strange name but it is called this because it is supposed to have been marinaded in tequilla the night before. The famous chop came served on a long antique dish with red beans and roasted vegetables. We had a couple of bowls of rice as extras to go with this to bulk the meal out. When the waitress sat the chop down we all looked at each other and gasped. It looked disgusting. We could hardly see the pork for the enormous wedge of undercooked fat on the top of the meat. I said, 'Surely, it can't be for real.' My initial reaction was to send it back and ask for another but I didn't want to rock the boat as it looks rude when somebody else is paying. We cut the fat off the meat and put it to on one side and then I cut slices of pork off the bone and shared it amongst us all. The meat was okay but it wasn't the tastiest pork I have eaten. It was stringy and if I'm honest not very tasty at all. They must have run out of tequilla the evening before because the meat just didn't taste of anything. Nil points fo the drunken pork chop although the roasted vegetables and beans were good.

A couple of other dishes we had to bulk out the order were cheese jalapinos and jalapinos stuffed with tuna. Both dishes very nice but small quantities.

After we had finished eating we considered desserts but having looked at the menu we weren't tempted so we had another beer and sat in the sun talking.

I think you know what I am going to say - I was extremely disappointed with the food. My husband thought it was pretty bad and my son and his wife thought it was okay but such small portions. My mother-in-law didn't say anything until in the evening at home and she asked me how many stars I would give it. I said 2 only - one for decor which was zany, colourful and interesting and the other for waitress service which was very good. Actually, I would give the girls full marks except for the grumpy one who wasn't going to let us sit outside. They all looked very smart and were professional and their language skills were impeccable.

Toilets are very prettily designed in a ranch style with wooden stable doors and pale purple walls. Very clean. Plenty of flowers, toiletries and old sepia photographs. Disabled persons will struggle with the toilets as there isn't enough space to manoeuvre in and out.

The bill came to just over 300 zloty which I know is only about £60 and I suppose I shouldn't complain as I wasn't paying and it is quite cheap but remember this is Warsaw and not London and most of the meals we had were starters and very small portions. I don't think I will visit El Popo's again although I did really love the design of the restaurant, music and ambiance. I am not an expert on Mexican food but I got the feeling that the chefs cooking these dishes were Poles and not Mexicans. This restaurant has a reputation of being one of the best in the city and the local rag rates it quite highly for its authenticity but I don't see how. The food is too bland and just not enough zip in it. As for the fatty pork - in retrospect we should have sent that meal back as it was absolutely awful. My marks - 4/10.

You can find El Popo's at; Ulica Senatorska 27.

Take trams 15, 18, 35, 36 to Plac Bankowy - restaurant is within walking distance from here.

Parking is not allowed outside the restaurant and to find a parking slot close by is difficult during busy times.

I can't really recommend the food at El Popo's but the location and decor are excellent so I will give the restaurant 2 stars.

Summary: A pretty restaurant shame about the food