Review: Launch of Ixchel Mexican restaurant in Chelsea
Review: Launch of Ixchel Mexican restaurant in Chelsea
A brand new south eastern Mexican restaurant and Tequila bar set across two floors.
By Tara Robinson
This month sees the launch of Ixchel, the hotly anticipated new Mexican restaurant on Kings Road in Chelsea.
The menu is designed by Mexican born Head Chef, Ximena Gayosso Gonzalez, and consists of an all-day tapas style offering, boasting a diverse range of intoxicating flavours and aromas. Chef Gonzalez has previously worked at the incredibly popular Michelin star restaurant, Brat, in Shoreditch, Mexican restaurant Ella Canta in Mayfair, Dulce Patria in Mexico City under renowned Chef Martha Ortiz and most recently Madera at Treehouse London.
The launch party was a fun and fabulous event, replete with cocktails, canapes and traditional Mexican performances. The restaurant is stylishly decorated with deep burgundies, alcoves filled with hand-woven art, and plush sofas, excellently located just four minutes from Sloane Square Station. The décor is chic and luxurious, the star of which being a mural by Mexican artist Rafael Uriegas, which blends Mexican mythology with contemporary Mexican art.
The menu is an expertly curated feast, from small plates of hand-dived scallops aguachile and crab macha tostada, to sautéed prawn flour quesadillas and pork belly tacos. The large plates – called Platos Fuertes – include an achiote charcoal crispy chicken thigh and a 28-day aged Hereford ribeye with chilmole sauce.
This all pairs with a drinks menu from a bar which contains one of the largest collections of agave spirits in Europe. There’s a choice between seven kinds of margaritas, eight house cocktails – including a delicious Paloma volcan blanco with Cointreau and three cents grapefruit soda – and five Tequila & Mescal flights.
The restaurant officially opens on 22 November.
