Mezcal

Pretty cheap and huge portions! I had the beef nachos which is technically a starter but if you just have it to yourself it’s so big I couldn’t also eat a main! The service was friendly but they were so busy they’d often forget to bring us our tap water which was annoying.

I really really wanted Mezcal to be good and I was so excited when it opened. Every neighbourhood should have a fun Mexican restaurant with tasty, reasonably priced food and a great cocktail menu so you can come and get well fed and joyfully hammered on a regular basis. Mezcal looks the part but the food is soooo disappointing and overpriced. There are so many great places on the Kingsland strip where you can eat for less than a tenner. Mezcal just doesn’t compete. The cheapest main at Mezcal is about £11 which is way too much for mediocre food that tastes like it was cooked in the microwave. The guacamole is great but everything else sucks. The cocktails are brilliant but they’re expensive and the service is slow. I really really want Mezcal to succeed. It needs to decide if it just wants to be a bar (the pisco sours are awesome) or whether it wants to be everybody’s favourite local Mexican. If it does it needs to sort the food out and cut those prices. Come on Mezcal! You can do it!

OK. I was so excited to come here. I dragged 5 of my friends and announced — IT IS MEXICAN TIME!
Little did I know, all i would receive is a table at the back in the ugliest most cramped area of the restaurant (pre booked and reserved up to a week earlier — yes i was that excited). But I let that slide, and hoped for the best.
We ordered drinks I was starting to get excited, then they gave us one drink too many which was only discovered after someone had a tiny sip. We immediately advised the staff that we did not order this — THEY REFUSED TO BELIEVE US AND ANNOUNCED WE HAD TO PAY ANYWAY BECAUSE WE HAD A SIP. i was so angry.
Then we ordered food, it came out fast, but the quality was not very nice. and we had to wait to eat it because WE HAD NO CUTLERY. Thats right they served us food and then took about 15 minutes to get all of us cutlery.
Just getting a waiter/​ess to come to the table was awful, because they would swiftly ignore us when we asked for help or drinks. they were so rude, for NO REASON.
At the end, they expected a service tip and got upset when we didnt want to give them one. THE SERVICE WAS CRAP. never go there, there are so many more mexican places that are about, I dont know, ten billion times better than here.
crappy food, HORRID service and just a bad time had by all.
I actually had to have a joint afterwards to settle down, no joke.
DONT GO THERE. or go there, but be prepared for shitsville.

Mezcal Cantina was a date night with the beau that loves mezcal and tequila, and it wasn’t too bad… Okay, saying it that way is not the right way to describe a restaurant. let me try again.
1. The drinks were alright, though took forever to come out from the bar, and we also never had any water like I requested.
2. The food was pretty good — I had the enchiladas mole. It was savory, and a fair portion size.
3. The service was questionable, since it took forever for things to come out, and we never had anyone stop by during the meal. I’ve grown accustomed to the slightly different standard of English table service, but it was still noticeable.
4. The location is good, if you’re in Dalston. Otherwise, it’s a trek. Luckily, we drove there, and it’s not too much of a walk from Dalston Junction overground.
5. It’s nice to find somewhere that really focuses on mezcal. It’s time to bring that great spirit to this great country.
So, like I said, it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, and there were things that definitely need improvement. Not a bad thing though — there’s plenty of improvement that works great for businesses, and Dalston has the general personality to be fresh and exciting and let things like this happen. In central London, it wouldn’t last long, but I can have hope for now.

I’m a big mexican food fan, I eat it all the time and am so obsessed my next holiday is in that amazing country… BUT this place is sooo bad! I have no idea why it’s always so busy or what food the people giving it thumbs up ate?
All I can surmise is the sole reason for this place existing is so the owners can get rich quick and then scarper. Why else would it be in Dalston? No where else could they get away with charging exorbitant prices for sub-​sub standard food.
Like Lauren F states below, a trip across the road to Nando’s would have been far more satisfying and economical.

Total accident arriving to this place but in the end I was happily surprised for the good grub for lunch on a sunday.
We ordered the varied taco plate which came with 5 tacos of different types. We didn’t want a veggie option and they were happy to oblige without a problem. The Horchata was aight, nothing special but barely passing.
I ordered the chicken quesadilla which was a starter for £4 and it was really really good. The chicken (can’t remember whether it was tinga or poblano) was tender and juicy and really flavorful with a hint of spice. perfect. It was accompanied with sour cream and salsa and I believe I ordered some guac on the side. The guac wasn’t all that, it was definetly salted and spiced down to meet more milder palates.
Lets get to the good stuff, the tacos were bomb. Very authentic pork and the chicken as I wrote above was really tasty.
As a main I felt compelled to try the Mole enchilada and it was unedible. just terrible .The chicken tasted like it was boiled in water and then just slapped in some tortillas that weren’t even fired up and the sauce was a bit chalky. Just terrible. I couldn’t even eat it and it was the most expensive thing I ordered at £11. total rip off.
Stick to tacos and quesadillas and you’ll have a splendid meal.

Nice small unpretentious Mexican restaurant on Kingsland road. They do a nice starter to share of guac, different salsa’s, refried beans and chips. All freshly made. Margarita’s are fab & the prices are reasonable.
Cocktails are 2 for 1 during the week (I think from 6pm — 7pm).

And an update, I received a compliment from the manager telling me how I was wrong. Well, at least he didn’t review it himself…