Unless you live in one of those new zillion pound high rises in that sketchy stretch of Albert Embankment (and if you do, well, congratulations) you probably haven’t noticed that we have a spanking new (well, only) Mexican food joint in our midst! The restaurant is called Frida’s, and is on the ground floor of one of those ghastlycharming towers. 

My colleague Laverne and your scribe dropped to Fridas the other day and what first strikes you is that it has fully embraced the ‘maximalist’ design trend of the moment. The flowery wallpaper, Frida Khalo banners, plants, Christmas lights are all charmingly bonkers and strangely comforting. Your scribe had the Cochinita porl pibil tacos, which featured a mound of tangy pulled pork topped with sour cream, pickled onions, and slaw. Your scribe had soft tacos but you can also have hard (corn). And like with all proper Mexican dishes, cheese does not feature prominently here. What does feature is Valentina sauce, which is on every table in Mexico.

Laverne had the chicken quesadillas, which did indeed have sprinklings of Mexican cheese but she found them to be a bit bland, so the Valentina sauce had to be deployed liberally. What totally hit the spot was their refried pinto beans. Packed with spring onion and chorizo, they were the great combination of chorizo smokiness and hearty smashed beans and some dense herbs. We would recommend this as a side, even if it looks a bit unpleasant. Frida’s  also has a massive bar so you just drop in for a margarita if you wish. The staff are all very friendly and are actually Mexican! Tick! 

Places like Frida’s need our support to stay afloat so do pop over and say hello. And given that most of the residents of those high rises probably have had their assets frozen, it means that they won’t be able to support the place themselves.