The Best of London Salsa Classes, Salsa Clubs, Salsa Events in London & the UK
Founder of the Official Fan Club for Latin Music & London’s Carnival de Cuba

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Editor: 07979 280 283  editor@londonsalsascene.co.uk

www. London Salsa Scene. info Reviews the Best of the capital’s Latin & World Cuisine eateries.  To have your restaurant reviewed here, call us on: 020 8778 2215.

Eating Out: Pizza on the Park Review - Knightsbridge, SW1

The Many Faces of Alex Wilson

What’s the next best thing to having Alex Wilson playing live in your front room? Alex Wilson playing live at the Pizza on the Park at 11 Knightsbridge, SW1 so someone else does the cooking and washing up afterwards.

   Pizza on the Park has got a new zip since joining the Pizza Express stable last year. The place is hip, cool, intimate - and despite the swanky location - doesn’t come with a premium price tag.
   But it’s the music that’s the main attraction and on Saturday 6 May 06 the Alex Wilson quartet was the dish of the day. There’s live jazz every other night so the place pulls in a cool crowd of jazz lovers who listen like they’re in church.
   Unsurprisingly, the menu’s mainly your standard pizza, plus salads, steak and pasta and there’s a respectable wine list.     It’s all done well and the service is spot on. If the up-market location puts you off, think again; at £15.00 a head for tickets and anything from £20.00 pp for dinner including wine, this is a winner.

   Performing minus his R&B Latino Project, Alex Wilson is another surprise. You get behind the persona of flamboyant dance band leader and closer to the British jazz pianist’s musical heartland. This was an intimate, reflective Alex Wilson, serving up an exotic blend of Latin fusion cuisine plus jazz standards with a Latin twist.
   Drawing from his latest album, Aventuras, you get to hear Alex’s personal journey, a kind of musical orienteering around Latin American folkloric tradition with improvised jazz as a guide.
   To book: call 020 7235 5273 or visit www.pizzaonthepark.co.uk Alex Wilson & his Latino Project are at Salsa Live! at Hayling Island from Fri 26 May (see News for more) See www.alexwilson.net for more.
 photograph by: Mike Payne, words, Lee Knights, Ed

Colombian Restaurant: La Mazorca Review - SW9

High Street Bogota, SW9

La Mazorca, 384 Brixton Road, Brixton SW9
To book a table at La Mazorca: call 020 7274 1919
Visit: www.lamazorca.co.uk
La Mazorca is a little piece of High Street Bogota in the heart of Brixton, serving the kind of food you’d expect your Colombian mama to make.
   One of only two Colombian restaurants south of the river (minutes from Brixton tube and by Brixton Academy), this is a haven for home-sick Colombians (always a good sign) with a craving for real Creole cuisine.

   This isn’t just a restaurant; it’s a whole late night Latin American experience on your doorstep, with an authentic vibe, live folk music, infectious, hard core salsa and dancing ‘til around 3.30am.
   There’s nothing namby pamby about Colombian cuisine; it’s big, fresh wholesome and there’s lots of it. I went for sea bass and it came with veggies, rice and potatoes. Not only was the fish succulent and beautifully cooked, it was gi-normous – not like the stingy fillets you get at fancy eateries and pay an arm and a leg for. My veggie companion picked kidney bean stew, with avocado, corn bread, rice, potatoes and salad – he told me it was the best (not to mention the biggest) meal he’d had in any restaurant.
   There are plenty of New World wines to root through. We went for a Chilean chardonnay at £13 a bottle. For dessert, rice pudding for me and toffee with cheese for my mate.
   La Mazorca delivers proper, not messed about with food in heroic portions at a modest price – a two course blow out for two, with wine and coffee will set you back £40.00ish (and no need to raid the fridge when you get home). London Salsa in Brixton, Restaurant Review April 6. Pic: Miguel del Foto.

Eating Out: Restaurant Floridita Review - Soho

Cuba with Testosterone

Floridita is Cuba as God would have made it if He'd had a big budget. Located in the heart of London’s Soho at 100 Wardour Street, this is designer Cuba with knobs on.
   Floridita does dining, cocktails and late night clubbing with attitude and panache. Starters, wild boar and chorizio matambra (coarse pate to you mate) and warm spinach, red onion and feta tart delivered ballsy, peasant fare. For mains, my spit roast suckling pig arrived not messed about with, with in your face flavour. I thought my veggie friend’s mozzarella and aubergine quesadilla looked like a poncy cheese sarnie with a fancy name but my companion said it was “pleasant but a bit rich”.
   For dessert, my traditional baked lime and sultana cheesecake was plate-lickingly good while my friend’s crème caramel just melted in the mouth. We went the full Monty and downed a bottle of Georges Gardet Champagne (£40.00). Didn’t even touch the sides. Perfect.
   Floridita’s designer nosh comes at a price; for a special occasion, take a full canister of oxygen, dive deep into the wallet and spend £120 for three courses with Champers for two. With live music, late night dancing til the wee hours and some of the best service anywhere in London, this is old school dining with a sharp, modern twist. To book: 020 7314 4000 www.floriditalondon.com     photography by Mike Payne 07734 72 1983

Eating Out: TITO’s Peruvian Restaurant Review, SE1

HANDY ANDES

Tito’s, 4-6 London Bridge Street, SE1.
Reserve a table, call: 020 7407 7787. Step off the pavement at London Bridge Station into Tito’s Restaurant and nightclub, and you’ve got one of the capital’s unassuming finds.
  With the demise of Fina Estampa, Tito’s is now south London’s only authentic Peruvian restaurant (1 other in north London). It’s a charming, slightly shabby, Latin hide-out - chocka with Peruvians who come for some home-cooking.
   For starters, my Ceviche - raw cod in a zinging lemony sauce - was huge and succulent, hhhmm.  My veggie friend

chose hearty yuca rellana - cassava patty with cheese - left overs could be a useful alternative to cement for re-pointing your house.
   For mains, I was not so lucky - the subtle flavour of my king prawns was killed by a heavy chilli sauce. I regretted not picking a main from the hand written - and cheaper - menu for Peruvian diners.
   My compadre’s creole pumpkin with fried egg and plantain was a Latin version of a traditional English breakfast - again, very hearty and very generous.
   If you’re fed up with the familiar, Tito’s  offers a unique chance to try genuine Peruvian fare & good Chilean wine. Pisco sour (a Peruvian cocktail) is seriously good and on Fridays you can bop downstairs at the salsa nightclub.
pic: Miguel de Foto.

Eating Out - Cuban Restaurant Review - Waterloo

Join the Party at Cubana

Restaurant Review: Cubana
Address: 48 Lower Marsh London SE1 7RG
Tel: 020 7928 8778
Website: www.cubana.co.uk

 Posh Cubana ain’t. But it’s the Cuban creole nosh and cocktails, served cantina style, with salsa music (there’s live music some nights) that pulls in punters.
   Cubana serves mojitos laced with real Cuban rum, fresh lime and enough mint to make you worry about deforestation. Fresh fruit smoothies - made on the spot - are irresistible - ask Elder Sanchez (he likes the passion fruit version!)
   Signature dish pollo criollo is made with free-range chicken while, for veggies, there is tortilla with fresh fruit and rocket or chick pea stew. Starters are big on flavour and these get my vote.
   At the weekend, the place gets loud, raucous, for the under 35’s only. Cubana’s Cantina lunch offers are worth checking out - this is a useful watering hole serving healthy food that isn’t a rip off.

London Salsa in Waterloo, Restaurant Review. Picture: by Miguel del Foto

Restaurant Review - Las Iguanas - South Bank

Party On at Inviting Iguanas

Restaurant Review: Las Iguanas
Address: Unit 14, Festival Walk, Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Tel: 0207 620 1328
It’s a pain having to stop dancing to eat. It would be great if we could live off that stuff astronauts knock back in space but eating out can be fun too.
 Las Iguanas has an outgoing, extravert vibe, great for a night out with a crowd of friends or workmates or enjoy the buzz over an intimate one-2-one on London’s South Bank.
  There’s a huge Latin menu to choose from, everything from Argentinean grills to signature dish Ximxim (Brasilian lime chicken) plus plenty of chop watering stuff for vegetarians. My mate had Moqueca - a light Brasilian coconut curry with sweet potato. This is one time I didn’t feel sorry for him when his plate turned up.

Above: Latin grooves meet Latin grub at Las Iguanas. Photograph by: Miguel del Foto, copyright www.londonsalsascene.info Latin restaurant review Iguanas by London Salsa, Salsa Angel Thurs Nov 2 2006.

Restaurant Review: THE CUBAN, CAMDEN

Mojito Magic at the Cuban in Camden, NW1

Restaurant Review: The Cuban, Stables Market,
Chalk Farm Road, Camden, London NW1 8AH
Expect to pay: Dinner for 2 with 2 cocktails each and service: £70
To Book: 0870 850 8975 Website: www.thecuban.co.uk  
Happy Hour Mon - Thurs - 5pm - 8pm. Nearest tube: Camden Town
Branches - Clapham, The City, Canterbury Coming Soon - Tunbridge Wells & Bristol
FOR A JOLLY NIGHT OUT that combines Latin flava with some of the best bits of your local pub, try the Cuban, Stables Market, Chalk Farm Road, Camden NW1 8AH.
     While the distressed decor makes the Cuban look like a set from a Sergio Leone spagetti western, this place hits the spot when it comes to ambience and cocktails. On Saturday nights, Brit mateyness and Cuban flair rub shoulders to induce a vibe as relaxing as prescription drugs with a knock out party spirit.
     Cocktails are the big attraction. Cuban's take on the classic mojito is a mean, hard living, poncho toting, cigar chewing hombre that says "wot you looking at?" as you sink it. Meanwhile, the passion fruit and twisted  - infused with vanilla pods - mojitos are soft, subtle, yielding, the kind of cocktail you want a deep, meaningful relationship with, if only you could resist supping 'em. At around £7.00 a throw, these mount up quickly, but hey, how often do you find a good looking drink you can have an intelligent conversation with?
     Food is plain, honest, earthy, pub grub with a Cuban accent; There is salsa on Thursdays, a live Cuban Band on Fridays from 8pm & Sundays from 5pm, Resident DJ on Saturday, Latins behind the bar and at the tables. London Salsa Restaurant Review in Camden Special, April 13 2007

©London Salsa Scene is an online, independent magazine guide covering salsa and the Latin lifestyle in London and beyond. The views published  are not necessarily those of the Editor. All rights reserved. London Salsa Scene retains Copyright over all the articles and photographs published on this website - it is an infringement of that right to use this material elsewhere without our written permission. Disclaimer: London Salsa Scene publishes information on behalf of promoters, organisers, dancers and others in good faith but is not responsible if these events are cancelled, altered or if performers and instructors billed not not appear; this is exclusive liability and responsibility of the event organiser.

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