La Perla Bar

This is the perfect antidote to a grey, damp London day – a bright, happy Mexican restaurant where you can eat and drink very well at reasonable prices - and it remains so on those occasional days when the sun comes out in London.

For those with no experience at all of Mexican food a full description of the mouth watering Nachos Rancheros might be appropriate. These are corn chips covered with beans, melted cheese, ranchero sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and green onions, topped with guacamole, sour cream and olives and all for £5.95. For an extra £1.00 you can add chorizo, or smoked chicken. Get the picture?

Some of the starters can become main courses for a little extra and include quesadillas, £3.75-£4.95, guacamole £3.95 and albondigas which are home made Mexican meatballs in tomato sauce.

Salads cost £2.75–£6.95 and mains average about £11.00 including beef, chicken, vegetarian and smoked chilli swordfish fajitas served on sizzling hot platters. There is a Plattillos Exquisitos section offering, for example, the delights of burrito special and Quesada grandee for £8.50 on average.

La Perla offers happy drinking as well as happy eating. The house is very well known for its margaritas and there is a choice of some twenty tequilas and mescals. An important discovery is the excellent Mexican wine on an interesting wine list which shows loyalty to South America and Spain. House wine is a reasonable £9.95. There is a good selection of chilled Mexican beer and for those really intent on lingering over lunch or dinner there is a choice of forty liqueurs and premium tequilas.

Viva Zapata!