Los Mochis is full of juxtapositions, in a good way. We’re in plush Notting Hill, but the exterior of the building is covered in graffiti-influenced art. Fine dining is married with street food. Japanese and Mexican flavours jostle. But, both atmosphere and experience delivered. My dining comrade and I enjoyed the fun vibes outdoors in the late summer sun, but Los Mochis apparently comes truly alive in the evenings. Think dark interiors, cool cocktails and a soundtrack to match.
Tokyo may be 11,000km, or a 12-hour flight from Mexico City, but there is overlap in their approaches to cuisine. The two countries, separated by the Pacific, share a common love for freshness of ingredients, judicious spice, colour, vibrance and delicacy. Add in a bit of 21st Century London zeitgeist and diners have a winning (plus Insta-friendly) combination on their hands. Even at lunchtime, Los Mochis – Mexican for sea turtles, which feature as part of the artwork – was pleasingly busy.
The menu at Los Mochis is extensive and potentially daunting, especially for a venue-newbie who would have liked to try everything. There are sections offering snacks, small dishes, raw food, salads, sushi and tacos. One potential option is the tasting menu, priced at a very reasonable £95 for ten (albeit small) items. Luckily your reviewer’s dining comrade was an old hand at Los Mochis and so we dived straight in with the venue’s guacamole while considering what else to order. Everyone, surely, knows how to crush up some avocado, mix it with extras and pair it with tortilla chips? Yes, but the Los Mochis iteration was among the best recently sampled. On reflection, it was the thrusts of lime zest balanced by delicate chilli heat that kept returning, time and again. Simple, yet so effective, even if the margin for the venue must have been significant. £9.50 buys you far more avocadoes than went into this dish.
There was a similar subtle overlap and interplay of flavours and textures across the other plates we sampled. Standout, perhaps, were the ‘bang bang’ cauliflower tacos. A review of the menu shows that some of the famous Los Mochis guacamole also appears in this dish, but it was the crunch combined with the subtle yet thorough lacing of smoked paprika that really made it. Beyond just vegetables (both members of our party are omnivores), Los Mochis has an impressive and extensive range of meat and fish options. Crab was cool, but there is ‘dynamite’ prawn and the ubiquitous black cod too. Equally, ‘trailer park’ chicken deserves a look. The culinary team here are clearly having fun.
Word to the wise: save room for dessert. Tipped off by my dining comrade, we both indulged in a ball of wasabi ice cream, a culinary masterpiece of sweet and savoury, with a lingering tingle. All the above was paired with a beautiful white wine blend from the Alto Adige region of Italy, chosen from a thoughtful (if not always cheap) wine list. There’s much fun to be had at Los Mochis. Return visit recommended.