Review: Viva Mexico

So way back when life was a bit less busy, the first of many weekends away was when we went to Edinburgh for Nik's birthday in April.  I've already talked about our amazing dining experience at Kitchin on Friday but we also went out for Mexican on the Saturday night.  On the recommendation of Kirsty, we went to Viva Mexico on Cockburn Street which was just a short walk from our hotel.  Thank you Kirsty - it was amazing!!  

We hadn't made a reservation but didn't have to wait too long to be seated downstairs in the vibrantly decorated basement area.  There were Mexican pictures and memorabilia strung everywhere with bright painted walls in yellow and blue.  It was a great atmosphere with everyone tucking into what looked like delicious authentic Mexican food.

The blue wall is behind me!

We started off our night with a yummy Daiquiri (£4.95) each, Nik went for strawberry and I had Mango, they were nice but not what I expected as the blended fruit was just mixed with the ice and rum rather than all being blended together as I have had before and a little disappointing in flavour.  I have to admit, initially the service wasn't great and we had to wait a very long time for our drinks to come and to order our food.  After that though, and once we had our 2nd server, things improved and the food came quickly.

For starters we chose Nachos(£3.75) and Ceviche (£5.75).  Nik thoroughly enjoyed his Nachos and my Ceviche was more delicious than I'd hoped and a huge portion with big chunks of fish!

 We then decided to go for a jug of sangria (£15) with our main courses and I'm so glad we did as it was super tasty and refreshing!

 We did have a slight issue with our first waiter not understanding everything we said or asked for and another waitress had to come and confirm what we'd asked for.  I had also asked our first waiter if I could have the toasted sesame seeds (which came on a special version of Enchiladas which contained nuts so wasn't an option for me) on top of my normal pork enchilada (£11.95) instead and was told no, it wasn't possible.  Given that it's just a case of sprinkling the seeds on top I couldn't see why that would be so asked the waitress when she came over and she said that would be no problem at all.  I was glad I did as I love sesame seeds and it added a nice extra touch to my meal with the added flavour and crunch!

Slow roast pork enchiladas with added sesame seeds!

The mains were served with Mexican rice and refried beans which although they don't look appetising, are something that I do really love and the added cheese on top was perfect!  The pork was so tender and juicy, I had to have a break in the middle to make it last longer as I was enjoying it so much!!

Nik ordered Chicken Fajitas (£13.50) which he thoroughly enjoyed and had huge amount of big chunks of chicken to fill his tortillas.  The home-made salsa was also a nice addition every table is served with and has a good kick to it while still being tasty.

Unfortunately we were too stuffed for pudding which is probably just as well considering the amount of eating that was going on that weekend, especially since I'm trying to lose weight and be healthy.

All in all, it was a very pleasant experience with fantastic food and we would definitely go back for more!  We did think the prices were a bit steep compared to what we've experienced of Mexican restaurants before but I would say it was worth it as they were definitely the best Mexican dishes we've had, plus it's Edinburgh, just off the Royal Mile so prices do tend to be a bit inflated.