REVIEW: Masa and Mezcal

On Thursday 14th March, a new lively Mexican Cantina opened its doors to the public. Masa + Mezcal is located in Stokes Croft, Bristol and was born from their travels to Mexico 15 years ago. Since then they have travelled to and from to gain valuable knowledge and to make contact with artisanal producers.

We were lucky enough to book a table in time for opening night to try what they have to offer the people of Bristol. According to their Instagram they are now fully booked right up until Tuesday 19th! The building is ground level, with the hill escalating past the windows which gives it a hidden away feel. The bar area is modern and sleek and flows nicely in to the restaurant with varying sized tables and heights.

The team greeted us as we entered, checked the tablet for our table and led the way. Glasses and water already set out for us, the food menu and drinks menu were brought over. The food and drink is 100% gluten free and they have a separate vegan menu available. The waiter explained the sections of the menu and made excellent conversation. Everything we ordered was processed on a tablet so all very up to date!

Between us we tried;

• Smoked carlin peas, sour cream + mushroom salt taco
• Fried seasonal roots with lime salt
• Pulled Pork served with salsa, tacos and rice
• Tamarind Margarita

The dishes we had were authentic tasting, all so fresh, homemade and you could really taste each individual ingredient in the dish. It was all well presented and hot. My highlight though was the Tamarind Margarita; it was so smooth, drinkable and enjoyable. I may be slightly biased as I love tequila but this drink really reminded me of being on the beaches of Mexico!

The customer service was great, everyone was smiling and really enjoying the experience of the first night. We didn’t have one single person looking after us, they all worked as a team to attend to the table. If there were empty plates they would clear away. If someone else spotted we didn’t have the dessert menu then they went and got it. There was no confusion and it worked really smoothly, and I think putting the customers’ needs first works, rather than allocating tables to individual members of staff.

The whole experience was great! I would absolutely visit again and recommend it be a place to go in the city. You can really taste the passion they have for the food. What a great addition to Bristol’s diverse range of restaurants.

Click here to view their menu and to find out more...