Topolobamba

Despite being a *gasp* CHAIN restaurant, I’ve decided to give my favourite Mexican eatery some air time due to the fact that one, it has only a mere 3 branches in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, meaning it is so far immune to the mass-produced artificial taste large scale restaurant chains seem to leave behind; and two, their offering is too good not to!

I visited Topolabamba on St Vincent’s Street last week with my old flatmates for a long overdue catch-up. Being the very first suggestion thrown into the group chat it’s plain to see Topo is a definite favourite of ours. Being a team of spice fiends with a serious cocktail obsession, a quick glance over the menu vibrant makes it’s easy to imagine why.

A round of watermelon margaritas and strawberry daiquiris later and we were ready to order. My favourite part of Topolabamba is its extensive tapas selection, always one for dipping in and out of other people’s food (usually unwarranted, being dealt a swift fork to the back of the hand), making a selection of small plates the most obvious choice. Recommending 2-3 dishes per person, we ordered a selection of chips and guac, queso fundido (mexican-style cheese fondue), tostadas, quesadillas, tacos, taquitos, and albondigas con cascabel (mexican beef & pork meatballs in sauce). Be warned, the food is spicy, all plates are rated in chilli peppers from one (mild) to four (very hot) and if you’re the type to stick to a Korma from your Indian takeaway then I’d avoid anything above a 1 chilli rating. As usual, we all suffered from the typical “eyes too big” syndrome, picking away at the leftovers til we begrudgingly let them clear our table, admitting defeat.

For a table of four with at least two rounds of cocktails we were quite pleasantly surprised to only pay £25 each, however eating out like this is maybe a once-monthly treat as I realise SAAS doesn’t stretch far enough to be any more frequent. That is where Topo’s Express Lunch Menu comes in, offering 2 plates and a side for £9.95 per person – it would be rude not to!