The one where I enjoy a Mexican lunch in the city…
Late last year Instagram heaven, Whitworth Locke Aparthotel launched. Alongside it came a further site for NQ coffee hub Foundation Coffee House, and now their latest is The Cotton Factory.
The first of an ever-evolving food and drink offering, El Camino kicks everything off this month, with The Cotton Factory promising pop-up feasts offering tasty treats from all over the world.
El Camino hosted their first pop-up in Urmston earlier this year over at Get Chucked, and for this site on the very edge of The Village, they’ve created a menu featuring authentic Mexican dishes alongside all the tacos and burritos you’d expect, accompanied with tequila cocktails and Mexican beers.
And lucky me got to head in for a bit of a nosey before it officially opened for it’s three month run.
We began with queso fundido – a rich cheese sauce, served with red chillis and tortilla chips. The chillies add heat and a crisp freshness, but whether you add them or not, it doesn’t matter. The cheese sauce and tortilla combination is addictive, meaning several of us uttered the words ‘just one more’ before we had to have the bowls taken away. Seriously, we’d have had no room for anything else.
We were then presented with the baja coley taco. a six inch corn tortilla topped with red cabbage, avocado hot sauce, pink onions, and crisp fried fish. This one was perhaps missing a little something something. I’m genuinely putting this down to first serve nerves – because I’ve eaten food from these guys before, and know it should be better. It needed just a little more sweetness or something going on to balance it out. But aside from that, the fish was crisp and delicious, the onions crunchy and tart.
The second taco by comparison was far more on the ball.
Charred sweetcorn with feta, pico de gallo and more avocado hot sauce. A squeeze of lime added some citrus, there was creamy acidity from the feta, sweet nuttiness from the corn, this was what I was after.
Alongside these, we sampled some of the larger places. The rib eye steak, grilled sea bream (yes to more bream please, it’s my favourite), and a thick pork chop, topped with chimichurri. The pork and steak were nicely pink, but still with that charring that gives a boost of flavour. For me, a touch more acidity and heat in the sauce, and I’m a very happy bird. Saying this, that element could entirely be personal preference, I like it to slap you in the tastebuds a bit.
Finally to pudding. And who doesn’t like a rich squidgy brownie? And this one comes with a little bite of Mexican spice from Ancho chilli.
Served alongside cinnamon dusted ice cream, it was a well spiced dessert – though someone did mention a dulce de leche brulee. Which I may need next time I visit.
Overall? Yes I’ll definitely be heading in again soon. Not just because they’re currently offering 50% off while they’re finding their feet (sign up to their mailing list for details), but because what I’ve sampled so far holds promise.
Anyone for lunch?
