a taste of london: Mexican Fiesta....with Mojitos?

The second week of classes have come and gone and it is beginning to dawn on me how fast these weeks are going to fly by with four day workweeks. Already another three day weekend? Sadly (or not so sadly), yes!

My classical music in London class continues to be phenomenal as my professor (who might as well be a supermodel) is a great teacher. The bulk of the class is music history (right now we are studying the Renaissance and moving into the Classical period) with some basic theory tossed in for kicks. To actually apply what we learn, we are going to nine concerts in London. Everything from the London Philharmonic (which I saw last night) to Emanuel Ax and Yo Yo Ma. It promises to be incredible. In the end, I will supposedly be able to better "appreciate" music. This I do not doubt.

More on that infamous three day weekend. In honor of Sir Westhoven's birthday (My roommate, Zach), we decided to continue the Thursday evening Mexican theme (think Taco Thursday) and go out for some authentic Mexican grub. Is there really Mexican food in London, you ask? Look back to our experience attempting to gather the supplies needed for an in-house Mexican feast. The selection of Mexican restaurants in central London is not unlike the "Mexican section" of the grocery store: dreadful, worthless and a complete joke. We found a nice place called Cafe Pacifico which was conveniently located near the Covent Garden tube stop.

It being a Thursday evening and us being naive college students, we decided to go in blind without reservations. Our naivety became apparent when we realized that people in London also enjoy steaming fajitas, mojitos and quesadillas. Due to the mind-blowing fact that there are only a handful of these joints spread across greater London (at least according to Google maps), we were up against a two hour wait. Excellent news. All was not lost, however, because we were in Covent Garden. It's best described as a trendy shopping area with good restaurants, street performers and lots of people. A little more low key than Piccadilly Circus and not as crowded "Little Lebanon."

After the girls flocked to H&M to look at clothing they could have easily seen/purchased in the U.S., Zach, Dave and I decided it would be wise to get as far away as possible, as quickly as possible.

We managed to kill some time at a brilliant little bookshop (the name escapes me, but I will come up with it eventually) that had so much more than books! It was an adventurer's paradise. They had sizable sections devoted to every area of the world (western Europe, Africa, Asia, etc) that were packed with maps, guidebooks and some really unique supplies. The floor also doubled as the biggest world map I have ever seen. Brilliant.

After wandering around every inch of the store, we found our way back to the restaurant. Time check: it hadn't been an hour. This was an issue. My stomach did not seem willing to wait and the idea of going to another restaurant was tossed around, but immediately shot down by Rainey. After all, it was Taco Thursday and we weren't about to jump off the Mexican fiesta train!

To combat the inevitable irritability, fidgeting and complaining that comes along with starvation, we ordered some chips and salsa. The subsequent reaction was not unlike pigeons dive bombing for bread in a crowded square. We dove into the chips and showed the salsa who was boss, passing it around awkwardly until everyone got some. Then it hit us. The salsa was HOT! In retrospect, this was probably a good thing because if it was of the mild to medium intensity, I would have ruined my dinner due to my utter lack of self control when my stomach gets grouchy.

Fast-forward to dinner. Our table was cleared right around the two hour mark (shocking, I know). Sitting felt pretty good at that moment. It was clear the only way to properly celebrate Zach's birthday was with a pitcher of margaritas! I believe we ended up ordering passion fruit. They were good, but a little too sweet for my tastes. I also had my first mojito and felt like a proper Cuban. It was the real deal with fresh mint, lime and rum. Pretty tasty.

Although I can only speak for myself (the others would disagree) the food at Cafe Pacifico was delicious. I had grilled salmon with a mango chutney, rice and a salad. It was by far the most anti-Mexican thing I could have ordered, but it proved to be tasty. It was also a really strange red color (I assume it was coated in some off-the-wall spices), but nevertheless it looked brilliant. I (of course) didn't have my camera to document the evening, but Alice saved the day by having Dave snap a quick photo before our food arrived.