After seven years being away, I recently went back to London, a place that is dear to my heart. I was heading back for a wedding, but it was an excellent opportunity to see friends and family, and to try at least one new Michelin starred restaurant there. This venture I knew I wanted to go to KOL because I love Mexican food. Full stop. And yes, it did feel weird to go all the way to London to try some fancy Mexican food, but I was really hoping that they were going to go all out for the wow factor considering there isn’t a plethora of amazing examples of it in the UK.
I opted for a lunch booking to have more time for friends, but they offer the full tasting menu at lunch (as well as a reduced menu if you request it). We opted to go for the wine pairing with the meal (there is also a mezcal pairing if you so choose, but that much mezcal seemed a lot for lunch), and we ordered one of each of the two supplemental courses to share. We also started with their house margarita (which was unlike any margarita I’ve had, but incredibly tasty), and we waited for the food and wine to start.
What came out next were many courses of very elevated Mexican food with a variety of ingredients and flavor profiles. It started with a rich beef consume that really whet the palate for what was to arrive. There were several taco/masa courses including an amazing mackerel taco and a soft tamal with caviar. The langoustine taco was another stellar offering with some acidic juice in the head of the langoustine to squeeze out over your taco.
There was an amazing vegetarian mole course with a rich dark sauce served with a well roasted sweet purple carrot. There was a ceviche that was unlike any other I’ve had, plus a savory flan with mussels, custard and apples. The two real stars of the savory courses were the wagyu beef huarache as the beef was cooked perfection, and the pork cheek carnitas that they served for you to build your own tacos. Honestly, I was in Mexican heaven, and while one of the savory courses, their take on a bean stew, wasn’t a wow dish for me, almost everything else was. They also served every course with a different wine pairing, and while the first course wasn’t a great match for me, every other course included some great wines from all over Europe that paired very well.
Of course there were a few dessert courses (including a supplemental one), and I was really eager to give them a try! First up was a Jalapeno and Sorrel ice cream that was really savory and sweet and a great way to move the palate into the dessert courses. Next was a rhubarb dish with flowers and ice cream, and it was also an interesting and stellar dish. The last dessert was the buenelos, a crispy tortilla served with cheese ice cream and sea buckthorn to dip into, and honestly I wish we had ordered one each as it was so good. We decided we needed a couple more cocktails at the end, so we had two more delicious drinks with our last chocolate ganache bites.
While it may sound weird to go to London to eat high quality Mexican food, you won’t be disappointed if you do. The food was all original and spectacular. Each course seemed to build the menu into a complete story, and the wine pairing were an excellent addition to the meal, as well as both of the supplemental courses. Add some stellar service on top of that, and your trip to London will just be that much better with a trip to Kol.
Score: 5/5
Recommendation: Wine pairings and all the supplements
KOL
9 Seymour Street
Marylebone, London W1H 7BA
