Viva Mexico, Edinburgh

So we began day two of the girls’ weekend in Edinburgh feeling surprisingly fresh (this was not going to be our experience the next morning) with a walk around the Royal Mile and the Grass Market, taking in the sites (Edinburgh castle), the smells (smoked oysters at the market) and the scenes (the sea from Arthurs Seat). After all this harry, we clearly needed some sustenance.

Being such a large group, with a husband and two children also in attendance we were sadly not able to go to the first choice lunch venue of Laila’s (which looked fab by the way) – mezze and small plates being a favourite of mine. We therefore ended up by default at Viva Mexico which stated on the chalkboard outside that large groups were welcome.

When entering the locale we were assaulted by the vibrant terracotta tints of the décor. We were seated downstairs where the fabulously festive Mexican bunting framed the room. The fixed price lunch menu seems to rule here as they had on offer a starter and a main for a not to be sniffed at £8.50. This included the soppa, senoras or nachos as a starter, followed by burritos, enchiladas, chimichangas or tiquitos with a choice of fillings (in fact two whole choices for vegetarians).

My choice of mains was the burrito (y’know because it was baked not fried) and as I was having a starter, I decided on the vegetable burrito instead of the more dense chickpea and potato. As there were no refried beans in my burrito, it had to be the sonora for my starter; a bowl of refried beans with crispy fried dippers. I have to admit, that whilst this was nice enough, I really do prefer my own refried beans which pack much more of a punch. This might just be my palate, but they needed more cumin, paprika, a bit of ground clove and more chilli heat. I felt similarly about the main course.

My friends opted for a range of the mains, with one going off piste by ordering from the a la carte menu (different friend) by way of the fajitas.

Unfortunately I did not take photos of everyone else’s lunch as I did not want to thrust my friends over the edge into ‘snippy’ by keeping them from their meals (and face the onslaught of questions about my picture taking!). We had all worked up quite an appetite. Regrettably, the Cookie Monster’s off piste choice was delivered last as it had been forgotten from the order completely, so she was ravenous by the time it arrived. The restaurant was, however family friendly as it also had a fantastic two course childrens menu at £5 and was able to accommodate Lady Ashton’s dislike of cheese by eliminating it from her plate.

All in all, it was a fun environment and I’m sure lively evenings do pursue, with the sangria flowing. The food though, for me was good, average really, however, at that price for lunch you really can’t argue with it. The service was friendly and efficient, but, I felt that some accommodation should have been made of the bill due to the fact they had completely forgotten one of the orders.