108 Essex Road
N1 8LX
Tel: 020 7226 5551
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, May 24th, 2007
The Victim: Nick
The Damage: £35 per person with two margaritas each.
The Background: Nick is in town for work and wants to know if I want to go anywhere new. Is this a trick question?
I do want to go somewhere. Sabor. I’ve read nice things. And I have a hankering for empanadas. Plus, Sabor is a convenient bus ride away.
The Entrance: I order a house margarita and it is GREAT. It has passion fruit and lime juice. Very tasty. Nick turns up a few minutes later and orders the same. He too is happy.
The Starters: I get my wish and go for the empanadas. They are very tasty. Nick goes for the quesadilla and he seems satisfied, but I want to say that something was missing from his quesadillas…I am not sure what. Yes, she fails once again in her London-food-blogging-task.
The Atmosphere: In the background, they are playing Buena Vista Social Club. At 8 p.m. on a Thursday, the place is buzzing. The wine list is mostly Chilean and Argentinian–and there are descriptions! (Oh how I do love a wine list with descriptions. Such an easy thing to do, but alas, few restaurants do it.
Heck, if you are a London-based restauranteur and don’t have any descriptions on your wine list (or don’t like the ones you do have), I will do it for free. For the first ten restaurants that ask me to. The only caveat is that you’d have to give me credit and include my blog’s URL. Plus, you’re going to let me do some pre- and post-list analysis. Oh, and if you have like more than 20 wines, we’re both in trouble. )
The Mains: I am intrigued by the chimichangas. But here’s the rub–they are vegetarian chimichangas. Our server assures me that they have a very strong flavor and he’d really recommend them. So I go for it. And these are so not TGI Friday chimichangas. They are light and flaky and full of all sorts of delicious things. I wish I could tell you what, but I am a very bad food blogger and neglected to go for an in-depth inspection. What struck me, however, was that these were not deep fried, but rather wrapped in a light and flaky phyllo-like dough. They were good.
The Verdict: I can never speak for my guests, but Nick wiped his plate clean and gave the restaurant strong marks across the board. I think we both agreed that the service was a bit too preoccupied. And they didn’t trust me with the tap water jug. But all-in-all, I’d go back.
2 comments
When are we going to Vinoteca?? And how about doing that Wine Masters? You’d be great. But I’d start charging for those descriptions…
Hey there!
I totally agree with Sabor, it’s great and stylish without being too ‘hip’. I also had the Chimichanga (and I am a veggie), and I just loved it. Very tasty and complex in spices (I really did not remember what was in them, so I had a peak at the menu, and the funny thing is that it didn’t taste at all of the things they had mentioned, but so much better..) Next time you go, book your table over toptable, they’ve got a 25% off deal for Sabor during the week.
x Anne
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