The background

Once the home of Andrew Clarke’s St Leonards, Zapote took over the spot on Leonard Street in 2023, adding to the growing list of Mexican-inspired menus available in London. What sets Zapote apart is that the ingredients and flavours are purposefully authentic. Run by chef Yahir Gonzalez and Tony Geary (former manager of Sketch), the menu features a range of Mexican corn varieties, such as chalqueño cremoso and red cónico from Mexico State, and bolita blanco from Oaxaca. Corn is also sourced from Gonzalez’s family farm in Jalisco, where it has been farmed for generations on a 240-year-old ranch.

The space

A large modern-industrial interior offsets sleek polished concrete with a wall of vibrant colours and hanging greenery – appropriate, as the place is named after a Mexican fruit that reveals bright orange flesh inside. Beautifully curved wooden seats and study earthenware plates also introduce a nod to hotter climes, and an open grill brings energy to the ambiance. Tortillas are made on site daily using tortilla presses and grinding wheels sourced in Mexico City. Nixtamalized (soaked in slaked lime) corn is ground into masa (maize dough) and then shaped into tortillas – so they are as fresh as if you were eating in Mexico.

The menu

A concise menu of authentic flavours and ingredients (there were 23 dishes when Brummell visited, including three for dessert) has been created by chef Gonzalez, working as sharing plates or also manageable for one. Totopos and guacamole to kick things off feels like the natural order of things. They arrive on a wooden board, and are that perfect combination of thick, crunchy vessel and creamy, flavourful avocado that makes this a reliable crowd pleaser. The grilled octopus with pasilla chilli and pipian verde (pumpkin seed sauce) is art on a plate, one perfectly crisped tentacle furled around a sea of green. Sauces add an exciting layer to many of the dishes, and the charred cauliflower is paired with almond mole and shavings of aged manchego – an interesting flavour combination of sweet and subtle smoke. To finally put the tortillas to the test, we opted for the coal-roasted secreto al pastor (pork) skewers with guacamole, salty chicharron (fried pork belly) and salsa roja. The flavourful meat arrives still on the skewer, and you can assemble your tacos at the table using the warm, fragrant and delicious blue tortillas that arrive wrapped in cloth – a fun way to really get involved with the food.

The unexpected scene stealer, though, was our final dish, a seemingly simple plate of roasted corn with recado negro sauce (using a seasoning from the Yucatan Peninsula made from charred chillies and other spices). Four segments of colourful corn come presented on a corn husk. Each resembles a mini pinecone, with the little kernels all fanned out, allowing the flavours of the spice and accompanying zingy, smoky sauce to cover more surface area. “Elevated” really is the right word here, because this is corn, but not as you know it. This dish was going to be hard to follow, but we gave it a go anyway with the chamoy and mango taco for dessert. A mix of chopped plum, mango and pineapple comes in sweet-and-sour chamoy sauce and packed into a crispy black waffled taco. Break through the hard outer shell and there is fruit sorbet inside, creating a real journey of flavours and textures that makes for a perfect palate reset.

To drink, there are a number of tequila- and mezcal-centred cocktails as well as other options and two inventive mocktails. The “De Montoro” pairs Casamigos mezcal, Gran Reserva cava and elderflower with grapefuit Jarritos (a Mexican soft drink founded in 1950). The tart grapefruit cuts through the smoky mezcal to really refreshing effect. For something sweeter, the “Don Chava” includes Don Julio tequila blanco, mango and passionfruit tea, mango and tonic water in an icy, crisp long drink that had us dreaming of summer.

The bill

Dinner for two with cocktails, £120

The verdict

Zapote is a great all-rounder – it’s big enough to host larger groups without feeling cramped, but also has more intimate seating for a romantic dinner or a catch up with friends. If you haven’t experienced Mexican food outside of London, there’s a good chance you will try a dish or flavour you’ve never come across before, adding something new to your food repertoire when the waiter eventually puts you out of your guessing-game misery.

70 Leonard Street, EC2A 4QX; zapote.co.uk