Restaurants / Reviews
Mesa – restaurant review
Mesa opened its doors to the public on Monday night, and it’s been packed-out ever since.
It’s situated in the heart of Westbury Park opposite its sister restaurant were Prego, a well-established Italian joint, both co-owned by team Julian Faiello and Olly Gallery.
The space which the restaurant inhabits was previously Manna, also owned by the same team. The idea for Mesa, meaning ‘table’ in Spanish, was to whittle down some of the dishes Manna had, and to become a pure tapas bar, serving excellent food while simultaneously offering a place to stop off for a refreshing beverage.
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The well-stocked under-lit bar, and the array of classic cocktails daubed on a blackboard, certainly offered temptation. I opted for a glass of the house red, but the cocktails at £7 apiece looked very much worth it.
The restaurant is intimate. Warm yellow light shines from the barely-covered bulbs which hang low and close to the tables, their cables draped artistically from the ceiling. Everything is wood and metal: wooden floors and tables are accented by the long central table, topped with a slab of copper. This orangey hue emanates, giving the room a warm glow.
You can choose between intimate high tables for two, the long, shared table in the centre, or leather or wooden styles of booths.
Tapas is the thing to eat here, so with that in mind we went wild: the sweet pickled chillis with piquillo peppers (£3.50) were crunchy, sweet and sour, and the slow-cooked cauliflower with coriander and spice (£4) was soft with hints of gobi masala.
Among the fish dishes, the tiger prawn and artichoke fritto with aioli (£5) were crisp, the batter light enough to enhance the flavour rather than dragging it into fattiness, and the octopus fried with potato and paprika (£6.95) was cooked just right, the tentacle balanced perfectly on a heap of crisped potatoes.
For the meat dish, we opted for the less traditional dish of mesa fries, which are served topped with shredded venison, pork Estofado, pickled chilli and manchego cheese (£6.50).
The fries were a deep golden brown and crispy to the end, even with all the juicy meat slathered atop them from the tender venison.
No music was playing at Mesa, but it would have been superfluous anyhow, for conversations flowed all around: old and young, romantic or friendly, this is a place to come for a natter and a mound of excellent food in any company.
Mesa, 2B North View, Westbury Park, Bristol, BS6 7QB
0117 970 6276
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