Straight Up: Ella Canta
I’ve never been to Mexico, but judging by the rest of the world’s Juno-filtered Tulum beach snaps, it bears little in common with the congested corner of Piccadilly and Park Lane. But there is a little slice of Mexico here, sandwiched between Hyde Park Corner tube station and the Hard Rock cafe, in the form of Ella Canta: chef Ella Ortiz’s gleeful homage to her Mexico City hometown.
Set within the InterContinental, the restaurant is as colour-saturated as its fuchsia-and-gold website suggests. Walls the colour of (I imagine) a Mexico City sunset are tempered by glossy dark wood and an impressive hand-carved walnut screen, and there are brass accents aplenty.
The bar, furnished with tangerine mid-century style stools and strewn with Day-of-the-Dead-style cushions, is raised at the far end of the restaurant, and is the centre of the action: the type of place that leaves you ever so slightly disappointed when the waitress reveals your table is ready.
Those waitresses - bedecked with flower crowns far better than the ones of Snapchat-filter fame - are all too happy to offer recommendations from the extensive cocktail list, which we’re told is inspired by the ancient civilizations of pre-Columbian Mexico.
I’m not sure if the Mayans mixed a mean Margarita, but there are four varieties on offer, all enormous and gorgeously garnished.
The Coa de Jima (tequila, rum liqueur, spiced pineapple puree, passion fruit and, because this is Mayfair, champagne foam topped with chia seeds) was surprisingly complex - rich, fruity but slightly spicy, and not sickly sweet.
We hoovered up a bowl of tortilla chips laden with ‘Nationalistic’ guacamole designed to resemble the Mexican flag, with ricotta cheese and pomegranate seeds, finished with a golden grasshopper.
Elsewhere the cocktail menu champions mezcal and tequila, alongside obscure-sounding ingredients we were assured were loved by the Aztecs or Nahau people - such as tepache, made from fermented pineapple rind.
This is served alongside vanilla-infused mezcal, Disaronno, Cocchi Barolo Chinato, lime and agave syrup in the sharp, bitterly sweet La Ni?a Fresa, named after an a Mexican folk ditty about a spoilt girl who refused the drink.
The menu is full of these nuggets of local lore and, combined with the Latin American soundtrack and heady drinks, it’s easy to slip into holiday mode - especially when the exuberant staff start encouraging tequila slammers.
The theme is all-encompassing, but thanks to the slick styling and culinary credentials - Ortiz is nothing short of a celebrity in her homeland - Ella Canta is far more than just another tiki bar. If a Yucatán beach break isn’t on the horizon, a round or two at Ella Canta is just the cure for the winter blues.
One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London W1J 7QY; ellacanta.com
Straight Up bar reviews