La Perla

11 Charlotte Street

London

W1T 1RQ

I expect that someday J and I will run out of tasty places to eat around her office, but until then, we are determined to try everything that looks interesting. La Perla is a Mexican bar and restaurant, and while I am generally skeptical of Mexican food in London, I was prepared to give this a shot. Every table is provided with a bowl of chips and salsa for free, so they score a point automatically for that, and they get another point for actually having proper plain tortilla chips that aren't stale (I know, living here has really diminished my standards when it comes to Mexican food). I ordered one of their "specials", the potato and chorizo flautas with black beans and salad, and J had the smoked chicken tostadas. While my flautas were not crunchy since they came covered in sauce and cheese as if they were enchiladas, they were still tasty and I could taste savory nuggets of chorizo in every bite. The beans were decent as well, though I thought the honey mustard dressing on the salad clashed a little with the other things on the plate. J liked her tostadas and said the chicken had a really good smoky flavor. Mains run around a tenner, so it's not a cheap lunch, but I'd go back, especially to try some of their margaritas.