Mexican Restaurants

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Restaurants reviewed on this page:

* Pedro's
* Mambo Jambo's

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Guest review!!! 18th March 2007 - Mambo Jambo's (Fred Hartman, Norwich)

14-16, Lower Goat Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 1EL
Tel: 01603 666802

Smoking: Yes (at time of visit)

Parking: No. Nearest parking St. Giles Street or St. Andrews

Expect to pay: £15-20 (approx) a head for two courses with drinks and £20-25 (approx) a head for three courses with drinks

This gastronomic delight was attended by myself, my wife (the mother in this tale), and my two kids, a boy of 5 and a girl of 2. We arrived at the said venue and already the place was quite busy, we had a pre booked table (thankfully) as a few were turned away through the course of our stay, and within minutes we were greeted by a friendly waitress who took our order. Kids seemed happy (we brought some colouring books along ourselves - this isn't a kids restaurant per se, and I don't think it professes to be), and within a few minutes our drinks arrived - glass of the house dry white for the Mrs, diet coke for the driver (yours truly) and Fruit Shoot substitutes for the kids. I guess the wait for the meal was about 20 minutes, not too bad considering, and I must say it was worth the wait. I had the baby rack of ribs, with chicken gujons, side salad and rice, the missus had the Mexican Blanket (aka tortilla wrap with chilli beef), while the eldest went down the all too predictable route of cheese burger and chips with the not so predictable side salad, while youngest had scraps from all! All was cooked well, portions were large and the punters were happy, as were the kids when the balloons arrived! Toilet facilities were adequate (we frequented them a number of times - fruit shoot plus under 5 equals trip to cloakroom x 2 (at least!), although there were no baby changing facilities as such, just a changing mat on the floor. The obligatory question of "is everything ok for you?" part way though the meal (and part way through mastication - why DO they do that?!), was greeted by happy campers at this end. Although the portions were more than sufficient, there was still room for desert - free ice cream for the kids (nice touch), both went for chocolate (and why not?), while the guest of honour on this Mothering Sunday plumped for the mint choc mallow, while I went for the Black Forest ice cream combo. Again portions were more than adequate (huge actually), both my wife and I could easily have shared if we hadn't have been sweet tooth gannets! Bill came to £44, and was greeted with a bag of almonds for the wife, lollies for the kids and mints for all. Overall the experience was a good one. the food was good, the service was good, and the overall ambience of the place (part Mexican/part American Diner) works well. I can definitely recommend the place to couples and families alike, although as previously stated, it isn't a family diner as such, so no Coco the Clown or colouring books for the kids (or adults for that matter). Shame...

Rating:

Food **** Service **** Atmosphere **** Menu **** Wine/Drinks ****

OVERALL = ****

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12th January 2006 - Pedro's

Chapel Field Gardens, Chapel Field North, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 1NY
Tel: 01603 614725

Smoking: Yes (at time of visit)

Expect to pay: £15-20 (approx) a head for two courses with drinks and £20-25 (approx) a head for three courses with drinks

Parking: No. Nearest parking Forum car park. Would maybe advise walking or taxi.

It's Catherine's birthday tomorrow, but as we're going out tomorrow, we decided to go out with friends tonight. We all decided that Pedro's was where we wanted to go.
It was the same atmosphere and service as usual but disappointingly my food wasn't as good as last time we were here.
We still left happy enough and will be back again but hopefully it'll be better than this.

I had: All The Way (again!) The rack of barbeque glazed ribs, a chicken chimichanga and a tortilla filled with chilli with spicy rice and salad. It was OK, definitely not as good as last time. The ribs weren't as good and weren't of as good quality as last time. My chimichanga was either stuck or burnt to my plate and I found it a bit unappetising. I didn't manage to clear my plate this time.

Rating:

Food ** Service **** Atmosphere **** Menu ***** Wine/Drinks ***

OVERALL ***1/2

For older reviews of Pedro's, click here

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5th December 2005 - Mambo Jambo's

14-16, Lower Goat Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 1EL
Tel: 01603 666802

Smoking: Yes (at time of visit)

Parking: No. Nearest parking St. Giles Street or St. Andrews

Expect to pay: £15-20 (approx) a head for two courses with drinks and £20-25 (approx) a head for three courses with drinks

Milly, a good friend of mine, leaves for Australia in early January so this was one of the last times we were going to see each other for a while and maybe ever. We're both big fans of burgers so decided to meet up in the city to stuff ourselves and have a few beers.
She really fancied going to Mambo's. Because of my bad experience a while back (read below) I was very apprehensive about going. But it was her night and I said I'd go wherever she wanted to go.
I'm not afraid of swallowing my pride and making an apology. Mambo's - I slagged you off in the past and I'm sorry. The meal I had this evening was spot-on. I really enjoyed it. I left very full, very happy and I will definitely come back sooner than I did this time.

I had: Decided against the burger option once I saw what the 'Mambo Combo' had to offer. A rack of barbeque-glazed ribs, breadcrumbed chicken goujons and a choice of a bowl of chilli or scampi. I went for the scampi option. It came with fries and salad. I always think they put the salad on a plate of food like this to help your conscience because it looks so out of place on this heart-attack of a plate. It was absolutely fantastic. The ribs fell apart and were incredibly juicy and tasty. The chicken goujons were superb and the scampi was, well scampi I suppose. You can't really go wrong with it can you? A massive pile of fries, big dipping pots of barbeque sauce and mayonnaise accompanied this. I was in hogs heaven and almost managed to clear my plate. I left the salad.
I also got a couple of bites of Milly's bacon cheeseburger which she was willing to swap for a few ribs and a chicken goujon. It was equally good and almost made me wish I'd ordered one too.

We washed all this down with a jug of sangria. Fantastic.

Rating:

Food **** Service **** Atmosphere **** Menu **** Wine/Drinks ****

OVERALL = ****