I didn’t have high hopes for Ixchel, the very chic Mexican restaurant named after the Mayan moon goddess on King’s Road in Chelsea. I originally dismissed the place as one of those high-end Chelsea tourist traps. All style, no substance and a bill that would leave me longing for the prices of Mexico City’s street tacos (yes, produce is expensive to ship, but it still feels like a robbery). But as we all should know, stereotypes are bad and prejudices are for suckers, so it was inevitable that I’d eventually pay a visit.
Stepping inside is surely a sight. The entrance leads you to the small lounge area, with bright-coloured cushioned seating and a colourful mural that leads down to the bar area. There are cream and terracotta palettes, ribbed bamboo ceilings and a striking bar with the phases of the moon illuminating the space. Deeper into the restaurant, you’ll find Mayan décor, motifs of Mexican deserts, and a central spiral staircase that leads down to the loos and a private room for special events.
In the kitchen, head chef Ximena Gayosso Gonzalez focuses on bringing authentic Mexican cuisine, using inspiration from her travels across the country, and techniques perfected from her meticulous background working in kitchens like Brat in Shoreditch and the now closed Dulce Patria in Mexico City’s affluent Roma neighbourhood – a sad loss for CDMX, but a great gain for London Mexican food.
The ambience is intimate and sexy, and the experience is one that I’d happily do again, maybe just with more consistent service and less pineapple
My guest and I started with something basic, Gonzalez’s guacamole, but the guac was anything but. Shaped and served like a glorious green medallion, the guac was fresh and citrusy with an abundance of lime (just how we Mexicans like it), with red onion, coriander, and razor thin, shredded tortilla crisps on top, with fresh blue-corn tostadas on the side.
Scoop as much guac as you can onto your tostadas for ultimate pleasure, but save one for when the sea bass aguachile hits the table (it already comes with one, but you’ll want another). It’s an edible artwork, with little blots of crema on the accompanying tostada that’s reminiscent of Jackson Pollock, and dots from the juices of citrus and herbal oils that form a pattern that could have been painted by Yayoi Kusama. As for flavours, if you prefer pineapple sweetness with your sea bass, the aguachile will delight. I, on the other hand, prefer the tart citrus, and more importantly the spice, which this aguachile (Spanish for ‘chilli water’ by the way) severely lacked. Though I take full responsibility for not putting two-and-two together as the dish clearly states the presence of honeyglow pineapple. Twice. Oops.
The lack of spice in the aguachile was found 10-fold in the spicy margarita – a refreshing success! If you go to Ixchel for anything, go for the cocktails. They’re a great start to the evening, and a great pairing for the rest of the night’s dishes like the tuna tostadas – a much less sweet and more exciting starter with a roasted leek crema base, XO sauce topped with thin slivers of tomatillo, chives and garlic flowers. Or the queso fundido, a heavy, comforting superior type of queso with bits of Spanish chorizo sizzling about (is it possible to import the more crumbly Mexican chorizo, though? Asking for myself). Unlike the thin, liquidy Tex-Mex queso that is fantastic for cheeky cravings and inebriated munchies, but isn’t real Mexican in the slightest, queso fundido is all-cheese and fully melted into a piping hot ceramic plate, and all Mexican, baby. A personal favourite.
Yellowfin tuna tostada
Queso fundido
Sea bass and pineapple aguachile
Starters were followed by tacos and quesadillas, and you can’t go wrong with either. The steak taco is packed with tender honey-cured beef and a delicious cheese crust that envelops the beef, Sichuan pepper and scotch bonnet salsa. Another spicy success. While you only get one of these sexy tacos, the prawn quesadillas come in pairs, and thank Ixchel and the rest of the Mayan gods (and Ximena of course). These quesadillas are cheesy, savoury and plump with fresh prawns, pickled red onions, refried beans and a molcajete sauce (normally roasted tomatoes and chillis) that will rock your world.
If you have any dignity, you could probably stop here and leave incredibly satisfied. But who needs dignity when there’s gluttony? And the beef short rib plate is worth committing such a sin. A hearty and heavenly dish of two ribs with smoky adobo and a pineapple salsa comes intact, but is dramatically shredded before your eyes by your server, proof at how melt-in-your-mouth tender the meat is here.
And gluttony isn’t gluttonous without dessert: a phenomenal tres leches cake. Unlike most tres leches, which come quite moist and dense from all of the dairy, this one is much lighter and dry – and I say this as a compliment. The added strawberries add a subtle, tart-like flavour that cuts through the cake’s sweetness, and the cinnamon ganache on top is one I hope to replicate for future home desserts. Divine!
Now, while dinner was a success, there were a couple of things I did find disappointing. The first was the service. It wasn’t bad per se, but it certainly wasn’t great, or consistent. From the staff member who greeted us, but was keen to stress was NOT our server, to the absence of any identifiable assigned server throughout the meal (multiple people took our orders, and we never discovered who was actually responsible for our table), the service felt rather chaotic. Lengthy gaps between dishes only added to the sense of disorganisation. However, when someone did get to our table, they were polite and professional.
My other qualm is the restaurant’s main tequila: 818 by Kendall Jenner. I cannot fathom how a restaurant that wants to declare they’re authentically Mexican would choose the most inauthentic tequila by a billionaire family – especially when there are so many fantastic tequila brands available from actual Mexican producers. Hell, if the tequila tasted like proper tequila, maybe I’d be more inclined. But 818 is flavoured with vanilla, which doesn’t mix well with citrusy drinks, and reminds me of one of Roy Kent’s truest quotes on the hit series Ted Lasso: ‘Vanilla vodka? Such a child…’ Different spirit, same sentiment. And while I’ll constantly and unapologetically complain about this, I do need to say that most of the drinks in the cocktail menu do not use 818, and I’m sure the ones that do can be replaced by Ixchel’s other tequilas. Thank God for that.
As for my pompous assumption about Ixchel, I stand corrected and owe my apologies and respects to the chef. Gonzalez is a bad ass chef with creative flair and a killer menu. Yes, the price range is higher, but the dishes are equally high quality to match. The ambience is intimate and sexy, and the experience is one that I’d happily do again, maybe just with more consistent service and less pineapple.
33H King's Road
London
SW3 4LX
November 2026
