El Cartel

8 Reviews on “El Cartel”

• Jamie Mackenzie

  Awesome margaritas and delicious food. Great atmosphere, and really helpful and friendly staff. Only problem is that it’s popular and doesn’t take bookings, so you may have to wait a while for a table, or may not get one at all.

  July 1, 2017, 9:39 pm

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• Kimberley Laing

  Tacos are my favourite food and El Cartel is my favourite place to get them in Edinburgh! It’s a small restaurant which means it’s quite difficult to get a table but as long as you don’t mind waiting, you can grab a drink in the adjacent bar and the staff will let you know when you’re table is ready. The setting is very intimate, but because it’s so busy there is always a great atmosphere. The staff are very chilled and extremely friendly. I have been here a couple of times and I’ve enjoyed it more with every visit. On my last visit, my mum and I popped in for lunch and took what felt like an exceptionally long time to decide what to order!Eventually, after help from the waitress, we decided on the avocado tacos, carne asada tacos, street corn and frijoles. Everything comes when ready and everything was delicious! The tacos especially were a taste sensation. All items had a kick but they were nice and spicy rather than overly spicy. If you’re looking for authentic corn tacos you will not be disappointed by El Cartel – the cocktails are also yummy!

  December 21, 2016, 7:19 pm

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• Ashley Wanders

  I love that El Cartel doesn’t serve ‘typical’ Mexican fare – instead you’ll findMexican street food with a modern, gourmet twist. The portions are small, tapas-style, and ordering multiple dishes is the best way to sample the innovative offerings.My favourites are the ranchero taco (fried avocado, scrambled egg, guajillo chile, and sheep’s milk cheese), the guacamole topped with pomegranate seeds and sheeps milk cheese, served alongside crispy plantain chips, and the corn slathered in cream and spiced cheese. Theuniquelyflavoured frozen margaritas are fantastic as well! ashleywanders.com

  April 4, 2016, 6:54 pm

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• Ellie Coutts

  Went here last night with my friends who were visiting from Bristol. I was so impressed! We tried a good selection off the menu with the help of the really friendly staff. All the dishes we tried were incredible- really fresh ingredients with a good kick to a lot of them aswell. The frozen paloma was also amazing! I’d definitely go here again and recommend to anyone who love Mexican food. It’s so easy to do wrong but El Cartel hits the nail on the head. I’ll be dreaming about those tacos for a while

  February 3, 2016, 8:12 pm

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• Emily Johnston

  This is such a great restaurant, especially if you’re needing a break from shopping. The portions are small , so that you can have more off the menu, and are perfect for sharing. I had the duck tacos – which come in soft shells, and my friend had the lamb ones (speciality of the day). I’m not good with spice, and found them to be a little spicey, but the combination of flavours were great, and I loved the pumpkin seeds. We then shared the quesadillas, which were equally tastey.The restaurant has a really cool feel to it, with some ace decorative skulls, and all the staff were friendly and quick to recommend dishes.I’ll have to come back with an empty stomach so I can taste more that they have on offer, and try the frozen margaritas! underthescottishrain.blogspot.com

  January 25, 2016, 2:25 am

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• Humandustbin

  This is exactly the type of Mexican dining Edinburgh has been screaming out for! Gone are your sour cream and refried bean mound of slop, and in comes the delicious fresh tacos and amazing sides. And who doesn’t like frozen margaritas?! Will be frequently visiting here to eat allllllll the tacos

  January 12, 2016, 11:14 pm

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• Joanne Kilday

  I have been wanting to go here for a long time, and I really wasn’t disappointed. It a Mexican that serves Mexican street food, the dishes are quite small so you are told to order a few dishes and share them, like tapas. The food was so nice we has 5 dishes, I had the quesadillas which were really yummy and then the pumpkin tacos which were really good. My friend got chicken wings and ribs and we shared some red rice, which was great. We also had a frozen margarita each, I had a mango one and my friend had a white peach one, which was really tasty. The food was so tasty and the service was great. I was quite surprised how small the restaurant was. It wasn’t overly expensive. I will definitely be going back!! fashionpolaroids.co.uk

  January 1, 2016, 2:03 am

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