Skull jar filled with churros with a top of whipped cream beside it
May 4, 2023

The Basement

With it being Cinco de Mayo this weekend (May 5th), it felt fitting to post my visit to The Basement from January, which I haven’t yet shared. Anybody who knows me personally will be aware that I just love Mexican food, a cuisine that’s surprisingly not so readily available in Edinburgh…or at least authentic Mexican food.

Speaking of non-authentic Mexican, for my birthday earlier this year all I wanted was to go out for dinner and The Basement was my restaurant of choice. Located on Broughton Street, they have a great range of tequila/mezcal as well as serving up Mexican-inspired food such as tacos, fajitas and enchiladas.

Note: I wasn’t planning on posting this meal hence why almost every image is blue so apologies in advance! 

The Basement front entrance and sign
Interior of The Basement with neon face sign on the wall

When we arrived, I ordered a margarita right away which I can confirm was delicious. There were multiple different margaritas to choose from, all with different spirits at different price points, but I just went for the classic coming in at £9.50. 

Their drinks menu was also jam-packed with plenty of other options for those who aren’t keen on margaritas…think classic cocktails, wine, draft/bottle beer and cider plus an exhaustive list of tequila and mezcal. I’d also like to point out there were some great-looking mocktails for those who are driving/not drinking!

Despite having a large drinks menu, I was really happy to see their food menu was on the smaller side. It was clear from the menu that they focus on perfecting the dishes they do offer rather than trying to sell every Mexican-inspired dish combo they could muster up.

Menu from The Basement
Hands dipping tortilla chips into oozy cheesy queso dip from The Basement

To get us started, we shared the two most theatrical antojitos we could have possibly ordered. First came the ‘chilli con queso’. The smooth queso was topped with tequila at the table and set alight. A tad gimmicky but fun nonetheless. This came with some tortilla chips to dip in and cost £8. 

As if that wasn’t fun enough, we then also ordered the guacamole which was made fresh at the table. The server started by bringing over a table with all of the fresh ingredients and then mashed them all together right in front of us. Again, this is somewhat gimmicky but one I’m more than happy to pay for because the fresher the guac, the better. It looked the part and tasted the part so win-win! This also came with tortilla chips and was £8.50. 

Bowls of tortilla chips and bright green guacamole from the Basement
Waitress making guacamole

For my main, there was only one dish calling my name this day and it was the birria tacos. For £14, you get three tacos and each one is filled with slow-cooked, melt-in-your-mouth beef, Monterey Jack cheese, onion and salsa verde. These were certainly some of the best Mexican-inspired tacos I’ve tried in Edinburgh and also came with a “spicy” consommé. Even though the consommé wasn’t spicy, in my opinion, it was still incredibly flavourful — a dish I would highly recommend to anyone!

It wouldn’t be a birthday dinner without dessert (right?!) so we finished off the margarita-filled evening with the ‘house Mexican churros’. These came in a cool, skull-shaped dish and were generously coated in cinnamon sugar. These came with dulce de leche to dip the churros in and also a small plate of Chantilly cream (this wasn’t really necessary in my opinion though — it was quite awkward to scoop up and didn’t add much to the dish). For £8.50, the portion size was bang on and ultimately was the best way to end the meal.

Birria tacos with a consume in a red pot on a plate from The Basement
Skull jar with churros and whipped cream on the side

If you go into The Basement expecting truly authentic Mexican food then you’re going to be disappointed. However, if you know what kind of food they serve, love tequila/mezcal and are still intrigued by the sound of it, I can guarantee you’re going to have a great time. The staff are brill and the atmosphere has a nice buzz to it. 

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