Maidstone is a town in Kent which has various shops and restaurants, for the past three years since I have been here all the restaurants have been very samey samey. One of the newer restaurants to open in Maidstone is MEXIco, a new vibrant mexican restaurant.

The restaurant itself is on 58 Earl Street near Fremlin Walk Shopping and right next to the multistory carpark. The restaurant is filled with vibrant colours and cultural decor which was all sourced from Mexico to help add to the atmosphere the owners wanted to create. The wall of Mexican papers really stood out to me.

Along with a wide range of food they also have a great range of non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks. They have a great cocktail menu and between 5pm-7pm & 9:30pm-11pm every day the cocktails are 2-4-1. I would highly recommend the margarita and tropical margarita.

The food really gives you a taste of mexico, including nachos, tacos, fajitas, enchiladas and burritos. I have never been one for salsa and guacamole but paired with their nachos it was a match made in heaven. They offer both meat and vegetarian options so it is perfect for everyone. I really want to go back and try their puffy tacos. They sound amazing.

One thing I always do when I go to a new restaurant is check out the dessert menu and MEXIco definitely did not disappoint. We tried the chocolate brownies and churros. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Churros but I never really have been but the chocolate brownies were amazing. They come served with ice-cream and chocolate sauce. The chocolate isn’t to overpowering or sickly and they are very moreish.

If you are from the Kent area I would definitely recommend a night at MEXIco whether it be a night with family, date night or just out with some friends. There is something for everyone.

Lottiemxo.

Recently I was asked by Polish Village Meals if we would like to try some of the dishes they make. Having never tried polish food we were interested in seeing what they had to offer.

The products arrived in a handy reusable tote bag along with a wooden spoon to help with the cooking. We found that the portion sizes were rather large and managed to feed four of us which was great. Also the packaging was very well labelled, clearly showing the ingredients and how to cook the dish. All the dishes are named in polish with the English translation also on the packaging which personally I think is a great touch showing they cater not just for Polish speaking people.

The team over at Polish Village Meals sent use over a wide range of dishes including traditional polish stew, dumplings, stuffed cabbage leaves, pancakes, breaded chicken, sauteed cabbage and homemade fruit cake. Nothing takes longer than five minutes to prepare making it great for a quick dinner.

So, what did we think of the dishes;
Bigos - Traditional polish sauerkraut stew.
A tasty stew with a smokey flavour. Good crunchy texture but could have done with a bit more meat. Definitely tastes better than it looks.

Potato & Cheese Pierogi - Dumplings stuffed with potato and cheese.
These had a nice soft texture with a good balance of ingredients, the cheese wasn’t too overpowering. Would be great with a dip but overall went down a treat.

Sauerkraut & Mushroom Pierogi - Dumplings stuffed with sauerkraut and mushrooms.
We had divided opinions on these dumplings some of us found them to be very flavoursome and enjoyable where as some of us found they were bitter needed more mushroom. I think this product is definitely one that depends on personal preference.

Meat Pierogi - Dumplings stuffed with pork and onions.
Again these dumplings had a nice soft texture but we found they have could have done with a little bit more seasoning in the meat.

Golabki - Cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and pork.
We found these really enjoyable. They had a good balance off ingredients and were very flavoursome with hints of spice which we think could have been turmeric. A favourite amongst everyone.

Croquettes With Greek Cheese & Spinach.
A very subtle flavour with a good balance of cheese and spinach. Would be good with some kind of dip.

Croquettes With Meat - Croquettes stuffed with spicy chicken, chopped onions & vegtables.
We found these to be like a samosa, they had great flavour but weren't too spicy.

Croquettes With Mushrooms & Cheese.
The cheese wasn't too overpowering and you could really taste the mushroom. I think I slightly overcooked these though as the mushroom seemed to go a bit gooey.

Chicken Breast In A Blanket - Breaded chicken breast topped with mushroom and cheese.
We found these to be very similar to a schnitzel. The chicken had a nice crispy coating and the cheese didn't over power the other flavours. One of our favour dishes.

Sauteed Cabbage.
We weren't fans of this at all. We found it to have a very strong pickle flavour.

Homemade fruitcake.
A gorgeous light and fluffy cake. We found the cake itself to be very similar to a maderia cake. The fruit
topping really added to the flavour. It definitely went down a treat.

As you can see we received a great range of products and it was great to try out something we wouldn't normally buy.

Be sure to check out their website and Instagram for more information.