Mexican restaurant review: Coriander, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth (From Bournemouth Echo)

Mexican restaurant review: Coriander, Richmond Hill, Bournemouth

10:30am Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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IF you like it hot, you’re certainly going to want to pay Coriander a visit. Perched on Richmond Hill, the Mexican restaurant always manages to catch the eye of passers-by due to its bright exterior and string of sombreros hanging inside.

I’ve visited Coriander a few times before and on a Tuesday evening after leaving work it seemed like a fun place to spice up a chilly night. We were seated straight away, as the young waitress allowed us to take our pick of the tables.

The downstairs is on the cosy side, very relaxed with an explosion of colourful wooden furniture with Mexican ponchos scattered around.

The menu offers all the usual favourites you’d expect, from lighter bites like |tortilla chips and salsa and chicken wings, to the classics like enchiladas, burritos, fajitas and chili. There’s also an excellent selection for vegetarians, with practically all the main courses providing an option for the lentil lovers.

Once we’d placed our order, we got down to the very serious task of drawing on our paper placemats with the crayons on our table.

If your doodling is any good you may just find it will take pride of place on the wall alongside some other very talented sketches. Sadly on this occasion my etchings and my girlfriend’s portrait of me didn’t make the Coriander art gallery.

We then decided to get down to business with a fine Mexican beer called Negra Modello, and after a hard day in the office and a raging hunger, we proceeded straight to the mains.

I decided to go for the house speciality, a chicken gumbo. This is a Cajun dish of peppers and chorizo sausage, served with rice, salad and tortillas.

My partner, being of the vegetarian persuasion, went for the mixed plate. This is a combination of sweet potato and bean enchilada, with a taco and served with rice.

Our meals came with a side of sour cream, salsa and a hot chilli sauce, which is definitely for those who like some fire in their belly.

The bill, including two great beers came to £25.60 and arrived with a useful jar of coriander seeds. Arriba!