Mismo's Mexican menu

It’s a depressingly dingy, drizzly day as I pull into Hotel Janpath. Am turned out of doors immediately — to be banished to the “backside” (as they love to say in Delhi) — low spirits turn murkier. Why would a restaurant that’s any good be thus squirreled away at the back of the house?

Then I step into a Cinderella moment. Perhaps ‘banishment’ was the wrong word: ’set apart’ seems more apt. New Mexican joint Mismo (Spanish for “life”) looks ravishingly lively. Far more appetising than its ‘ugly sisters’ in the front parlour, with their government-canteen tastes.

My day brightens between hot pink walls and fiesty silk-ribbon cushions on black sofas, sheer sequinned drapes and ultra-tall-backed chairs. The limed-wood tables are charmed with very contemporary posies. The decor looks as if it would be breezy on a rainy day, airy on a hot one, and cosily playful at night, with those rose-covered lampshades alight and a faux fireplace behind the bookshelves. A refreshing, un-kitschy contrast to the usual Wild West-dragged-backwards-through-a-pinata look that Tex-Mex places favour. The kitchen would have to be an outright drunken disaster to keep me away.

Which, praised be its Aztec godmothers, it isn’t. The menu is propped by longstanding favourites from sister eatery Market Cafe (in turn drawing on the staff’s experience at Moshe Shek’s much-mourned Oliva) — the pastry-cupped grilled rawas in chermoula is an old, trusted friend who hasn’t disappointed across three venues. Then again, the smokin’ fajitas boast the same level of spectacular presentation and deft execution. The Mexican menu doesn’t throw up many surprises — beyond sopa de tortilla, it’s the standard burritos, enchiladas, nachos, quesadillas, tacos. But the homemade ice-cream is a singular treat, outshining the apple empanada. Worthier match: the chocolate-dipped churros.

I’ll drink to the lot. As soon as they get the licence to serve tequila shots and Margaritas, in a month or two!

Mismo, Hotel Janpath, Janpath Road, New Delhi; ph: 4356 5411/22, Prices: Meal for two Rs 1,500.