Jane Pikett spends a happy afternoon at Little Lobo in Sandyford, Newcastle
In a former life, I was a Mexican person of some culinary repute. I know this because I have a big burrito habit, an obsession with tortilla chips which is endangering my coronary health, and a love for guacamole which runs a good deal deeper than my regard for my children.
I like Mexican music, Mexican art and culture, margaritas, tequila and tacos, so ask me to lunch at a nice little taqueria on a sunny day and I’m in. I love Little Lobo in Sandyford. It’s all a taqueria should be – small, busy, relaxed, home to dangerously moreish margaritas, and in a surprising addition to a Mexican menu, an insanely good vegan ice cream with Biscoff sauce.
Just to divert momentarily from news of tacos and tortas, do forgive me if I spend a little time here relishing the memory of that dessert – quite the creamiest, richest, most Biscoff-y Biscoff ice cream and sauce (my GOD, the sauce…) I have ever tasted. And no I did not share, despite well-intentioned promises. So, the ice cream will linger long in the memory, as will the churros and chocolate sauce, which were sublime, and the margaritas (did I mention the margaritas?).
We sat at a high table on stools, which always feels kind of holiday-ish to me, and grazed for a long time on small plates while the sun blazed outside and the music, decor and flavours transported us to a world where the sun always shines. One of us had a banging burrito with sweet potato, feta, spring onion, and pumpkin nut chile. One had chicken tacos with lashings of pico de gallo and chipotle crema. I had a huge sweet potato salad and a big bowl of fries, while someone else had tortilla chips and guacamole which was agreeably garnished with pomegranate seeds. Yes, we were disgustingly greedy, but it was so good. And we were there for you, dear reader, so what were we to do but eat and drink as much of the menu as possible?
I don’t usually list everything we ate when I write a review, but in this case it was all so good, and the memory of it is as fresh and zingy as the pico de gallo, that I have to. The girl waiting on us told us it was her first day, which was amazing because she was brilliant. A friend was there the other day and said the blackened prawn tacos with lime crema were historic, while the frijole fries with beans, feta, lime crema, spring onion, and pomegranate were apparently sublime, so I’m nipping back at the weekend.
This is little sister to the brilliant Lobo Rojo on North Shields Fish Quay, by the way, and a welcome addition to the great indie kitchens of Sandyford, just down the road from Scream for Pizza and around the corner from Little Green. Go, and have a margarita for me (hic!).
Little Lobo, Starbeck Avenue, Sandyford, Newcastle, NE2 IRJ, tel 0191 230 5608, www.littlelobo.co.uk
