Hubby and I found ourselves with a couple of child-free hours as both junior travel freaks had birthday parties to go to. Not wanting to miss an opportunity for cocktails and lunch, we headed to Dempsey for some Mexican.
We have been to the much more widely know Margaritas before and, despite hearing many ravings about it, we found it to be a little impersonal, busy and had offering a pretty bog standard menu. We also got thrown out at the end of ‘lunch time’. We therefore thought we would try the lesser-known ‘La Salsa’, which is a few doors along.
Upon arrival we had the place to ourselves with the exception of another family table. A few more arrived after us.
We were greeted and attended to by the owner herself and she really went to great effort to chat to us and make us feel a little spoiled. Miss Junior Travel Freak joined us for a pre-party mocktail (her party was across the street and we were early) and the owner made a big fuss of her, giving her a fancy margarita glass for her mocktail.
I nipped across the road to take her to the party and it chose that moment to pour with rain. Owner of the restaurant said to my husband that she would walk over with an umbrella to rescue me! So kind!
We ordered some tortilla chips and dips to start. There were various types of Salsa (all home made) on the menu. As I have a liking for all things spicy, I ordered the especially spicy tomato salsa – it lived up to its name, it truly was spicy – and some guacamole. Both were delicious.
My husband ordered the wet burrito and I ordered the fajitas. The fajitas came with the usual selection of meat but you could also opt for ‘extra spice’ or ‘extreme spice’. Extreme spice for me! The owner found this entertaining and warned me that they were so spicy that the fumes stung her eyes when she carried them. Again, these lived up to their name, they truly were spicy and yet still very tasty.
My husband enjoyed the wet burrito too. This is a burrito with your choice of filling, covered in melted cheese and a tomato based sauce. His only comment was that he wasn’t overly keen on the sauce topping but the rest of the burrito was tasty. There is a regular burrito on the menu, so he said he would have this next time.
There were lots of more traditional Mexican offerings on the menu, so this gave the place a more authentic vibe.
We had a couple of cocktails – the cocktail menu is extensive and contains several I hadn’t heard of before – and a beer or two. Cocktails were well presented and came in appropriately large and fancy cocktail glasses.
We also treated ourselves to some home-made churros for dessert. These were also very yummy!
The owner chatted to us after our meal. We didn’t have to wait long on anything we ordered and it was not ridiculously over-priced like many places in this area can be.
She made us welcome and, knowing that we were waiting on our daughter finishing at her party, she told us we were welcome as long as we wanted. She also loaned me the umbrella to save me from the rain when I was collecting our daughter. She then took our daughter to see a cat outside and kept her company while she played with the cat for a little while.
The owner also told us that they have live music at night, and arrange the furniture so that there is a dance floor. She told us to bring along the kids for it too!
Truly a great experience, I would recommend it highly.
La Salsa Mexican Charcoal Grill Bar, 11 Dempsey Road, #1-17, Singapore, 249673 Website
