Heating things up at Bottles Mexican

Bottles Mexican is one of the newest kids on the Ballito restaurant block. Husband and wife team Andy and Jaime Lacy have taken over what used to be Azura in Salt Rock and turned it into a hot, spicy Mexican fiesta.

We visited the revamped spot to try out some of their new menu. Where do I even start? Let’s try the beginning.

Bottles Mexican started when Jaime’s mother opened a restaurant in Nigeria many years ago, which she named Bottles. Jaime chose the name Bottles Mexican in memory of her mother and wants this restaurant to become as popular as its namesake did, a place where customers become friends.

Andy was born in Rhodesia, but is South African and Jaime is from Texas, but both spent most of their lives in deep Africa. Bottles in Nigeria was where he and Jaime met and fell in love.

And now, the food – wow! We started off with a round of frozen margaritas. These were made fresh and we could definitely taste it. Everything is made fresh at Bottles, from the nachos to the sauce to the tortillas. Our appetiser was nacho chips with salsa, which set the tone for the explosions about to hit our taste buds.

We tried out most of the menu and ordered a selection of starters, mains and desserts to share, which is how I love to eat. For starters we tried buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce, chicken nachos with all the trimmings and the cheese delight balls – the name says it all. They were seriously a delight with a crunchy exterior, soft cream cheese centre infused with peppers and paprika. The balls are served with a homemade spicy tomato jam.

For mains, we had beef fajitas (they have a build-your-own fajita option) Mexican chicken quesadillas and our absolute favourite: mouth-watering prawn crème enchiladas (rolled and filled flour tortillas). This one was filled with a creamy prawn and pepper sauce, doused in white sauce and melted cheese…sublime.

We had a great time at Bottles Mexican and will definitely return. Their slogan is ‘dare to be different’ and they embody it to the letter. A truly relaxed and unique dining experience.