I've only been to La Choza a few times but whether it is lunch time, midweek or the weekend it always seems to be buzzing. It is the perfect size with maybe 30 to 40 covers inside and more outside. It always feels cosy and I love all the Mexican ornaments on the shelves and dotted around the room.
Among those decorations are the skulls synonymous with the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration On November 1 and 2 many people in Mexico will be celebrating Día de los Muertos - Day of the Dead. It is a festival held each year in South American countries, but especially in Mexico, like in the films Coco and The Book of Life. The festival celebrates the cycle of life and death.
During the colourful festival big parades are held and people often paint their faces to look like skulls. They are not meant to be scary but more about celebrating and remembering friends and family who have died and passed into the afterlife. The special spicy salsa laid on as part of the Day of the Dead specials at La Choza could have been scary too.
It did come with a warning so I was a little bit wary but in the end it came as part of a celebration of great Mexican food that we enjoyed on our visit to the bright pink restaurant in Gloucester Road, in Brighton's North Laine. I went for the enchilada suiza special. It was baked corn tortillas filled with chicken and a sauce using tomatillos - Mexican husk tomatoes - and covered in a deliciously creamy melted cheese sauce.
It was a really hearty and fillin.
