New premises for old London Latin favourite

El Vergel, London’s leading Latin American café and restaurant, has moved to new larger premises and expanded its drinks offer.

The recently-opened venue has over five times more floor space than previously and a range of wines and beers from South America to Cyprus.

The choice of drinks is designed to reflect the nationalities of El Vergel’s husband and wife owners and operators: Stella de Garcia is from Cyprus and Kiko Sanhueza from Chile.

Representing Cyprus in drinks is Keo beer  one of the world’s only unpasteurised lagers – as well as St. John Commandaria, the island’s famous sweet wine made from sun-dried grapes.

From South America comes Peru’s Cusqueña lager, as well as wines from Chile’s Viña Ventisquero and Argentina’s Bodega Septima.

Sadly, the restaurant could not source Septima’s sparkling wine in the UK but the bodega’s owner, Spain’s Grupo Codorníu, has supplied its Anna de Codorníu brut and rosé cava.

Regulars to El Vergel will be pleased to hear that the menu has not changed. The restaurant and café still serves its excellent and inexpensive range of breakfast and lunchtime dishes including churrasco palta (a steak and avocado sandwich on homemade “village” bread), tacos, salads, as well as its acclaimed cherry cheesecake – which although not a Latin American specialitiy is a recipe handed down by Stella’s mother.

El Vergel hopes to start opening in the evenings but currently only serves breakfast and lunch.

For more information visit www.elvergel.co.uk

El Vergel’s new address is 132 Webber Street, London SE1.

It is housed on the ground floor of the MyBaSE1 development at the junction of Webber Street, Southwark Bridge Road and Great Suffolk Street.

Patrick Schmitt, 08.12.09