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Just as the spectre of lockdown was beginning to loom, we were invited for lunch at Overdrafts on Jewry Street in Winchester. This little bar at the top of town represents a music and craft beer movement specialising in fresh tacos and Mexican inspired street food... It packs a lot into a smallish space, and in our opinion offers some of the best Mexican inspired street food in the area. Their tacos really are something else...
We have eaten here plenty of times before on their infamous Taco Tuesdays (two tacos for the price of one, what's not to like about that?), and have always come away super happy that we could find authentic tasting tacos of this standard in our own little city!
First thoughts on looking at the menu? There's a great range of food to suit every diet (including gluten-free, and almost the same amount of vegan/vegetarian options as there are meat and fish!), and all of it sounds so good. Vegan taco options include crispy breaded avocado, smoked pulled aubergine, and stewed frijoles (stewed and fried black beans with cauliflower "couscous" and tortillas) amongst quite a few others...
Please note, this is not a place to bring an indecisive friend, as once they have decided what to drink from the huge range of small-batch craft ales, they have to choose what to eat from a decent list (and daily specials) that all sounds far too delicious. Just don't go there if you're in a rush OK?
Disclaimer - so having not been all that recently (something we need to rectify), it's hard to know whether the menu only features tacos right now (trust me, that would be no great shame, they really are that good!), but when we visited we opted for the Masa Fried Chicken Tacos with habanero mayo and lime slaw. In this case, the masa referred to the dried variety for the coating of the chicken, not the masa used to make the tortillas with - all tortillas for the tacos are freshly made in house by the way.
Next up smokey pulled aubergine tacos with crispy courgettes, hot sauce, and slaw which were just incredible. We do eat meat in our house but try not to eat it too much. We love it when vegan food is as good as this, you really don't feel like you are missing out in any way. The smokey flavour of the aubergine was truly delicious, and the texture combined with the crispy courgettes and soft warm tacos was just perfect...
We also had Matcha chicken wings with red chilli and coriander which came with an unctuous super spicy peanut dressing, plus a bowl of decent fried crab balls with chilli jam. All of the dishes were packed with flavour and all of them were beautifully presented, vibrant and colourful. They say you always eat with your eyes in the first instance, and on this particular lunchtime, both our eyes and bellies were super happy.
Given that lockdown was about to be announced, Overdrafts was understandably quiet when we visited, which gave us more of a chance to chat to the friendly staff, learn a bit more about the food and appreciate the eclectic music. This is typically not the case in ordinary circumstances, there's good reason that this place gets packed (you must book a table currently)...
This is a brilliant place to spend an afternoon with a bunch of friends over some really good street food, great craft beers and brilliant music. I know both of us were sad that we had to go back to work after our lunch, it was so tempting just to spend the rest of the afternoon there...
We loved our lunch at Overdrafts, it's great to see how they have successfully shapeshifted throughout the whole Covid ordeal, with fabulous put together at home take out taco kits plus a range of craft ales to enjoy at home. Now they are back bigger and better than ever before. We will be in for our taco fix very soon...
5 Jewry St, Winchester
SO23 8RZ
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