Despite the fact that we have had the Trinity Leeds shopping centre for a couple of years now, I had not yet eaten at Cielo Blanco. I suppose it's because it's quite hidden away on the top floor, and I don't often have reason to venture to that side of the centre. I was invited to their World Tequila Day on the evening of Thursday 23rd July, which coincided with the launch of their new Margarita Garden on the roof top terrace. A perfect opportunity to finally visit this Mexican restaurant! Martin couldn't come along with me on this occasion, so I asked my friend Rachel if she would like to join me and happily she said yes. So, at 6pm on the dot (we both like to be punctual!), we made our way to Cielo Blanco for my first ever visit!







When we arrived, we were led to the Margarita cart (pictured above), which was stocked with everything you could need to create the perfect margarita. This featured a variety of fruit that could be mixed into various combinations, such as oranges, apples, grapes and pineapple. Me and Rachel decided on a strawberry and kiwi frozen margarita, made virgin as Rachel doesn't drink, which was made in a jug for us to share. Believe it or not, I've never had a frozen margarita before, so I didn't really know what to expect. As it turns out (I feel like such a moron for writing this, as I genuinely had no idea) it's very much like a slush puppy in consistency, and is made with a blend of fruit, syrup, lime and tequila. Add a generous amount of crushed ice, blitz it all up and there you have it - a frozen margarita! Just seeing it being made was a novelty in itself, so knowing that we were going to get to drink it too made it even better.






Whilst our margarita was being made, we grabbed a table in the Margarita Garden and enjoyed the view. If you are from Leeds you can probably figure out whereabouts we were sat, but for those of you who are not, we were sat practically on top of the entrance from Briggate. I'd never seen Leeds from this viewpoint before, and it didn't look too bad! We were lucky that we didn't get rained on for the duration of the party; it was actually pretty humid, so it was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main restaurant. This roof top terrace offers a more relaxed atmosphere, which is what I prefer the majority of the time when dining out. Not long after we had completed taking our pictures and video (the life of a blogger/vlogger - it made a nice change to be with someone who understood the need to document everything I ate or drank!), our jug of margarita arrived, which I promptly poured all over the table when trying to get it into a glass! Smooth. Despite it being a difficult drink to work with, it was worth it; instantly sharp and refreshing, our strawberry and kiwi combination turned out to be an excellent choice. I was brought over some Herradura tequila to put into my cocktail, which made it really quite intense but still a very enjoyable drink. Something interesting to note was that our glasses were rimmed with sugar, instead of salt; this is the only thing I know about margaritas, so this was a bit of a surprise. It worked well to counteract the sharpness of the fruit, so I can only assume that was the reason why they did it.




As much as we were enjoying our drinks, our time to spend at Cielo Blanco wasn't just be drinking margaritas in the sunshine, oh no! We were lucky enough to sample some dishes from the upcoming menu, which is due to be launched this coming September. Let's put it this way; if all of the food at Cielo Blanco is as good as what we tried that night, then I will definitely have to visit again to try the full menu in the future! I've not really explored Mexican food fully in the past, and this was a great introduction into how varied it can be. To start were some tortilla chips with a choice of three dips, including your classic salsa. My favourite by far was the green one that is pictured above; it was so unusual, and in all honesty I've never tasted anything quite like it. I would say that it was spicy, but to me it tasted salty too - you really didn't need very much on the chip to get that punch of flavour! There was also a smoked dip that was unexpected but delicious; again, it had a bit of spice but not enough to blow your socks off.




Next up were some pork tacos, topped with coriander and chopped white onion and wrapped in a soft tortilla wraps. These were small yet mighty, and I would have very happily devoured a full-sized one with absolutely no complaints; in fact they were my favourite dish out of all the ones that we tried! The pork was almost sweet thanks to the pineapple marinade that they used, and was wonderfully juicy and tender - exactly how pork should be. Finally, as the pièce de résistance, we were presented with two glorious looking lamb chops and two quesadillas. The quesadillas if I remember rightly were suitable for vegetarians, and were packed full of cheese, mushroom and coriander. I thoroughly enjoyed these, and as a vegetarian option this would make an excellent dish at full size. As for the lamb chop - I have no idea what they marinated it in, but I need to know that secret recipe! It was sublime, and I'm not normally keen on meat on the bone. It was cooked to perfection, and I know it's something that Martin would have really enjoyed - what a shame that he couldn't come along! It's just the excuse I need to go back again...

Have you been to Cielo Blanco? What is your favourite Mexican dish? Let me know in the comments!