Q Mex’s Updated Summer Menu Brings Some Great New Dishes to the Table

I hadn’t been to Q Mex’s Solana location since they had their soft opening party in September last year, so was really looking forward to having another visit, especially to see what it was like in the daytime.

Walking up, I was immediately reminded of how lovely this part of Solana is, with terraces overlooking the greenery of Chaoyang Park and soaking up plenty of sun and was left questioning why I don’t come here more often.

Q Mex itself has outdoor seating both downstairs as well as a terrace upstairs, making it a great spot come summertime. Seating options aside, I was here to taste their new summer menu, which has just launched with new items and few updates to some old favorites.

A new starter on offer is the Avocado and Chicken Salad (RMB 75), a twist on their super popular Avocado and Shrimp Salad. Grilled chicken is mixed with avocado, couscous and array of other veggies to create a light, refreshing salad. Now only time will tell if this will be a hit but if the taste is anything to go by it definitely will.

Another new starter is their updated Chicken Taquitos (RMB 58) which are now topped with salsa and chimichurri instead of green salsa. These were everything you want from a taquito, beautifully crisp with chunks of chicken and packed with flavor.

For their mains they’ve updated an old classic The Q Mex Chicken Burrito (RMB 80), toning down the seasoning on the chicken and letting the quality meat speak for itself, which I can assure you it did. I also tried their Mexican Supreme Pizza (RMB 85) which although isn’t part of the summer menu update is relatively new.

We had the thin crust version, which is actually made from a tortilla, this makes the pizza much lighter and is a great option for anyone wanting to reduce carbs. The pizza is topped with tomato sauce, salami, spicy beef chorizo, white mushroom, bell pepper, red onion and mozzarella to creating what essentially is a taste of Mexico in your mouth. 

However, my favorite main by far was their new steak dish simply titled the Q Steak (RMB 168), which consists of char-grilled beef fillet medallions topped with chimichurri and served with roast veg and chipotle corn.

The steak was incredibly tender and melted in your mouth and paired perfectly with the chimichurri. The roast veggies and chipotle corn were also a really nice change from the usual fries that are normally served alongside Q Mex's steaks. 

Now, would any meal be complete without dessert? Of course not, so to finish off we had the new Tres Leches Pudding (RMB 45), a twist on the traditional Mexican Tres Leches Cake.

The pudding is made up the three milks (evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream) then is topped with vanilla ice cream, salted caramel, chocolate sauce and flaked almonds. I don’t have a super sweet tooth and also often find things too rich but was pleasantly surprised by how light this dessert actually was. It was super creamy and not overly sweet at all making it the perfect combination for me. 

To accompany the meal, I tried one of Q Mex’s new drink offerings: a Roc Craft Cocktail Margarita (RMB 45). If you haven’t heard of Roc Craft Cocktails, they offer bottled cocktail drinks. Along with the Margarita Q Mex also offers Roc's Mojito and Long Island Iced Tea. The cocktail was very refreshing and it was nice to have a sparkling, long version of a Margarita.

Another thing worth mentioning: Q Mex has also introduced a whole new range of vegan dishes such as the Beyond Meat Fettuccine (RMB 80) and their Beer Battered Mushrooms (RMB 58). It’s great to see restaurants like Q Mex starting to offer up more diverse vegan options. 

With a potential lockdown still on the horizon some people may rightly be wary to venture out, but the good news is that Q Mex is available to order on a number of waimai apps such as Meituan, Eleme, JSS and Sherpas. So if you want to play it safe simply get Q Mex delivered and enjoy some of their new delicious food from the comfort of home!

The new Q Mex Summer menu is available at all their locations except Q Mex Taqueria, which has a different menu. 

Q Mex Solana
A132, Langangwan L1 Street, Solana Blue Harbor 6 Chaoyang Park Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区朝阳公园路6号蓝色港湾L1大街A132

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Images: Katie Coy