A new fiesta of food for Blenheim friends
Cancun Eats’ head chef Vijay Anthony and owner Amrit Redekar are keen to show new diners their twist on locally sourced Mexican food. Photo/William Woodworth
A friendship formed at college in India led to an idea which has seen Blenheim’s newest restaurant make the most of local produce.
Mexican restaurant Cancun Eats opened last week with chef Vijay Anthony and owner Amrut Redekar both proud to bring a new eating option to the region.
The new joint venture came about after a lockdown conversation after both had moved to New Zealand.
“We were friends at school back in India, then I moved to Blenheim in 2018 and Vijay moved in 2020 to work in Wellington restaurants,” says Amrut.
“We caught back up while Vijay was still working there across a few different cuisines including Mexican.
“With the variety of products that Marlborough grows we thought it would be a perfect idea to combine fresh local ingredients with his expertise – and Cancun Eats is the result.”
Chef Vijay Anthony is experienced cooking across many different cuisines ranging from French, Italian and soul food.
But Mexican food has always been a favourite, he says.
“My four or five years spent making Mexican food have been my favourite but having my own restaurant from the ground up is an exciting new venture to try.
“Getting the restaurant started has been a good six months of work - organising everything from the décor to the menu.
“I’ve always been attracted to the colours, flavours and spices of Mexican cuisine and with the variety of locally owned eateries Blenheim is a great food town for trying something new and we’re glad to be a new part of it.”
Vijay says he is especially proud of doing the basics well with the house made chips, salsa, and guacamole “an easy, delicious and always popular starter”.
“The recipes have been well tested and it’s all fresh and delicious, but I’m always keen to make myself a chicken burrito for lunch.”
Crisp yellow and blue corn chips and the deliciously fresh chunky salsa and guacamole was well appreciated.
The deliciously saucy beef barbacoa and crispy chicken tacos were a delightful cross-section of juicy meat and crisp salad, while the second course of burritos packed full of flavorful fillings, beans, rice and stringy cheese were a fan favorite.
Cancun Eats is open 7 days from 11am to 2.30pm and 4.30pm to 8pm at 36a High Street, Blenheim.