Wahaca, a trendy new Mexican restaurant near Covent Garden, is a busy place. Arriving at 6pm (pre-theatre) there was already a queue. Thankfully it was a short wait and we were soon seated in a good position with a view of the kitchen.
This is not the place for a lingering romantic meal - it is large, noisy, and service is fast. Perfect for a quick meal before heading elsewhere. Staff are everywhere and several different people attended to our needs throughout the meal.
Wahaca specialises in "Mexican Market Eating", serving up small portions perfect for sharing - Mexican tapas if you like. You can order a "Wahaca Selection" - a set platter with an assortment of small dishes, or make up your own selection. They also have larger meals, such as Burritos, Enchiladas or even a steak, and the various salads served in a crispy tortilla bowl looked great.
We ordered a selection of dishes along with the Wahaca Selection, between four of us. The food was plentiful, cheap and delicious. Particularly loved the steak tacos and the side dishes of frijoles and esquites.
For dessert we shared some Mango sorbet (icy delicious), and some Churros y chocolate - Mexican donuts which you dip in a rich chocolate sauce. Unfortunately the churros were very oily, though the chocolate sauce was mmmm good.
4 of us were here today for lunch and we all really enjoyed it. I don't have much to add beyond what was said - the food was lovely, really fresh, presented very nicely, and very easy on the wallet.
While I consider Mestizo the best Mexican in London (see my review) and yes I am Mexican myself, I must admit I have had many a dinner at Wahaca... primarily because after 2.5 hrs of Ballet in Covent Garden I am really craving their spicy Tortilla soup, some tacos and a cold mexican beer. Great price, great location... I just wish it would stay open one hour longer for those plays that seem to drag on forever... As someone else said, it is "the Wagamama of Mexicans" (I asked... they're not related)
The one thing in my mind that holds London back from being the worlds finest city is the very poor Mexican food. Any Texan will tell you that.
Well Houston, you now have a problem
Wahaca serves fantastic Mexican food and has really superb staff. My son wanted to go wandering about and he was treated really by the staff (thanks Frenchie).
If you have one new year resolution, make a visit to Wahaca.
You can't book and the decor & style is over-trendy for my liking. And I can't comment on the authenticity of the food. But what we had was really tasty - top-class beef burrito for my friend, while I had the puerca pibil, which was simply delicious - just the right combination of citrus, spices and chilli. Guacamole was a little underwhelming but overall the food was great and the service efficient and friendly.
Seeing that there is already a significant number of positive reviews on this place (except for the one from a Mexican himself which I guess counts for a few..), I won't be too long on this one since it's clearly not the way I'm going to be getting my Xmas San Lorenzo goodie bag this year!
I loved the place and everything about it: the vast space, the colourful decor, the varied seating arrangement, the music. The food was varied and tasty, although not being a Mexican food expert, not much of an idea if it was close to the real deal or not.
The service in general looked good and attentive (although we were less blessed with our somewhat over enthusiastic waiter. Singing loud opera whilst waiting for me to enter my pin number was a highlight I could have happily done without).
Great place to organise a birthday/family/big friends' meal at. It's fun and cheerful and I'd definitely go back there again.
I went to Wahaca to have dinner and in my opinion it has nothing to do with the real mexican food or taste, not just because someone has tasted mexican food it means that can cook real tasty mexican food!, the service was ok, the food was not worth for the money spent, and it was a disillusion cause I was really hoping to taste a little bit of mexican food. I am mexican so I hope you take my words for it but as I said before this is my opinion.
The first time we attempted to go here, it was just after it opened and it would have been a 2 hr wait! So we decided to go elsewhere and wait for the hype to settle and we tried again recently. We were seated within 5 minutes.
I was really lively in there with bright lights and colours everywhere and upbeat music so not really somewhere to go for a romantic meal! The service was efficient, if not a bit rushed but it's understandable - the turnover was really quick!!
We ordered quite a lot actually (as if we usually don't.. :p). We got guacamole with pork scratchings; pork pibli and skirt steak & salsa tacos; chorizo, thyme and potato quesilladas; smoked aubergine, potato and goats cheese taquitos; frijoles tostatas; chicken tortilla soup; spicy slaw; tequila and sangrita each!! yum.
The pork scratchings were interesting, apparently it's a healthy version. The texture was sort of like chinese prawn crackers but heavier and thicker. I wasn't too impressed with the pork pibli, it was a bit too dry for me but the flavours were interesting.
The quesillads we had was delicious with the hot salsa that you get free but slightly bland on its own. The soup was delicious...you get a bowl of guacamole, chicken, broken up tortillas, feta cheese, chilli and sour cream in a bowl with a jug of the soup that you pour onto it. The soup was very moreish, you could really taste the tomatoes in it and it was a deep rich red colour. It was lovely having all the different textures and flavours mixing with the soup. The feta cheese and tortillas worked really well with it but next time I would get the soup without the chicken.
The tequila and sangrita came in seperate shot glasses and we weren't really sure what to do with it so we downed the tequila and then the sangrita. It was pretty delicious and I had the giggles for the rest of the meal lol.
This large restaurant has an extensive menu of delicious food, attentive and friendly waitpersons, unpretentious but neat decor and lively background music that made me want to go to Mexico after the meal. You can easily feel bloated from eating too much here for around £10 per person minus alcoholic drinks. Go with a bunch of hungry friends so you can sample more of the menu!
This is a brand new place on Chandos Place, just off the strand. Made a perfect lunch venue with friends, but I am sure it is fun in the evenings too. The space is bright and funky, as soon as we got there we were treated to exceptional service and were sitting munching 'mole before we knew it. Only when the chirpy waiter came over to introduce the 'dining concept' did the bell start clanging in my head. Stairs leading down to a large open space, simplistic decor, paper place-mats for menus ('ouch!'say the eco-warriors) listing a delightful mix of exotic... street food. Well, if the concept worked at Wagamama for Japanese food, there should be no reason it shouldn't work here for Mexican. I'm sure punters who've actually been to Mexico (and even Japan in Wagamama's case) aren't that impressed by paying 3 times the price that you'd pay at the street stalls there. But then, this is London, and it's still cheap compared to a lot of places. The food was authentic and tasty. There was a decent choice with a range of sizes, from tapas to delicious salads and platos fuertes. It was all made fresh and came very quickly. I also recommend the Hisbiscus flavour drink to wash it down with, though I am sure Corona works well too. Our service continued to be great, although one hint to the many lovely-looking waiters is that lots of gabbling ladies on a tight time limit probably don't want to be interrupted every 5 minutes. Then again, maybe some do. I'd go back, especially if I wanted a good value meal and a treat for my eyes at the same time!
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