Wahaca, England by Bureaucrat

Wahaca is the brain child of one of UK's Masterchef winner. I've never had Mexican food before - my impression of Mexican food prior to Wahaca was limited to the Old El Paso ads on tv and thinking that it's full of lentils.

Wahaca hits the right note - blending a family-friendly eatery with a place that's hip and smart casual enough for to have a nice night out with friends whilst sipping margaritas over some tapas style dishes.


I was quite surprised to discover that Mexican food is fresh, lots of salad, tasty meats and very morish. After eating here, I wondered why Mexican food hasn't made its presence known in the Melbourne food scene.

I've been here a few times now and each time the food and service have been 100%. Wahaca gets extra brownie points from me as it offers some dairy-free and gluten-free dishes and drinks. It also sources some of its ingredients from eco-friendly and sustainable sources. Here is a selection of the food that we've ordered in the past.


Fish goujon tacos. The fish goujons were moist, meaty and crispy. I could eat a whole plateful of these.


Pork pibil. Slow cooked pork that was so melt-in-your-mouth tender.


Sonora salad with chargrilled steak. I loved this dish. It comes in a deep fried tortilla bowl that's packed full of fresh salad, pumpkin seeds, spelt, avocado and succulent steak. I miss steak so much here in the UK (I find the beef tastes kinda weird in the UK). However, here it tastes absolutely delish. A generous serving of steak and salad (they're quite generous with the seeds and avo, which is a good thing).


Black bean and cheese quesidillas. Wow - I was sceptical of this but was proven wrong quite quickly! I never thought beans could taste so good! So morish, so cheesy. It came with some green rice (rice mixed with coriander, onion and garlic).


Chicken mole tacos. In my opinion, this sort of tasted like the pork pibil taco but spicier.


Marinated grilled chicken. Nothing beats a grilled chicken - look at that colour!


You also get these kitschy chilli seeds that you can take home to grow.

Overall
A great place for a light snack or a very filling meal. I try to make myself order different things each time, but it's so hard to do that when all you want to do is to re-order the same delicious dish that you had last time.

Service is quick and friendly (it's like they make a point to recruit friendly and good looking staff).

The only con is that they have communal toilets. That's all a bit much for me - I don't want to catch boy cooties.

Address
There are three restaurants across London, but the one we went to was in Canary Wharf.

Wahaca
The Park Pavilion
Canada Square
Canary Wharf E14 5FW

Telephone: 0207 516 9145