I can't believe I've been back home for nearly three weeks! Time surely does fly by and it's kind of scaring me. I'm so thankful for such good weather since I've been back, despite all of the sweat from the heat (I bet you didn't want to know about that, huh?).
This next post is actually dedicated to a Mexican chain that became one of my faves in London. Thomasina Miers, chef and co-owner of Wahaca across seven sites, as well as one mobile and one experimental restaurant, is proof that maybe something good can come out of winning a reality TV cooking show (she was the first female winner of Masterchef UK, winning in 2005). Even though Wahaca has expanded across seven sites, I only ever went to the one in Covent Garden. I tried to go to the one in Wardour Street once, but my friend and I were so hungry that we couldn't wait and wanted food immediately. More on that below. Note that this isn't going to be about one visit, but a combination of multiple visits to Wahaca.
Wahaca
6 Chandos Place, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4HG (Closest tube station: Charing Cross Station).
I think the first time Wahaca was ever introduced to my muddled, over-thinking brain was by my friend's friend. My friend was undecided between Thai and Mexican, so her friend chose for us, recommending this place for dinner. We ended up not eating Mexican; it was first time out of numerous visits to Wahaca that I witnessed the waiting list - a throng of people waiting to get tables - and that the 40 minute queue was too long for us to wait for food. We were pretty starving before we even got there. So we went for Thai food instead. A week later, the same friend invited me to go out for dinner at Wahaca with a group of her friends from her course. I was very keen. Wait time? One hour. They don't take reservations. Instead of resigning and giving up, we left a name with them and went to the pub. Not long after, we came back and while we were waiting, we went to the bar and had some drinks and some snacks.
When you go at night time, the wait time can be excruciating. One time I tried to go for dinner with a couple of friends and the wait time was 75 minutes. No thank you. So after a few visits, I realised the best time to go (well, for me) was to go during lunch. You don't have to wait and there aren't as many people. See that photo on the right - all those people standing are waiting by the bar so they can be seated. The funny thing is despite the mad rush of people at night, the service is always pretty consistent no matter what time of day and how busy it is.
Wahaca prides itself on fresh Mexican market eating (street food), dispelling the notion that not all Mexican food out there is greasy. Your menu is your placemat and you can opt to try a few smaller plates on your own or share with friends, or opt for a bigger plate (which I've never done). The smaller plates are fun and more interesting in my opinion, because I love trying little bits of dishes rather than just one. What if you're totally missing out on something awesome? Wahaca also changes some of their menu when the seasons change, so excuse me if some of these dishes aren't on their current menu (though they might come back eventually...)
The first thing to discuss would be the drinks. For my first visit to Wahaca, I ordered the passionfruit margarita (£6.25) which was delicious and fruity. I'm normally not a passionfruit person, but I had this inkling that it would taste good. Sometimes inklings are the best things to happen to you. Visit #3 or #4 (it's all a blur), I wanted to drown in my sorrows after a confusing VAT/tax class. Oh boy. (I still have no idea how I managed to pass that paper. I had nightmares after that exam). I ordered the hibiscus margarita (£5.95) and while it was much stronger than the passionfruit one, I didn't mind that one bit! I'm not sure if I should be condoning drinking by midday, but I'd like to think that it's a part of me trying to fit in with London culture...
For non-alcoholic fare, I did try the Horchata (£1.75) a few times. Horchata is a Mexican drink that consists of almond and rice milk. Lots of cinnamon on top. Kind of weird, I have to say. Maybe it's the unnecessary excess of cinnamon, maybe it could be that it's never that cold enough for me to drink in spite of a couple of icecubes in there - I like my cold drinks to be cold (unless I'm suffering from a god almighty toothache).
While you and your friends are deciding what to order, you can opt to order some nibbles with your drinks. I seriously can't fault their guacamole (with tortilla chips or scratchings, £3.85). Every person that I've taken to Wahaca has always mentioned how good it is. The frijoles with tortilla chips (£3.25) are also pretty darn good and I am not the biggest fan of black beans. Yum. The black beans are served with cheese and crema on top.
Now for the street food menu. I've ever only tried one of the taquitos (corn tortilla wrapped around a filling, deep fried and served with crema) on their menu, which were the marinated chicken ones with shredded lettuce, cheese and tomato salsa (£3.95). Those were pretty good and were a hit at our table. A bit hard to eat, but had great flavour. The tostadas are a bit of mix bag (a crisp tortilla piled with a cold light salad on top). The best one I had was one that I forgot to take a photo of – the MSC ceviche tostada (£3.95) with shrimp and scallop, habanero, lime, mint, and tomato salsa. I was surprised by the taste since I'm not a big fan of the preparation of the shrimp, but it was so fresh that I ended up forgetting about my original preconceptions. The black bean tostadas (£3.80) with avocado salsa, crema, cheese and tomato sauce was also fresh and tasty – so nice that I forgot that there was no meat in it! My least favourite was the chicken guajillo tostadas (£3.95) – chicken marinated in chipotle dressing, with salad mix, guacamole, salsa fresca and smoky guajillo oil. In all honesty, I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken and its texture and nor a huge fan of oil on top. Not bad, but most likely not to my tastes.
(from top left - clockwise: chicken taquito, black bean tostadas, the crowd, chicken tostadas)
My favourites from the street food part of the menu are the tacos. I'm a bit of a sucker for soft corn tortillas - especially when they're warm! Both the pork pibil taco (£3.95, slow cooked pork in a special yucatecan marinade) and the grilled british steak taco (with chipotle salsa £4.50, with grilled cheese & salsa £4.85) are extremely flavourful and have such tender meat involved. I personally favour the steak one more, only for the reason that I like chunks of steak and that the juiciness of the meat compliments the rest of the flavours in the taco.
One of the dishes that made it on the specials list was the queso fundido (£4.50), which is mexican fondue - with cactus, caramelised onions, lots of melted cheese, and served with soft corn tortillas. Can't go wrong with melted cheese, right?
Moving onto the quesadillas, I've tried the huitlacoche (£3.95), which had sauteed mushrooms, corn mushrooms and melted cheese; and the chorizo and potato (£4.10), which had chorizo (that they apparently make themselves), thyme and potato. While both are really good, my favourite was actually the chorizo and potato filling, and that shocks me since I have a mad love for mushrooms. It had a really nice amount of heat to it thanks to the chorizo. These quesadillas are not like the sloppy quesadillas I used to eat at university..which is a good thing really.
Now onto dessert! Hurrah, my favourite thing. From my first visit, I remember that we wanted to share two desserts. We instantly decided to order the churros with the chocolate sauce (£3.95) but weren't sure for the second one. So we asked our waitress for a recommendation and she exclaimed, "The churros definitely!" Well we already decided on that so we asked her for another one. She contemplated, "Hmmm...the churros?"Heh. "I guess the next best thing would be the dulce de leche icecream [£3.85]?" Such hesitance, but nevertheless we ordered it. As far as ice creams go, it was nothing overly spectacular. The waitress was right to hesitate – the churros was the only way to go. When they hesitate, you should probably take that into consideration. I've had many churros' in my time and Wahaca make some good ones.
In terms of service, service is always pretty efficient. As I mentioned earlier, service is rather consistent across lunch and dinner and I guess they have to be with fast turnover of customers. I think lunch is nicer in particular because the waiters seem to be more hospitable and it has a quieter atmosphere – there's still a lot of people but not overly crowded like it is during dinner. Lunch is also more convenient because there's barely any waiting time to get a table.
I think the reason why I like Wahaca is because it's rather informal and fun and the food is actually fresh and decent. London is an expensive city, so it's nice to go out somewhere for a quick bite and drink at a reasonable price. I don't know how authentically Mexican it is, but for whatever it is, it was good enough for me and my friends!
My next blog will be a very general update on the cafe culture in London. I love cafes!
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