Wahaca

On the other side of the world, Smee and I decided to check out the new Westfield Shopping Centre in East London.  Being a weekday and post-hype, we were fortunate enough to be not be squished among squillions of people.  It was pretty much a replica of the West-End Westfield. *yawn*

After all that mall trawling, we needed to fill our stomachs.  We'd always wanted to try Wahaca in Covent Garden (always full) so we were happy to see an outlet at Westfield Stratford.  A table for two please!

Wahaca serves Mexican street food and I had kinda been skeptical of the concept.  Mexican... for British tastes... hmmmm.  Would it be much like Wagamama (yuck!) which desecrates much of Asian cuisine?  Very possible.  With the not-so-pleasant experience of the cuisine-similar Newmarket Hotel in mind, I wanted to see how Wahaca stacked up.  

To start, Smee and I ordered:

Pork pibil soft tacos (£3.95 for three on a plate) and a Chipotle chicken quesadilla £3.85.  

Then we also added:

 MSC ceviche salad £7.95 (edible tortilla bowl!) and a British steak burrito £6.85 with Baja cheese (45p extra). 

Smee showing me the portion size.  Pretty generous! 

Ok, I'm going to discuss the tacos first only because I can directly compare them to the Newmarket Hotel.  Wahaca gave us three for £3.95 (AU$6.25, approx $2 each), whereas Newmarket served us two for AU$14-$16 (approx $7.50 each).  Taste wise they were just as tasty.  Wahaca's had a little less greenery but portion size was otherwise identical.  Eating tacos at Wahaca made me even more angry about Newmarket Hotel.  As a gross generalisation, food is better in Oz, but now Wahaca has made my world topsy-turvy.  I can't believe that London food is better than home!  The quesadilla chicken was nicely smokey and cheesy.  The ceviche salad surprisingly massive and filling.  The burrito was good too.  

Wahaca can't really be called a chain yet - it only has five outlets - but for a mini-chain, Smee and I were pretty impressed.  Whether Wahaca serves genuine Mexican fare, I can't really comment.  A Mexican person might express the same attitude I have for Wagamama - blergh!!!  All I can say that I'm happy to try more of the menu at Wahaca.  Give it a shot if you're sick of the usual British fish and chips, sandwiches and curry.