A London Lunch No. 10: Wahaca – Mexican Street Food

So I’m heading to Mexico this weekend for this first time and on a recent holiday retail jaunt to Westfield Stratford with the boyf, we decided to get in the mood for the Mexican cuisine by heading to Wahaca.

The rapidly expanding chain has Thomasina Miers' name to it, and has been a firm casual favourite of mine for a few years – having spent many a lunch hour in the Covent Garden branch. This was the boyfriend’s first time at Wahaca and he has been quickly converted to this style of eating small plates as and when they arrive at the table, according to the varying cooking times.

We ordered some Guacamole with Tortillas and a Citrus Fizz each whilst we mulled over the menu. The guacamole was chunky, flavourful, citrusy and with that all-important chilli kick – absolutely delicious. The Citrus Fizz is like an innocent version of a mojito – sparkling water over crushed mint and lime – utterly refreshing and moreish.

We chose six small dishes – all priced very reasonably under the £4.50 mark. The first is my favourite – I cannot enter Wahaca without ordering it – the Pork Pibil Tacos. You get three mini soft corn tacos topped with the most delicious slow-cooked pork which is in a salty, smoky and meaty juice and topped with sweet, pickled pink onions and zingy coriander. It is completely unpretentious but one of the most satisfying little plates of food. We also had the Chicken Tinga Tacos – these again were topped with shredded, slow-cooked chicken in a barbecue style sauce topped with chilli and crema – and it was sensational.

 

We tried the Ceviche Tostadas as well, a first for me at Wahaca, and whilst it was pleasant enough, I probably wouldn’t repeat. Fresh and fragrant it was, but having eaten such great alternatives at Ceviche and Lima recently, it just didn’t live up to those standards. There was very little flavour from the scallops which was disappointing – Glen loved it though, so maybe give it a try.

Another first for me was the Potato and Chorizo Quesadilla. This had a lovely smoky taste running through from the chorizo and the melted cheese made it feel quite naughty but very, very nice. I have to say this, like a good slice of pizza, tastes oh so much better if eaten with your hands – it’s one of those kind of dishes.

Our final two dishes were the Marinated Chicken Taquitos and the Green Rice – both of which were good. The taquitos had the most fragrant, moist and tasty chicken inside and were topped with a refreshing citrusy green salad and a generous topping of crumbly and delicious Lancashire cheese – gorgeous. The rice is a beautiful looking little plate; blitzed coriander and onion make for the unmistakable flavours and colours of Mexican cuisine – once again showing that a simple dish can be so, so good. 

‘Simple yet satisfying’ is the mainstay of Wahaca and it never disappoints for me. I have enjoyed many a lunch at the various outposts and I’m sure I will continue to do so. There are tons of Mexican restaurants and burrito bars in London these days and I have tried a good selection, but what Wahaca has above most that I’ve tried, is you don’t come away with that awful bloated feeling and I think this had a lot to do with the quality of the ingredients and the freshness of everything used. Oh and with change from £30 for a very enjoyable and filling lunch for two I just don’t think you can go wrong.

If anybody has any recommendations for foodie or otherwise things to do in Cancun or the Riviera Maya in Mexico please do comment below.

Pitt Cue - Barbecue Heaven

Pulled Pork Perfection

So once upon a time a metallic ‘burger van’ style BBQ eaterie, Pitt Cue, sat splendid over by the Southbank, ran by Tom Adams and serving ribs and pulled pork in as magnificent a way as is possible and so the ‘street food’ explosion began and continues.

Now Pitt Cue resides in a small little corner just off of Carnaby St in a restaurant, not so much street food, more diner-style in a very popular Soho location. As with so many venues in the ‘trendy’ food scene at the moment, reservations cannot be made to eat here, one must simply turn up and wait their turn - in a restaurant with only 30 covers this can be a lengthy process. Queues out of the door are a regular sight and I guess as with other similarly no-booking-policy venues, this only adds to the allure and makes the wannabe diner wonder what is so good to make people queue out of the door - and often for quite some time too.

I finally visited recently for the first time since the Newburgh St restaurant opened with my brother Dan, and a tip for not waiting too long is to go after the lunchtime rush and before the early evening stampede. We turned up around 3pm and waited just long enough to down a couple of drinks each, and eat a portion of the fantastic pork scratchings, which were lovely salty, crunchy and delicious things of culinary beauty (see attached image). Obviously pork scratchings are not to be eaten on a regular basis as they are certainly not the healthiest of things, and I’d dread to think of the fat-content, but my word as an occasional treat these were just phenomenal.

The place really is tiny, and when waiting in the bar area I particularly noticed the oddly old-fashioned net curtains, that adorn the windows and that I haven’t seen the like of for about twenty years, I guess this feeds into the Western theme but I can’t see it taking off too much on the London food scene (well I hope not anyway).

The bar serves an array of cocktails, but having been Pisco’d at Ceviche the weekend before, Dan and I opted for a beer and a ginger beer which were both: tasty, reasonable and refreshing.

Once seated in the downstairs area we quickly decided on our meal. You can either choose to have one of the Bun meals which includes the meat of your choice in some bread with pickles, which is the cheaper way to enjoy the food, but we opted for the Meat & a Side option which is also pretty reasonable.

We decided to get two different meals and share so we could try a bit of everything so we had the Pulled Pork and the Beef Rib mains with Bone Marrow Mash and Spicy Slaw as well as the pickles that come with each dish.

Beef Rib & Bone Marrow Mash

I literally don’t know where to start with detailing this food, it was mouth-wateringly delicious, all of it! I literally couldn’t find one single gripe or moan about the place. The pulled-pork, was tender, flavoursome and fell apart at the touch of the fork. The bone marrow mashed potato was creamy, earthy and a little bit on the greasy side, naughty but very, very nice and the spicy slaw was the perfect accompaniment to all as it had that gorgeous crunch with a slightly acidic, vinegary flavour and the beef ribs were just to-die-for. They fell off of the bone and had that charred, BBQ flavouring on the crispy coat, but had clearly been cooked over time to ensure tender, delicate meat. A chunky piece of crusty bread, also charred, came with both and was perfect for soaking up the meat juices.

The meals are served in metallic tins, not unlike the kind you’d imagine a grandparent preparing their roast joint in as a child, well for me anyway.

Pork Scratchings

Pitt Cue is a must for anyone who likes their meat, BBQ style food or just to stay ahead of the foodie pack and ensure you’ve been to all of the latest ‘on-trend’ places. The meal was a treat from my brother and came in at around the £50 mark, with a few drinks each. With the Bun meal options priced at only £6.50 this is a really affordable place to eat, particularly if you’re not drinking, and don’t mind a bit of a wait, although frankly if our meal was anything to go by, the wait, however long, will be worth it.

Ceviche

 

It seems ‘Ceviche’ has been the buzz word on food-lovers lips for the past couple of years. I remember first reading the term on Eat Like a Girls’ blog a good year and a half ago, I’d heard the term but wasn’t quite sure what it entailed. As usual, the description on this blog was executed so beautifully, as to make one hungry whilst reading, of course I looked up ‘ceviche’ and made it my mission to try it. Each time I’ve tried ceviche I’ve liked it more than the last time and my most recent trip has been notably better than all others.

Ceviche is the technique of marinating raw fish in citrus juices and a combination of spices - so it’s pretty much a trio of my favourite foods fish, heat and citrus flavours, so it’s little wonder how quickly I was won over.

When Peruvian Ceviche opened its doors recently in Soho, I was literally chomping at the bit to get a seat at looks set to be one of the hottest tickets in town.

Finally my brother Dan and I were permitted a table on a recent Saturday afternoon approximately 4:30pm, before the early evening rush - we were told we only had an hour and twenty minutes till we’d need to vacate our table mind.

It was atmospheric on arrival, but not overly busy, and so we were slightly disappointed that once seated it took almost 10 minutes for a waitress to approach us and request our drinks order. This sobered out excitement a bit, especially as there were a good number of waiting staff. However, not to be put off I ordered a Pasion de Ceviche cocktail, liking the sound of the passion fruit and prickly pear liquer and not taking too much notice of the drinks basis. Dan ordered a Peruvian beer to get us in the mood to mull over the menu. Both were good but we soon realised we’d made a mistake.

Observing the room, almost everyone else in the place had a small glass of what looked to me like bitter lemon with foam on top. On delicately requesting what these mystery beverages were we quickly ordered one each, and so our love affair with the Pisco begins. A type of grape brandy mixed up with the favourite flavours of Peru apparently - sugar and lime, bitters and the foam element - an egg white. These were really good and went down very easily, to the point that after leaving the restaurant, we had to venture into a coffee house to sober up for a while.

We ordered, with some helpful advice from our waiting team of two, the salmon ceviche (Sakuru Maru) which we were told follows a more Japanese style, being very thinly sliced, so is good for the novice ceviche-ite, this suited Dan as it was his first time. We also ordered the sea bass in this same style. Both were flawlessly, melt-in-the-mouth perfect. I couldn’t have asked for better, in fact we were sold on the place immediately after one mouthful each of these. The sea bass was my preference, as the flavours were more to my palate, hot chilli for heat, coriander livening it up and salty nutty crunch to add texture to a fab dish.

We had some cheese tequenos - a deep fried mild cheese with a crispy, slightly crunchy pastry coat. Hot fried cheese is frankly one of those food items I think it must be impossible not to like, so clearly we were thrilled with this dish - not least because it came with a spicy mayonnaise style sauce which had a fiery chilli kick, one of my favourite dishes.

Our one dud dish was the ‘Causa Mur’ and this was probably down to our own initial excitement, and not reading the menu properly. Basically this dish was a potato base, topped with squid, prawns and avocado. Let me start by saying the topping was divine, a really refreshing mix of seafood with a slightly creamy, but light sauce with the tiniest amount of bite to it. What it was sitting on however left a lot to be desired. Dubbed on the menu as ‘a cool potato cake’, it was in fact what I can only describe as a dollop of cold mashed potato. I understand from speaking to one of the waiters that this is exactly as it should be served, but unfortunately my thought is that there is never a time to serve cold mashed potato and however on-trend that might ever become it’ll never be in favour for my palate, or Dan’s for that matter. We were not amused.

Back to the good stuff though - our chosen ‘anticuchos’ or skewer dish was the chicken which was marinated in a really flavoursome sauce and left the meat incredibly juicy, and we could have actually eaten more of this, given the choice.

We ordered one other dish which was exceptional - the ’Arroz con Pato’ or confit of duck. When it arrived, this looked exactly as confit should, it had a crispy brown skin, but as soon as you dug beyond the surface the meat was succulent, moist and tender and falling off of the bone. The flavour was really up there with delicate spicing bringing the meat to life and what really elevated this dish was the bed of rice and beans it was sitting upon, a combination of herby, coriander flavoured rice and green beans. The dish looked fantastic, colourful and vibrant, and the taste matched up to the appearance. The crispy skin was so good that we actually argued over the last bit, but this is what happens when you eat out with your sibling I guess.

We had a truly great meal in Ceviche and I wouldn’t hesitate to return, though we had a slow start with the staff once they’d first spoken to us and we’d asked for their advice they showed nothing but enthusiasm and a good deal of knowledge about the menu too.

We paid just under £70 including service for all of the above which isn’t extortionate but wouldn’t constitute being detailed as cheap either - middle of the range.

I’m going to now ask those that accompany me on meals which I’m to review to also review in marks out of five for food, service and overall experience and Dan’s marks are detailed below.

Food: 4/5

Service: 3/5

Overall Experience 4/5

Score out of 15: 11/15