London Food | Wahaca St. Pauls

If you know me, then you'll know that eating out is probably one of my favourite ways to 'explore' a place and London is no different; in fact, Dena and I had a conversation about how great London is for food as you can find whatever your heart's desire!  

As great as living in Suffolk is, it's not so great for finding Mexican food so whenever I go to London I try to eat Mexican at least once!  My usual haunt is Lupita, in Charing Cross, but we decided this time to try out Wahaca, which seems to be growing in popularity and its name is becoming more well known (I guess bringing out salsas in the supermarket helps a lot!).  The restaurant chain was founded by Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers, and she has a passion for Mexican food and the restaurant prides itself on it's sustainability - it serves authentic Mexican street food but made with locally sourced ingredients.  

I've been itching to try Wahaca for years and we opted for the St. Paul's branch, a stone's throw away from the cathedral, as the decor is based on the Zócalo, which is the main plaza in Mexico City.  Of course, that holds a special place in my heart and I have visited Mexico City many times so it was natural to choose there.

I was, for some reason, surprised that the restaurant was in a large shopping centre but we were welcomed and shown to our table on the upper level, which was great for me as I'm such a restaurant people watcher!  The waitress asked if we needed any help with the menu but we declined, deciding to order a selection from their 'street food' section and mix and match.  It was so great to see some of my favourites from Mexico on the menu: horchata, agua de jamaica (or as they called it, hibiscus water),  totopos, tostadas and Baja-style fish.  

We ordered totopos (nacho-style fried tortilla chips) which guacamole and salsa.  The salsa was lovely; the tomatoes were so fresh and ripe that the flavours burst in your mouth.  I enjoyed the guacamole but it was quite heavy on the garlic and I prefer mine with more lime and salt but the flavours were straight out of Mexico.  

As I said, our main was a selection of street food, it's great that you can order a few dishes at a time, they arrive where they are ready and then if you want, you can order more.  I love that type of eating; almost  grazing over a meal, picking at whatever you fancy.  We ordered black bean tostadas, pork tacos, chipotle chicken quesadillas, spinach and corn tacos and a side of sweet potato fries.  The dishes look quite small but they are surprisingly filling; I think my favourite was the quesadillas, lovely melted cheese goodness!  I also really enjoyed the fact I could eat frijoles (beans) again... they were a staple in my diet in Mexico.  The food was delicious, I think it has been slightly British-icised for our palates over here but you were really able to try and taste the combination of flavours that are important in Mexican cuisine.  The only thing I wish I could have had was plenty of lime to squeeze over everything! 

We managed to squeeze in churros for dessert, they were good; not too greasy and the chocolate sauce hit my sugar craving in the right spot.  In Mexico, I tended to have churros filled with chocolate instead of with dipping chocolate; I was quite surprised it was served like this. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at Wahaca and it was very reasonably priced too.  The menu is pretty extensive and you can adapt your dining experience to your own personal preference.  I would say the food is fairly authentic: they even had deep fried crickets on the menu (a traditional Mexican snack)!  I would love to go back and try the Baja fish tacos.... maybe next time I'm in London! 

Have you ever been to Wahaca?