A Weakness for Mexican Food | Wahaca

Why is it that Americans love Mexican food so much? Because Mexican food in America is usually, to be frank, really freakin’ good. I find that amongst my ex-pat friends, colleagues, foodies, acquaintances and even people I’ve never met and only spoken to on Twitter, we all have one thing in common: we’re all on a desperate search for great Mexican food in London. I find it funny that we have this common bond, but what is better to bring people together than a love for a particular cuisine, and especially one that a lot of English people still find to be slightly unknown and a little bit scary…

To my delight, London is starting to see some really worthy (judged by we Yanks of course) Mexican joints pop up around the capital. Someone is definitely catching on.

I predict a lot of Mexican food posts in the future, but for now I’ll start with my favourite restaurant at the moment: Wahaca. I was introduced to Wahaca about a year ago and instantly fell in love. I think maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was October – cold and rainy outside – and inside this hustling, bustling restaurant I was surrounded by palm trees. Yes, palm trees. In London. I felt right at home! Also a lover of the tapas-style of eating and sharing little plates of food with friends, I had high hopes for the place and knew it would be a fast fave.

Wahaca prides itself on “Mexican market eating.” I’ve been to Mexico, but only once or twice during spring break at university in which there was less market eating and a lot more stereotypically American Senor Frogs drinking, so I can’t say I have much to compare it to. But, the place is always packed with people, some of the seats are shared along a bench so you may end up knocking elbows with people you’ve never met, and the chefs are visible from most tables and angles in the restaurant, cooking and seemingly having a great time.

I have yet to make my way through the entire menu, but have tried one of everything from the Street Food section – and not only is the food phenomenal, the prices are seriously fair at about £3-£4 per small sharing plate of perfectly-sized portions of cheesy, spicy, and authentically flavoured Mexican food.

If you haven’t tried Wahaca (especially if you’re one of the above mentioned Americans trying to find great Mexican food in London), stop what you’re doing and go immediately.

A few of the faves:

Shrimp ceviche tostadas: shrimp ceviche with lime juice, habanero chilli, corn, black beans, and red onion served on a bed of lettuce over a crunchy corn tortilla. Not the easiest thing in the world to eat (if you’re shy and/or on a date, you might want to steer clear of the tostadas!), but with a bit of the salsa verde (the green one!) on top, the shrimp melts in your mouth and is perfect for seafood lovers. These tostadas are a mixture of salty flavours from the shrimp, onions and chillis and sweet taste of tomatoes with fresh lime juice, and heat of the salsa over a perfect crunch of a corn tortilla.

Summer vegetable tacos: three small flour tortillas filled with courgette, tomatoes, spinach, lightly salted with tarragon, mint and chipotle salsa, with what is in my opinion the most important ingredient: feta cheese. Normally I go for chicken or steak in my tacos, but the heartiness of the courgette, tomatoes and cheese are a great replacement and of course a slightly healthier option.

Broad bean and feta quesadilla: I am still drooling over this. I’ve had it a few times and it is still my favourite of the 10+ dishes I’ve tried at Wahaca. It’s not something I would have ever ordered, but it comes on the ‘Wahaca selection’ set menu for two which I ordered once with a friend, and since then I have ordered it every time I’ve gone back. In this dish you get two small flour tortillas packed with a very generous serving of melted mozzarella cheese, crumbled feta cheese, steamed broad beans and potatoes. Something about the texture of the two cheeses and the steamed veggies is fantastic and these quesadillas taste best with the sweet and smokey flavour of the chipotle (the red one) salsa drizzled over the top. These quesadillas even taste great the next day right out of the fridge – no need to heat up!

I love this quesadilla so much, in the next couple of days I’m going to experiment with making it on my own with some healthier ingredients like whole wheat tortillas, reduced fat cheese and lots of fresh salsa – and heavy on the broad beans. Stay tuned for a posting about trying to make this dish healthy and still delicious, and hopefully part of my nightly dinner routine.

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