Dinner for 1 with drinks: £20.90
What am I doing? Why am I willingly traveling to a mall? Why am I willingly traveling to a mall to eat “Mexican” food in London? Why I am willingly planning to eat “Mexican” in London?
There are a lot of fantastic things to eat in London. Cuisines from all over the world. Mexican food however is so not one of them. Most “Mexican” food I have sampled in London has, on a good day, approached the quality of Taco Bell – awful, microwaved, crap.
But Ellis stopped me in the office today to mention that – though he knows he has no frame of reference because living in London he clearly has never had good Mexican food – he thinks that the food at Wahaca was really good. Now Ellis is no slouch so I think OK he might be on to something so I looked the restaurant up.
And this is where I begin to doubt Ellis. I am not a fan of having things dumbed down for me. I was a blond in my youth but that is no reason to speak slowly to me. I hope by now you have noticed that the name of the restaurant is Wahaca a place which does not exist in reality. Oaxaca on the other hand is a state in Mexico, albeit one which is apparently harder to read out loud, and is in theory where the restaurant gets its name. Even better this place is in a mall. Right I think – perfect opportunity to go and hate this place and make fun of the name, etc. etc.- Ellis is clearly out of his mind. All my reviews can’t be positive affairs after all.
I arrive at Westfield center and its just meh, as meh as any mall could ever be. I expect I’ll be eating in some gloomy food court but the navigation kiosk points me out onto something promisingly labeled the terrace. I walk out of the mall proper onto said terrace which has a line of restaurants running along one side and a very unexpected green wall running up the other. Green wall meaning plants – not paint. I am of course undeterred in my mission to hate this restaurant at this point as it is wedged in between a Dell’Aziz and something called the Real Greek which I am sure is anything but.
The first thing I notice upon entering is the complete lack of “Mexican” kitsch. No sombreros or mariachi anything. No bull fighting posters or murals of banditos on the run. I am settled at a nice table with a view of the green wall by a friendly fellow who took care of me before the table of 6 that came in right on my heals. My bum has not even hit my seat when I am greeted by an attentive and helpful waiter who hearing the American accent says to me quite rightly “Ah American, so you’re familiar with Mexican food and I probably don’t need to explain menu”. Excellent – appeal to my ego – good start.
Thankfully Oaxaca is spelled correctly on the menu when referring to any regional specialties and there is no evidence of fajitas or chimichangas anywhere on the menu which is a good sign as these things are not actually Mexican at all. There is also huitlacoche on the menu- which is referred to adorably as “corn mushroom” – but we’ll get back to that later.
Scratchings and Guacamole
I start with an order of pork rinds and guacamole – the pork rinds are bottomless by the way. The waiter informs me that the pork rinds, or scratchings as they are called here, are baked rather than fried which makes them light and crunchy and not at all greasy. They’re good but they could use a little salt or spice or something. The guacamole is also pretty good – it has actual raw onions in it which for some reason is rare in London “Mexican” places, but its missing a hit of citrus and spice. I opt not to have a refill on the pork rinds mostly because it would be insane for me to eat two buckets of them by myself. Under the cover of a crowd I totally would have gone for it.
Shrimp Tacos
My second item is an order of shrimp tacos which were served cold and were quite nice. There was actually enough spice that I started to feel a tingle around my lips – which I enjoyed very much. These were definitely the highlight of the meal. They were fresh and flavorful.
Served with my meal were a side of black beans and green rice which arrived for some perturbing reason 10 minutes before the rest of my food and sat there staring at me getting cold as I waited for everything else. And when I did finally tuck into them I was not all that impressed. The green rice was rice and it was green – I have nothing more descriptive in my notes. The beans were beans but I think that in their attempt to have one pot of beans on which you can opt to have either a meat or veggie topping they’ve missed out. I had mine topped with house-cured chorizo. Beans with pork should taste porky and not just on top – no porky taste here.
Frijoles with home-cured organic chorizo
Now back to the corn mushrooms. Once I saw the huitlacoche on the menu I knew I was having it. I laughed out loud though when I read the description of it as “Corn Mushroom”. That’s a mild description of what huitlacoche actually is. It is most often referred to as corn smut which also makes me laugh and if you’re not faint of heart you can take a look at it here. Though in their defense putting “disease of corn” on the menu might not encourage people to order it.
So knowing full well what it is I ordered it and was really looking forward to getting to eat something so bizarre.
Huitlacoche quesadilla
It was kind of a let down. I mean as a quesadilla it was fine but aside from the ash gray color of the filling there was nothing unusual about it, it just tasted like mushrooms and cheese. Apparently corn mushroom is an apt description.
The margarita was good and freshly made – could’ve done with a little more tequila in it however. I judge my margaritas by the amount of fuzz in my head after drinking one – none here – not enough tequila!
Also I have an issue with one of the “salsas” they served. One was a tomatillo salsa that was good. The other was – I swear – adobo sauce from a can. I can recognize it instantly as I cook with it often and always have some at home. It tastes good but don’t pretend you’ve made me a salsa when really you’ve just opened a can.
If this was a meal served to me in New York I would have said you know its fine – and would probably not make a point go back – as the options for excellent Mexican are virtually limitless here. But as I had this meal in London I looked at it a little differently. Any problems aside it was the most authentic Mexican food I’ve had here and if I’ve got a craving for Mexican when in London I will definitely go back. I might even check out their Covent Garden location. I might even drag some Londoners along to give them a little education on authentic Mexican flavors.
Clearly Ellis knows good Mexican.
Wahaca
1074 Westfield Shopping Centre,
Ariel Way, London W12 7GB
