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Wahaca

Address:66 Chandos Place, London WC2N 4HG
Tel:020 7240 1883
Email:
Website: Visit Wahaca website
Price: £29.00 Wine: £11.95
Opening Hours:Mon-Sat 12N-11pm Sun 12N-10.30pm

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This no bookings, canteen-style restaurant is the brainchild ofMasterchef winner Thomasina Miers, who once spent a year cooking on market stalls in Mexico City & now aims to offer authentic Mexican street food to Londoners more used to artery-clogging Tex-Mex. Displays of market produce & a vibrant colour scheme create a funky vibe &, although the food is meant to be similarly fresh & light, the results tend to be hit & miss. Slow-cooked pork pibil melts in the mouth as promised by the menu, but frijoles (refried black beans) tasted disappointingly bland, while the greasy tacos & taquitos were another letdown. Opt instead for toasted dishes, which include outstanding bite-sized quesadillas & generously portioned burritos. There’s a thirst-quenching range of Mexican beer & cocktails on offer, as well as 13 Tequilas, best savoured alongside a Sangrita, a sweet & spicy version of a Virgin Mary.

Chef: Thomasina Miers

Wahaca’s Chef -

One of the most successful winners of BBC’s Masterchef series, Thomasina Miers followed up her victory in 2005 with two cookery books Soup Kitchen & Cook before launching Wahaca in Covent Garden early in 2007. After stints as a VAT consultant & model failed to grab her fancy, Miers did a three-month course at cookery school Ballymaloe in Ireland before working in the food store Villandry in Great Portland Street, helping to set up its wholesale bread business. Following her success on Masterchef, she travelled extensively in Mexico, gleaning inspiration for the street market food that is the staple of Wahaca.

Wahaca Location:

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Reader reviews of Wahaca:

Sabrina E.
Reviews: 1

Sabrina E. (20s, Female)

Ive been to this place 3 times and i have to say that the place is not welcome. There was this Indian Manager at Westfield very annoying and i couldn't understand what he was saying without being racist, but if you don't understand the language please don't work in a busy place! for Godsake! Which was more even funny.. almost all the kitchen guys were Indian and it is funny because the place were meant to be MEXICAN! same at Covent garden. The meat was dry and hard, for the steak cheese tacos and my friend had a hair in the enchilada. The food came 30mins late as well. which was awful and the atmosphere was shit! i was very disappointed. Knowing that Myers was the Head-Chef i was keen to go there but never saw her in this kitchen.

We got a waitress very slow, quite old thought who couldn't even do the job properly. She was stroking her hair each time which taking orders.. It was disgusting.

I would not recommend people to eat there. Very disappointed. Waitress no manners, The food poor and finally this manager who was speaking his own language which obviously make the whole experience regrettable!

27 December 2008
Overall:3
Food and Drink:3
Service:1
Atmosphere:1
Value for Money:2
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HP
Silver Reviewer

HP (30s, Female, United Kingdom)

Editor's pick

Having visited Wahaca for the third time today, I cannot help but like this place. While I have to agree that the long waits and no booking policy are a real pain, the food is definitely worth it. There's a nice relaxed but buzzy atmosphere to the place and it's a fun place to eat something a little different from the norm in central London. It's only been in the last few years that Latin American food has really taken off and Wahaca's popularity (i.e. queueing most nights) is testament to the fact that it is filling this niche in the market. All the dishes we tried were fresh and tasty and full of flavour. I used to feel that the menu was somewhat restrictive, offering the same ingredients in a different format but the latest menu offers a much greater variety of both meat and vegetarian plates. The only disappointment were the actual tortillas used for the tacos which were unnecessarily greasy compared to the other dishes. I am inclined to agree with the other review as to the authenticity of some of the options (I certainly never saw a single churro in the weeks I spent in Oaxaca), this is certainly a step in the right direction and is far removed from the tex mex offerings of places like TGI Fridays. If you are new to Mexican cuisine and don't know what a chipotle is, Wahaca offers a much more cosmopolitan approach to mexican party food.

26 October 2008
Overall:8
Food and Drink:8
Service:6
Atmosphere:8
Value for Money:8
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Al B.
Reviews: 1

Al B. (30s, Female, United Kingdom)

Hmmm, I've been here twice and both times I've left feeling annoyed.

They make you wait at least at hour for a table (I arrived on a weeknight at 7pm) and they give you unrealistic times so when you come back and expect your table ready, you have another half an hour to wait.

The Front of House staff are rude, sarcastic and kept forgetting our booking. I can understand they have a stressful job but no need to be rude, after all, we are the ones waiting for a table.

The first time we went, we ended up sitting about an inch away from the people who had been queueing behind us for an hour which was a bit awkward as it felt like we knew them by this point.

Wahaca is a money-making machine. If there is a table available for 4 but you are a party of 3, they would rather make you wait for an hour than lose out on that extra person's spend. This is not a struggling business, they are constantly full and pack everyone in like sardines. It's also noisy and you have to shout to make yourself heard.

The food is good but the above really does spoil the experience.

Wahaca claims to be authentic Mexican but I'm not so sure. They offer Churros y Chocolate (which I love) and, according to Wahaca: "churro stalls are found all over Mexico". Which is strange because I've travelled through a fair part of Mexico and never saw a churro stall.

So why does it attract so many people? I think us British can't help but be attracted to a queue. If there's a queue, it must be good right?

Please don't jump on this bandwagon and spend your money somewhere more worthy.

1 October 2008
Overall:4
Food and Drink:7
Service:5
Atmosphere:5
Value for Money:5
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