Soho’s Wahaca

I’ve been to Wahaca before and I’ve never really loved it. The food is pleasant, the atmosphere is jolly but the problem is that they don’t take reservations. Which means you have to queue, often for an incredibly long time. And I hate queuing, even for something that I really, really want.

Therefore, it would be an understatement to say that I was thrilled to discover that Wahaca Soho has an enormous tequila bar for would-be diners to wile away their time, money and wits whilst waiting for a table. What better way to prepare yourself for a Mexican feast than by drinking copious amounts of tequila!

Sadly, M was more excited about eating and I was lured away with the promise of tequila at the table. This was, however, no bad thing as Wahaca have a fabulous tequila tasting menu for you to enjoy a different type of tequila with every course. For some inexplicable reason now that I reflect on the meal, we only had two each but they were well-complimented by my delightfully sharp marguerita so fear not, I was properly able to get into the street party mood.

As having a street-party where I live would be frankly terrifying, or possibly embarrassing as no one would come, we embraced the street party concept at Wahaca by starting with some nibbles of tortilla chips with yellow habanera sauce, chipotle dip and a fresh guacamole which was particularly good, full of chunky avocado with a sharp tang.

Sharing is a key part of the ‘Wahaca Experience™’ and we had fun choosing three street food dishes to share and then spill all over the table: the pork pibil taco was unmemorable but the cerviche tostada was almost delicious. Unfortunately, it was slightly ruined by the curious addition of mayonnaise to the clean, fresh tastes of scallops, lime and herbs, leaving the dish of the day to be awarded to the surprisingly funky broad bean & feta quaesadilla.

I would have loved to give this award to the main course that we next shared and enjoyed – British steak grilled the Mexican way – but it was rather tragically served medium instead of rare and I suffered from serious food envy of my neighbour who had a frankly beautiful salad in a big tortilla bowl so the steak was pipped at the post.

The friendly, if a touch frenetic, staff buzzed around as we sat in a gentle haze of tequila and tasty food, trying to decide if we wanted pudding. It was good to know that we could take our time over our meal in a restaurant that is so clearly fast-paced, so thank you kind waitress. M eventually chose vanilla ice cream topped with pumpkin seeds and caramel sauce which vanished quickly so must have been good. I settled for peppermint tea with fresh mint leaves and felt very content.

In essence, there is no way to do Wahaca elegantly, so first-date territory it is not. But if you fancy fun, flavoursome food in a cheerful setting, then you should definitely go to Wahaca Soho.

Wahaca Soho
80 Wardour Street
Soho
W1F OTF

Tel: 020 7734 0195