Wahaca, Wardour Street

Why, oh why, did it take me four whole years to find Wahaca? The branch in Covent Garden has been there for four years, it's not my usual stomping ground but I'm surprised I've never had a recommendation from anyone to get my burrito-loving butt down there.

It was only after my boyfriend visited for lunch, really enjoyed himself and told me about it, did I set out with two friends to see what all his fuss was about.

We went to the Soho branch (my usual stomping ground) and that has only been opened since last year so I sort of forgive myself for not finding it sooner.

The theme is based around a Mexican market and the interior reflects that with graffiti and montages on the walls, bright paint pot colours featuring throughout, mismatched furniture, bare bricks and reclaimed wooden beams from the previous tenants at 80 Wardour Street - the Slug and Lettuce.

What better way to experience the Mexican market than to order lots of little dishes from the street food menu. The plates comes as soon as they are ready and with 2-3 dishes ordered each it felt like they didn't stop coming, for this I was glad.

Here's what we ate:

Grilled British steak tacos with grilled cheese and salsa...

Pork Pibil Tacos, slow cooked pork in a special Yucatecan marinade - my favourite by far.


Tender marinated chicken taquitos with shredded lettuce, lancashire cheese and fresh tomato salsa. This was probably my least favourite - albeit it delicious, it wasn't very Mexican for me - more of a British take on it. More spice please!

Chicken guajillo tostadas, chunks of marinated chicken, lettuce, guacamole and a smoky guajillo oil.
These were the star of the show, crispy fried sweet potato chunks with smoky caramelised mojo de ajo. The were soft and sweet and the perfect accompaniment to the rest of the meal.


Black beans and cheese quesadilla, made with homemade black beans, cheddar and mozzarella cheese - this was also incredible and a firm favourite amongst us.


We also had, but I failed to photograph, the green rice which I didn't really like so didn't eat much of - not a huge fan of the coriander in it and the chorizo and potato quesadilla which was very good, so good in fact that we had all tucked in to it before I remembered the camera, not as good as the black bean one though!

You might think that we would have been full after all of this but you think wrong. Time for desserts...

Churros y chocolate, mexican doughnuts with a rich chocolate sauce... the piping hot churros were supreme, I'm not a huge fan of dark chocolate and the dip was quite bitter - I could have eaten the doughnuts on their own though.

But I didn't, I dipped my churros in my friends Flan de la casa, a creamy vanilla scented pudding with a caramel sauce - together they made for the perfect combination.

Of course I've been back again since this visit and sampled many more dishes from the menu, here are some more that I recommend from my second visit to the Covent Garden branch.

• The hibiscus mojito, don't go there without one
• Fresh tomato salsa and tortilla chips - perfect while you wait for your table - inevitable past 7pm at the Covent Garden branch
• Spicy slaw - an alternative to the rice as a side dish
  
• The churros with caramel sauce at Covent Garden - much better than the chocolate sauce

I've just proposed another date at Wahaca - after all this dribbling on the keyboard I'm more than ready to get back there. Next time I want to try the mackerel tostadas, frijoles and perhaps I'll venture out and try one of the many tequilas available on the menu.