New Mexican restaurant in Covent Garden looks/sounds promising!!

I wonder if they just did that because no one would have been able to pronounce it? Still, it would have been cooler to keep the actual spelling... or at least use a different word!

My wife thinks it's "patronising" that they Anglicised the name of the joint ... but having heard so many hilarious attempts by the Brits to pronounce jalapenos and even nachos I think the restaurant owners were probably wise.

I can just imagine four pissed-up Brits trying to come from different parts of London all talking on their mobiles at rush hour trying to find some place called "Oaxaca" in Covent Garden !!!

"What's that mate? OH AX ACA?" ... the place would be out of business in months!

ROTFLMAO!!

You are SO right!!!

On a serious note thought, I had a look at the menu and as a SoCal who has spent plenty of time in the Mex interior as well, the menu looks like the real deal.

Very eager to try it out on next visit to London. Mestizo in Warren Street is probably still the best, though.

I like enchiladas and burritos too, but they are not truly "Mexican Mexican" food, nor are they really "Tex Mex" (fajitas are Tex Mex). Enchiladas and burritos are really more of a "Mexican American" thing, created by Mexican immigrants in the '50s and popularised through the Southwest and then all over the U.S.

If I go to a "so-so" Mexican place in the UK, like the Texas Embassy in London, I'm happy to have enchiladas (it's just sort of like Acapulo back in the US). But I prefer the real Mexican food -- only places in London I've had that are Mestizo, Taqueria (Notting Hill), Green And Red (£££! Shoreditch) and El Panzon (Brixton).

So Wahaca looks promising indeed -- can't wait to try the pollo pibil tacos.

My wife thinks it's "patronising" that they Anglicised the name of the joint ... but having heard so many hilarious attempts by the Brits to pronounce jalapenos and even nachos I think the restaurant owners were probably wise.

I can just imagine four pissed-up Brits trying to come from different parts of London all talking on their mobiles at rush hour trying to find some place called "Oaxaca" in Covent Garden !!!

"What's that mate? OH AX ACA?" ... the place would be out of business in months!

HAHA! That is so true!!! How about "Cholla" and "fajitas". I've heard many butcherings of those words too, along with "gila monster" and "saguaro". I can believe that "Oaxaca" would be definitely way too hard.

Althought, Chipotle in the US has actually somewhat avoided that by putting the pronunciation snarkily on all their branded stuff. So it says "chip- oat- lay" on everything.

There'sa review of Wahaca in the Sunday Times Style mag today but it sounds like the reviewer doesn't know much about Mexican food.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article2245837.ece

Huh. Well, to some degree I agree with her. While I really enjoyed my meal, it's entirely possible the sheer novelty of going out for Mexican food made the enjoyment more pronounced than it might otherwise be. I think there has been a bit of dumbing down on the part of Miers. But I was still happy!

On a serious note thought, I had a look at the menu and as a SoCal who has spent plenty of time in the Mex interior as well, the menu looks like the real deal.

Very eager to try it out on next visit to London.

I had some HORRENDOUS Mexican food this weekend at a "Mexican Cantina" in Beckenham. It was FOUL. The food was served up on a platter (nice) but the refried beans (surely some from a can) were microwaved. I haven't been that sick in ages. The spices didn't even taste remotely Mexican. How do you mess up fajitas? After this, I was craving Wahaca for the freshness!! It is good, eat there... just remember you are in London though.

I don't understand how I can eat Japanese, Indian, Italian (Chinese not so much) etc etc and it tastes pretty much the same wherever, but Mexican just doesn't translate.

As for the review... yeah, the M&S comment is spot on. I wasn't too keen on the green rice either.

The alcohol menu was pretty tempting though!!

There'sa review of Wahaca in the Sunday Times Style mag today but it sounds like the reviewer doesn't know much about Mexican food.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article2245837.ece

From the article:

You can’t help wondering whether it’s entirely true when it comes to Mexican: all we ever see of this epic cuisine is pancakes cooked and folded in various ways, and filled with beans, cheese and meat. Avocados, lettuce and chillies also feature.

...am I being led to believe that the British think tortillas = pancakes? I know I am most likely going to go into some serious withdrawls, seeing as I live in Arizona and every other restaurant is Mexican food (and man, do I love mexican food!!!).

Why can’t the chicken be laid in chargrilled strips across its bed of iceberg lettuce, instead of minced to an orange squidge?

Um.. that's called shredded chicken? 

There'sa review of Wahaca in the Sunday Times Style mag today but it sounds like the reviewer doesn't know much about Mexican food.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article2245837.ece

Not having been to Wahaca, I can't say whether the reviewer knows what she's talking about or not when it comes to the food there. But it does seem that she'd rather talk about her exciting life with older men and working as a semi-obese nanny in Barcelona than anything else. 

Not having been to Wahaca, I can't say whether the reviewer knows what she's talking about or not when it comes to the food there. But it does seem that she'd rather talk about her exciting life with older men and working as a semi-obese nanny in Barcelona than anything else. 

I thought the same thing... how utterly WEIRD that she thought that was relevant to a food review.

From the article:
...am I being led to believe that the British think tortillas = pancakes? I know I am most likely going to go into some serious withdrawls, seeing as I live in Arizona and every other restaurant is Mexican food (and man, do I love mexican food!!!).

Spanish tortillas are very different to flour and corn tortillas.

British pancakes are more liked crepes than American pancakes.

You pretty much learn how to make your own Mexican food and indulge when you go home for visits. It is a challenge to have no expectations when you go to a Mexican restaurant here. That is what is so disappointing. 

Spanish 'tortillas' are actually open omelet type things, not corn or flour based at all.

Spanish 'tortillas' are actually open omelet type things, not corn or flour based at all.

and you definitely don't use it to wrap something. 

Exactly!

Yeah but are you comparing Spanish to Mexican? I'm aware that Spanish and Mexican foods have little in common in a lot of areas, but I'm talking about Mexican tortillas. My last boyfriend was Mexican, and his grandma made her own tortillas (flour and corn) sometimes, and they are pretty much the same thing you get in US grocery stores (though everything tastes better when it's hand made). And they do tend to wrap things up in them...