wahaca - Westfield Stratford city

I went to this restaurant yesterday with a friend and it was a huge disappointment. I Love mexican food but this was my first and last visit to this place. The food was quite frankly not good, it was poorly seasoned and the portion sizes were a joke. I don’t normally mention this in reviews but as a female going to their toilets it was an unsettling experience. I felt very unsafe. The male and female toilets share the same washing up facilities and because there is no barrier between the cubicle doors and the shared washing space outside, you could be potentially be in a unsafe situation as someone could easily pounce on you. My advice is don’t go their toilets on your own or send your child alone. It does not feel safe. On a better note, the waiter was very good, its just a pity the food wasn’t.

Having seen most of Ms Miers’s TV series last year, we were keen to give her restaurants a try, and on a rare visit to London, decided to try the Wahaca restaurant in Stratford on a Saturday lunchtime.

Not knowing what to expect, we were rather disappointed to find that it sits in the TGIF-style of what I would call “overpriced fast food”. Now………I absolutely love street food, but the attempt to bring Mexican street food into the formulaic, menu and portion-controlled “just enough” milieu that is the inevitable high-rent space of the modern shopping mall is, I am afraid, almost doomed from the outset. In attempting to promote authenticity (graffiti, “noise”, mexican headscarf-wearing non-Mexican staff, etc), the result is one of the most inauthentic, faux dining experiences imaginable. And street food does not mean modern tables and chairs placed a precise distance apart……..

That aside, the food was ok (no better or worse than that); the hot food could have been hotter (temperature-wise), and all the cold plates were delivered so quickly that they were quite clearly pre-prepared and ready to go.

All in all, such a shame. I really wanted to like Wahaca, and I guess for a group of people wanting a similar-but-different version of TGIF (or Pizza Hut, etc) it would be ok, as it really is not that different! Ms Miers’s TV show was great, and very evocative of Mexico; I feel somewhat conned to have had my dreams shattered so convincingly on a Saturday afternoon in Stratford………..

PS Can (should?) the act of graffiti……….surely an anarchically-spontaneous manifestation of social angst……….be replicated in the homogenised money-making environment of a fast-food chain? Discuss!

I went to Wahaca for a birthday celebration in a party of 5 and I have only one complaint – they forgot my order! That apart (and they apologised profusely and got me my order in double quick time) the food was good and the drinks good and I liked the decor and the vibe which seemed a little better than the rest of the eating places in the mall.
Highlights of the meal were a really good Pork Pibl with plenty of flavour and reasonable heat and the bizarrely tasting grapefruit cocktail which really grows on you.
I think you may have to be in the mood for Wahaca and it certainly is a place that responds to a positive party orientated mood – but I wouldn’t avoid it even if I was excessively chilled!

Having been to other Wahaca’s notably the excellent Covent Garden one, I had slightly raised expectations.

While I can’t quibble with the quality, price and presentation of the food, There was something intangible I felt that detracted from my experience.

The service was attentive, possibly a little overattentive, and I felt very much like I was in a restaurants working out the kinks (having only recently opened).

I was also not particularly impressed by the decor, and the passing nod to the Olympics.

However, the food itself is good there is a nice balance of fish/meat and vegetarian options. The prices are also good, especially on the street food options rather than the larger items, which I didn’t have on this occasion.

I ordered 3 small dishes, a side dish of frijoles and a beer and my bill came to under £20. So you definitely get very reasonable value for money. It’s also great for sharing as you can get a wide variety of small plates and grab a little from each of the platters.

I will not be discouraging anyone from going, I’d just say give them a little time to get the details right, but if you are in Westfield looking for a decent food option, I think you won’t go to far wrong paying a visit here.