Last week I went to Wahaca Wimbledon for lunch. It was a colleague’s leaving do and this was his favourite place to eat at in Wimbledon and so it was a fitting tribute! I’d visited Wahaca Wimbledon before when it first opened. I was invited along to their soft launch, but that was pre-blog and so I’ve wanted to go back for a while to feature Wahaca Wimbledon here under stylish places. If you’re after cheap tequila, tasteless tortilla chips and greasy chilli con carne – then this isn’t the place for you. Wahaca reflects traditional Mexican market eating – it’s Mexican street food with style! What you can expect at Wahaca Wimbledon is good fresh ingredients and bags of flavour in a great central location in Wimbledon.
Since winning Masterchef in 2006, Thomasina Miers now has 15 Wahaca restaurants around Greater London as well as one in Cardiff. They try to balance healthy eating with hearty eating and where Mexican produce is needed, they try to source directly from cooperatives which support local farming communities. Wahaca also uses seasonal produce and so the menu changes throughout the year – meaning new things to try!
The restaurant is situated in a really large space with high ceilings and I was really impressed with the work they did to transform it. With a venue this open, it can be difficult to create a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. But the beautiful wooden partitions create nooks to separate tables as well as help with the acoustics! It also gives a rustic earthy feel to this space without it being too dark.
The pops of colour bring warmth and character to this very industrial-style space and the style runs right through Wahaca Wimbledon. The artwork on the walls is by GoDDog aka Damien Mauro, an up-and-coming street artist from Avignon in South Eastern France. It’s colourful, bold and reflects the Wahaca brand and it’s food perfectly! More on the food further down…
At Wahaca Wimbledon, you can order smaller plates of street food to share (or simply if you can’t make a decision!) or large plates. I normally opt for sharing food – it’s the way I grew up around food in Cyprus with mezes. Sharing food around the dinner table is the best way to make and strengthen relationships and it allows you to try more delicious food too! But as it was lunch time and we had to get back to the office so no Margaritas for me either this time! I opted for hibiscus flower agua frescas instead and the MSC fish tacos… and they were absolutely delicious! Three Baja beach-shack style tacos with panko crumbed MSC cod, shredded slaw, chipotle mayo & pickled cucumber. They also came with a side green rice blitzed with coriander, onion & garlic served with frijoles & Lancashire cheese. The cod was so light and crispy without being greasy. The slaw added further texture and crunch to the delicious tacos and the pickled cucumber was a great addition. It was such a tasty and fresh meal that we left feeling completely full, but not in that ‘I want to curl up and fall asleep’ kind of way! I’ll definitely be back and I’ll definitely order this again… and I won’t be sharing!
Natalia xo
