Southbank, Mexican Restaurant Guide

“A fun, cheerful Mexican atmosphere” and “enjoyable, fresh tasting” street food dishes can still make “an excellent standby” of this stalwart chain, which has 10 sites in London nowadays. “Even if nothing on the menu is going to wow, its consistent quality and value are reassuring”, with ratings and popularity starting to regain their historic high standing since a majority stake was sold to Nando’s owner, Dick Enthoven, a couple of years ago.

“The tacos are tasty and the margaritas are fab” at this “fun and feisty” Mexican duo – part of the Hart Bros’ empire (with the Borough Market original still being much more commented on than its Soho sibling, which opened in 2021 on the former site of Hix). “Sometimes the service is a little overwhelmed by how busy the place gets”, and the “cheerful” ambience can be a bit “chaotic” as a result.

This “small” Borough Market taqueria is the brainchild of Nick Fitzgerald, who worked at Pujol (one of Mexico’s most famous restaurants before coming to London), starting as a pop-up in 2017 and going permanent here in 2019. “It’s a great location with a lovely atmosphere” and all reports rate the food as good or better.

2022 Review: “Great-tasting tacos… you don’t even realise the food is vegan!” – This meat-free Mexican has (after a series of pop-ups, and a big line in delivery) found a permanent home in a pink-painted unit (with outside seats too) at Soho’s Kingly Court, and is already winning high praise from reporters: “the meal totally sated us and the ‘fake meat’ was amazingly good”. They also have a stall in Covent Garden’s Seven Dials Market.

“The tacos are tasty and the margaritas are fab” at this “fun and feisty” Mexican duo – part of the Hart Bros’ empire (with the Borough Market original still being much more commented on than its Soho sibling, which opened in 2021 on the former site of Hix). “Sometimes the service is a little overwhelmed by how busy the place gets”, and the “cheerful” ambience can be a bit “chaotic” as a result.

“Still The Daddy!… I was glad to return to the office and find it was still trading!” – “Leather Lane Market may not be the most relaxing venue for al fresco dining” but this busy takeaway draws fans with its “great burritos, plus a wide variety of toppings”.

This well-travelled ten-year-old cult pop-up has been “a great addition to Soho” since it alighted in 2021 on the cute, quirky site formerly occupied by Aurora (RIP), opposite the venerable Andrew Edmunds on Lexington Street. Gabriel Price’s highly rated cooking takes an American-inspired approach to the best of English ingredients, pleasing critics as disparate as Jimi Famurewa and Tom Parker Bowles, while Missy Flynn looks after the front of house and guarantees “so much fun”.

Edson and Natalie Diaz-Fuentes’s authentic cuisine – washed down with delicious margaritas – wins consistently high ratings, if from a small fan club, for their Bermondsey restaurant. No feedback on their newer cafe in Shoreditch – a return to the area where they began their career in the capital seven years ago.

2022 Review: Impress your friends on Instagram with enviable scenes from the lush outside terraces at this very good-looking boutique hotel in Fitzrovia. Not as many reports as we’d like on its interesting restaurant – where the cuisine comes with a South American accent – hence, for this year, we’ve left it unrated.

2022 Review: On the 15th floor of a two-year-old hotel next to the Beeb – this large (160 seat) and expensively designed perch is little sister to Los Angeles-based Toca Madera. Alongside its (not inexpensive) cocktails, it serves a Mexican menu (lots of tortillas) which early reviewers were not especially impressed by. (On the floor above there’s the rooftop NEST bar which is open for weekend brunch.)

2022 Review: Mexico City chef Martha Ortiz was creating a good reputation for her street-food-inspired menu at this venture, within a large hotel right on Hyde Park Corner. ‘Temporarily closed’ as we go to press: a call to the hotel in September 2021 showed no fixed time had been set for a re-opening.

2022 Review: “The real deal!”, say fans of this ten-year-old tacos brand, which has various pitches around town, as well as this permanent taqueria in Clerkenwell, serving small plates alongside margaritas and mezcals.

“Trying very hard to be trendy and mostly succeeding” (“the views from the WC were a big hit in my party!”) – Peter Sanchez-Iglesias’s dramatic three-year-old occupies the high-ceilinged 10th-floor space of the über-funky Standard Hotel, with incredible views of St Pancras from its huge, floor-to-ceiling windows. (To enter, shoot up the side of the hotel in the red-pill-shaped, glass-sided lift). It’s all very 1970s James Bond. “There are some really exceptional dishes” from a vibrant Spanish/Mexican menu (e.g. lobster with lime chilli, quail with mole glaze, even caviar tortilla). But while all reports rate it decently well, gripes about “silly prices and one or two disappointments” limit the overall verdict to good rather than outstanding.

“A fun, cheerful Mexican atmosphere” and “enjoyable, fresh tasting” street food dishes can still make “an excellent standby” of this stalwart chain, which has 10 sites in London nowadays. “Even if nothing on the menu is going to wow, its consistent quality and value are reassuring”, with ratings and popularity starting to regain their historic high standing since a majority stake was sold to Nando’s owner, Dick Enthoven, a couple of years ago.

“Ex-Noma pop-up chef, Santiago Lastra’s sort-of fine dining Mexican successfully redefines street food at this warm and high-end dining room”, just off Portman Square – “a welcome addition to Marylebone” that “deserves the hype” and which is emerging as one of London’s more “exciting” destinations right now. “The open kitchen allows the man himself to be seen” and a meal “feels like an occasion”, but one that’s “earthy” and “fun”. “The innovative use of British ingredients to recreate Mexican flavours is what makes this a really interesting culinary experience” – providing “twists on the genre which tantalise the palate” and deliver “immensely thoughtful and innovative” dishes with “deep savoury notes”. “And the wine list is both unusual and worth taking a risk on too: some hidden gems from small producers and uncommon countries which complement the food well”. “You are helped in your journey by a knowledgeable and unpretentious sommelier” and service generally is “excellent”. “Always buzzy, tables are hard to come by”. Top Tips – “the lobster taco is a real highlight and the mole something very special indeed”, while there’s “one of the finest vegan tasting menus in London”.

“Noisy!…but great margaritas” and some “very tasty” bites are the draw at the Hart Bros’ Mexico City-style street food specialist in Coal Drops Yard. On the debit side, it can be “hard to feel truly relaxed in this mammoth space”. See also El Pastor.

2021 Review: A 140-seater ‘craft bar and kitchen’ near some soon-to-be developed railway arches in hip Bethnal Green that opened in June 2019, too late for any survey feedback. It’s open from breakfast on – at lunch and thereafter the main menu offering is pizza.

“Simple dishes are well-realised” at this basic Mexican, which has moved from its previous site (a take-away with a few seats at the counter) to this (marginally grander) former caff nearby in Surrey Quays.

This Mexican/Japanese hybrid in Notting Hill offers ‘gangster tacos’ served with Japanese elegance – and provides “the best fun dining out I have had in a long while”, full of “exciting, flavour-packed mouthfuls”. Finnish-born founder Markus Thesleff coined the label ‘Baja Nihon’ to cover a cuisine that does not exist elsewhere, and has taken over the site occupied by legendary fish ’n’ chip restaurant Geales (RIP) for more than 50 years. Top Tip – “it’s great for allergies – the entire menu is GF and you’d have no idea!”