Chilango - Islington

On Wednesday we popped to Chilango's for a quick bite before heading down to Brixton to watch Bombay Bicycle Club. Deserving winners of Harden's 'Best London Buritto' and a whole host of other awards, Chilango's serve a small range of gourmet burritos, tacos and salads made fresh to order. The decor is bright and fun, you can get your food to take away or head upstairs where there is plenty of seating. It's always full of customers happily munching and chatting away, but at peak hours you'll probably have to queue.  

When queueing at the counter I always debate going for the tacos or salad, but they could never taste as awesome as a burrito. Once you've decided on your base, you just have to choose your fillings; chicken, steak, braised pork or vegetables. They then add your choice of beans, salsa, salad, sour cream and cheese, you can also opt for guacamole for an extra £1. They are ludicrously big, so make sure you've got your eating hat on. I went for steak with black beans and guacamole. The meat was juicy and rare, and the chunky guac was the perfect antidote to the spicy salsa. It's seriously dirty food, but oh so good. There's no dainty way of eating a burrito, so you just have to pick up lots of napkins and try not to be embarrassed if you end up with sour cream all over your face. 

I've been to Chilango's a few times and never had any cause for complaint, but on Wednesday the very excitable girl who wrapped our burritos did a pretty poor job, they still tasted great so it's hardly a complaint. They get top marks for selling frozen margaritas which are just AMAZING! They remind me of the disgusting slush puppies we used to drink at school, but obviously a much nicer and alcoholic version. They're super limey and just another of the awesome things about Chilango's.

Chilango's:

Giant burrito & frozen margarita:

Very messy burrito:

Wahaca - Westfield, Stratford

On Sunday afternoon we visited the brand new church of capitalism that is Westfield, as the boy was in need of a new suit. Despite being the biggest urban shopping centre in Europe, it was ludicrously busy and full of the kind of people who like to stop dead in their tracks causing a human pile up. I'm not a fan of shopping centres, as they're normally so soulless, however, it must be said that Westfield is very nice and shiny and a vastly more pleasant experience than Oxford Street.

Ceviche tostadas

We had a meander around the different restaurants, but nothing really took our fancy. Jamie's Italian had a queue outside and I wasn't in the mood to wait. We also had a look at Bumpkin, the menu looks good, but after reading some pretty scathing reviews online, we decided to opt for Wahaca as we know the food is good. Often when small chains begin to expand, they lose the quality somewhere along the way, but I'm happy to say that it's every bit as good as the original.

Pork pibil

To start our meal off we had guacamole with tortilla chips, which were delicious as always; nice and chunky and packed with flavour. For our main we ordered pork pibil from the classics section, slow cooked pork served with a salad and black beans. The meat was out of this world, incredibly tender with a delicious smoky marinade. It was lovely with the black beans, but could have done with something carby. Having re-read the menu I've realised it was meant to come with green rice, which must have been missed off - oops! We also ordered a couple of dishes from the street food menu, the summer vegetable tacos and ceviche tostadas. The taco's were topped with spicy vegetables and feta cheese, a nice side to the rich pork. The tostadas were my favourite, tasty shrimps and scallops topped with a fresh tomato salsa and plenty of lime.

Summer vegetable tacos

As we didn't order a huge amount for the main course it meant we had space for dessert, hurrah! We shared churros and vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and pumpkin seeds. Churros are deep fried Mexican doughnuts, topped with cinnamon sugar and served with a rich, dark chocolate sauce, they taste even better than they sound! The ice cream was good, the crunch of the pumpkin seeds was great against the smooth vanilla, but they were a little stingy when it came to the caramel sauce.

AMAZING churros

Overall, it was a great meal. The service was very friendly and incredibly speedy - 5 minutes between ordering and the food being on our table. If you have to go to Westfield and you're looking for somewhere speedy to eat, this is the place!

Three Bean Chili

After a long weekend of meat eating in Shropshire, I decided to make us something vegetarian for dinner on Monday night. I really enjoyed this bean chili, but I'm not sure Chris is convinced by vegetarian food, as his first comment was how nice it would be with some chicken or beef in it. But considering this is a man who said 'I like vegetarian food, as long as it's got loads of meat in it', there probably isn't much hope of him becoming a fan of meat-free meals. Frezule and I will be eating the leftovers tonight, so lets hope she's a fan!

You can use any beans you happen to have in your cupboard, but I like to have a mix including baked beans; the sauce helps to prevent the tomatoes being too acidic and half a tin counts as one of your 5 a day. It's reasonably spicy, so a dollop of yogurt and some cooling avocado piled on top tasted great. It's also nice served with brown rice or with a roasted sweet potato, topped with cheese.

For the bean chili:
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 courgette, chopped
250g pack mushrooms, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp hot chili powder
1 tin baked beans
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 tin black eyed beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 squares of dark chocolate

1. Add the onion and garlic to a pre-heated pan with a little oil and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Then add the red pepper, courgettes and mushrooms and leave to cook on a medium heat for a further 10 minutes
2. Add the cumin, chili powder and paprika and cook for 1 minute, until the spices are fragrant
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and all the beans, bring to a light simmer, adding a little vegetable stock if necessary. Turn the heat down and leave to cook with the lid on for 1 hour
4. Once the sauce has thickened, add a few squares of dark chocolate and allow to melt into the sauce. Season and serve with roasted butternut squash, topped with yogurt and avocado

Vegetables with lots of spices:

Ready to eat:

With roasted squash, yogurt & avocado:

Wahaca - Soho

Last night I went for dinner with my friend Anna who’s just returned from an 8 day sponsored bike ride to Berlin, very impressive! We went for dinner at the fantabulous Wahaca on Wardour St. It’s a Mexican restaurant, specialising in street food. They do serve main courses, which look delicious, but whenever I go I like to order a few small plates to share. It’s more fun to try a little bit of everything and when you’re as useless at making decisions as me it means you can have everything you want. Wahaca was set up in 2007 by Thomasina Miers, who won Masterchef the previous year. After travelling around Mexico she wanted to create an authentic experience of Mexican food, rather than the Tex-Mex which is usually served in ‘Mexican’ restaurants in the UK.

Grilled Steak Tacos

As usual Anna and I shared the guacamole and frijoles (refried beans). As I’ve mentioned several times, I LOVE guacamole, given the opportunity I would eat it every day. Whilst the somewhat slimy texture of avocado is something I hated as a child, I’ve now grown to love the smooth, creamy taste. The coolness of the avocado with the heat of the green chilies is a winning combination. I only recently discovered refried beans; at Wahaca they’re served topped with either chorizo or crumbled cheese both of which are amazing. Whilst the thick, brown paste doesn’t look particularly appetising, the rich, saltly taste is just delicious. I also ordered 2 small plates from the street food menu; grilled steak tacos and bean & feta quesadillas. The tacos were topped with juicy pieces of rare steak, guacamole (yum!) and grilled cheese and were pretty much perfect. The quesadillas contained broad beans, peas, feta and mint which is a great spring combination, however they were a little dry and could have done with a touch of sour cream on the side.

Broad Bean & Feta Quesadilla

Overall Wahaca is a great experience; the food is excellent, thoughtfully made with ethically and locally sourced ingredients and they serve an array of Mexican beers, tequilas and soft drinks. When looking for a quick, cheap meal or snack in central London I don’t think you can do better. The service is always excellent, the food is on your table within 10 minutes of ordering and the staff are friendly. This is fast food at its best; fresh, original and authentic. I’d also highly recommend the Wahaca cookbook, the squash & chorizo tacos are incredible.

Anna's Pork Pibil Tacos

Navajo Joe - Covent Garden

Last week we went for dinner at Navajo Joe in Covent Garden. It’s a rather strange mix of Mexican and Asian cuisine, if I’m honest, it’s a combination which doesn’t work particularly well. The evening didn’t get off to a great start as our table wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we were asked to wait at the bar for 35 minutes. Chris was convinced this was a ploy to increase our spend during the evening; I’m not sure I’m cynical enough to agree with this but the delay did result in us missing the film we’d planned to watch afterwards. 

I booked through Top Table, so we had 50% off the food provided we ate 2 courses. To start, we ordered tempura prawns and mushroom & goats cheese quesadilla. The prawns were amazing, the batter was light and crisp and the prawns themselves were huge! The quesadilla was nice enough, but as far as I could tell didn’t actually contain any goats cheese which was a bit of a disappointment. They were served with an undressed side salad, and seemed to be missing the bold flavours promised by the website.  

For the main course we ordered a fajita platter to share. All in all it didn’t really live up to expectations. We were served eight wraps, which were nice enough, 2 skillets of mixed vegetables and meat and 4 pots containing guacamole, sour cream, salsa and cheese. So far so good. The steak and the prawns were well cooked, however the chicken was burnt to the extent it was rock hard on the bottom. The vegetables tasted as though they had been left stewing for hours, rather than being freshly cooked, and were luke warm. My main issue was the TINY pots of sauce, which were to be shared between two. I know it’s fairly common for restaurants to skimp on the accompaniments, but for me, cramming as much into a fajita is half the fun. The guacamole tasted as though it came ready-made, which seems inexcusably lazy for a restaurant which claims to ‘set the gold standard’ for food. Considering the fajita’s cost £30, I was expecting a fantastic meal. You could tell the ingredients were of a reasonable quality, but they hadn’t been cooked with any effort or skill. 

The staff were friendly, but seemed over-stretched and the loud electronic music was a little much for a restaurant. It felt as though the food was served as an afterthought, which could explain the poor quality. Next time I’m in Covent Garden, I’ll be heading to the far superior and cheaper, Wahaca, which sells fantastic Mexican street food. 

Delicious prawnys:

Not so delicious quesadilla:

Fajitas: