Taqueria

I loved the food, I am from Mexico and although people complain about the price they have to take into account that to have those delicious flavours in the tacos the ingredients have to be brought from Mexico and that is expensive.

Taqueria is the closest mexican food restaurant that you will try in London.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

We hadn't meant to stop for lunch but we were really glad we did. Sunday was a so so day but my lovely wife was fed up of being cooped up at home with the bump so we decided to go out for a walk. She wanted to steer me towards the shops on Westbourne Grove and I wanted to steer her towards the Guiness pumps at the Cow. In the end we did neither as we sort of wandered aimlessly around Notting Hill. We almost had a snack in the Guesthouse West but it was really quiet in there so we just stopped for two cokes (£5!!!). Coming out of there we thought we might wander up Westbourne grove but then we spotted Taqueria.

We had often walked past it and have wanted to try it for a while. We were impressed by it's authentic feel and open kitchen. We walked in and it seemed to be quietening down after the lunch rush. We were shown to a big round table in corner and left with some menus. I could see from these that this was the real deal. More Wahaca than Wahaca. The waiter directed us towards the lunchtime specials so instead of the lovely looking Tacos we went for enchiladas. My wife had the ranchas version whilst I went for the hotter version. We ordered some sides of avocado, cheese and paprika coated corn cob and some fried plantain. We washed this down with a couple of beers.

Whilst we waited we muched on some complimentary spicy pumkin seeds which went well with the beer. The food when it appeared was lovely. Everything tasted fresh and not stodgy like your cheese ladden tex mex offerings. The enchilades were smothered in a fiery sauce that I was enjoying combining with the avocado and plantain. The corn on the cob was delicious, I normally don't like anything on my corn but this gave it an extra dimension. As we ate away the restaurant filled up completly, a large proportion of the clientele were Mexican or South American suggesting we were eating an authentic meal.

The service did suffer slightly as the place filled up but I put that down to a lot of tables being filled in the space of 10 minutes. It certainly didn't look like the standard of food leaving the kitchen was suffering. Several tables appeared to be there for the afternoon with them ordering dish after dish. We just about had room for some desert and ordered some hot chocolate and a plate of churos to share. The churos were lovely, definetly the king of donuts! Well cooked and moist without being oily and dusted in lots of sugar and cinamon. The hot chocolate was very good, nicely flavoured and not too heavy. All in all a great meal.

The bill including service came to a very reasonable £46, we both vowed to come back possibly with baby in tow. I really liked the informal diner style feel of the restaurant coupled with the authentic food. The staff were very enthusiastic about their food. I chatted to the waiter when paying and he told me about the Tuesday tamale special night and Thursday soup evenings where they serve complicated dishes but traditional dishes the kitchen wouldn't attempt every day. This fitted in well with the obviously freshly prepared fayre we had enjoyed. This place really impressed us and we will try and go back soon.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Worst meal I have ever had - do not bother!
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2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Thursday, October 08, 2009

My expectations were high when visiting this restaurant. Being called "Taqueria" I was expecting something similar to the kind of food you could get in a real Mexican taco shop. I was hugely disappointed. Portions are diminutive and prices are high. For instance I tried the "tacos al pastor" which are offered as a plate of 3 small tacos. These tacos were no more than 6cm in diameter with very little meat in them and one small cube of pineapple decorating each taco. It was like a plate for a child and for £5.50 these tiny tacos were overpriced. Then I had the "puntas de albanil" which were a pair of slightly bigger tacos but not large. Again, the price did not compensate for the dish. The service was decent but the atmosphere of the place is rather gloomy and sad. This could have been forgiven if the food was good but it was not the case. The food was edible but not outstanding. Overall not a nice experience eating there. I recommend to look somewhere else if you want something closer to a nice Mexican meal.
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Clara
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, August 06, 2009

Just as we were giving up hope of ever finding decent Mexican food in London, after many sad attempts, we came across Taqueria...

The food was just great. We only tried 4 items: fish tacos (pescado), skirt steak tacos (Carne asada), Frijoles refritos and some Mexican rice and plantains. All were excellent. Simple yet skillfully prepared by a chef that clearly knows what they are doing. Fresh ingredients with a good balance of seasoning and textures. The fish was perfectly cooked with a crisp batter and great chipotle mayo. Shredded white cabbage is the genuine garnish also. The skirt steak was nicely charred on the outside and pink in the middle.

The dishes were a little pricey for the size (these are small tacos) but here I was happy since the quality was so high.

Service was efficient and straigthtforward and dishes came promptly. Look forward to visiting again.
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Steve B - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, August 04, 2009

An obvious problem with this site, useful though it is, is that everyone is using a different scale, clearly no one is using a Good Food Guide scale where even a 1 is pretty good. But I do have to wonder where people have to go if they score a simple taco a 9.

The food here is fine not great, its a little like Wahaca where it all tastes a little too healthy and could do with being a bit more well fatty. There's also a real lack of generosity with just about everything (eg refried or black beans) being an extra couple of quid. I had carnitas, the pork in fairness was pretty tender but not completely melt in the mouth, there was very little else in the three small tacos and no heat, but there was chilli sauce on the table.

Without the side of black beans I would have been ravenous, as it was I was stll pretty hungry. The beans were good, but again the portion was meagre for £2.50.

I had a great beer, a Bohemia, much better than other mexican lager I've had, but I'm sorry to harp on, again not cheap.

So three tiny tacos, a tiny portion of beans and one beer= £14 including service. The food is fine, not great, but there's a lack of soul to the whole experience. i'm not some sort of pig, I eat pretty healthily, and I had to have a sandwich when I got in to stave off a headache, to eat here and be full you'd be looking more like £25- for Tacos!
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6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Saturday, April 11, 2009