Mexican Food in London?

I can report that there are a few places in London where one can get qualified good Mexican food. . . if you are willing to pay for it.

So far, I have eaten at a few Mexican places and have had good enough Mexican food to satisfy the cravings, but nothing that has blown my mind.

The best places I've found to get Mexican food are the quick burrito stands. You can get Chipotle style burritos, enchiladas, and soft tacos. One thing that is fun at the fast food burrito type restaurants is that you can get Margaritas. However, if you want more hardcore Mexican food such as Tamales and Chile Rellenos, you will need to look harder.

This last weekend, Tony and I met my friend Negin at a Mexican restaurant by Holburn station called Mestizo. Upon entering, the wall of Tequila bottles made the place look very promising. Tony and I made a beeline towards the bar to order a Margarita. I've had a couple here, but they've mostly been McMargaritas served out of slurpy machines. I hoped to have an honest to God Classic Margarita. It took forever to get the attention of the bartender, and then he made one of the worst margaritas I've ever had. However, desperation and Mexican food dining demanded that we each order 2. While standing at the bar, Tony and I met several other ex-pats all congregating at Mestizo. It seems that everyone goes here to get there fix.

Negin arrived, and we sat down. We were all happy to see that both Tamales and Chile Rellenos were on the menu. We ordered the Tamales as an appetizer, and they were very good. The Chile Relleno was a good Chile Relleno, but not the greatest I've ever had. It did however satisfy my craving. Tony ordered the Chicken Mole, and he wasn't very happy with it. I've had the Chicken Mole at another mexican restaurant in London, Wahaca (as opposed the correct spelling Oaxaca) and it was very good there.

The most painful part of the evening is when I think about the price. I try not to think about the conversion of pounds to dollars, as that hurts too much, but tonight I ran the numbers. The margaritas cost 7.50 pounds each, so that came to 30 pounds of Margaritas, or $50. YIKES! The Tamales cost 5 pounds, and my Chile Relleno cost 9.50 pounds. If I do the math, my mexican dinner for food cost $22. Back home I could get a Tamale and Chile Relleno dinner for $6.95 and Margaritas are only $5. I miss Paco's Tacos. . .