Last Updated on November 27, 2025
Winter comfort food, Mexican style
I’ve been going to Wahaca at least several times a year since its first-ever restaurant in Covent Garden opened in 2007. The food has always been reliably good and well-priced, and their margaritas are excellent. So I was looking forward to trying the new winter menu, which promises to “bring much-needed rays of Mexican sunshine to help cut through the winter gloom”.
We went to the Southbank branch, which is composed of several brightly painted recycled shipping containers on overhanging levels by the Southbank Centre. We had a great view of the Thames from our table by the window on the top floor. It was 7 pm on a Monday night, and the place was nearly full, although some of the customers were clearly pre-theatre diners. Inside it was festive and jolly, with a Christmas tree in the entrance and colourful Mexican Day of the Dead papel picado (paper bunting) hanging from the ceiling.
To start, we ordered tortilla chips and the new Butter Bean & Confit Garlic Dip. It’s a delicious blend of garlic, olive oil and butter beans, topped with jalapeño oil, crispy chickpeas and fried rosemary. It went beautifully with the tortilla chips and was so moreish, a worthy and possibly even superior alternative to the guacamole I usually get. We had a side of the spicy and creamy Esquites – chargrilled corn and crumbled feta – which also went well with the tortilla chips.
To drink, I had the ‘Mini Marg Trio’, three miniature but good-sized margaritas: a passion fruit one, a blackberry one, and a ‘picante’ (I chose spicy instead of the classic version). These were pleasingly served together on their own wooden tray, allowing me to pair them with my food as I wished. I felt £14.95 was a fair price, and I enjoyed the selection: the Picante was my favourite, the blackberry a good winter option, while the passion fruit was a bright reminder of warmer, sunnier times.
We ordered a mix of old and new items for our main course. From the former category, we had the Baja Fish tacos, which were like a Mexican fish finger sandwich with satisfyingly plump fish, and the Pork Pibil tacos, a Mexican classic that is my partner’s long-standing favourite Wahaca dish. The pork was plentiful and juicy with a great citrus punch to it.
It was with the latter category – new dishes – where we had some disappointment. Wahaca was out of the Roast Butternut Squash that day, which I’d been hoping to try as it sounded good. The Sautéed Guajillo Prawns with caramelised onion and sliced avocado were fine, but not special. And the Smoky Pork Belly Skewer we ordered didn’t show up. We waited a while and then asked the waiter, who said it must have gone to another table by accident. He brought us a replacement and it was excellent: the pork belly was perfectly cooked with a warming tamarind glaze and crispy leeks on a soft flour tortilla.
Another new dish I wholly recommend is the Chocolate Mole Cake with whipped tequila cream. This was a standout: really, really good and a clever combination, like a Mexican version of Christmas pudding and brandy butter. The dense but moist cake was spicy (cinnamon and chilli), salty and nutty. The tequila cream was a surprising revelation that really worked, the tequila giving a great but not overpowering kick. I regretted that we’d decided to share dessert and hadn’t each gotten our own; my partner had planned on only having a bite but, on trying it, had half instead.
Happily, our coffees came with a small square of the Mole Cake. To finish, our friendly waiter offered each of us a shot of excellent tequila to make up for our pork skewer dish not coming when it should have. This was a nice touch and a good way to end the meal.
Wahaca continues to be a trusty option for a flavourful and affordable meal with some great new options for winter comfort food, Mexican style.
Wahaca Southbank
Queen Elizabeth Hall,
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX
Tel: 020 3951 9746
And at many other locations: https://www.wahaca.co.uk
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