Good Mexican Food in London

Went down to London last week as M* had another meeting and our friend Andy was in town from DC. I took a later train than M* and walked from Liverpool Station through Shoreditch (stopped at a cool shop, EllaDoran, on Chesire Street) down over the Tower Bridge to the Design Museum London (saw a piece of work by artist Philip Worthington that reminded me of my friend Tyler's media installations, which he's creating during his graduate work at UCLA) and, finally, back over to meet M* by the London Eye. Since it was getting dark, we skipped the London Eye and walked over to Victoria Station and grabbed a drink while we waited for Andy to finish up work (Andy was a good sport to try Mexican food in England-his exact words, "I am a bit skeptical...though I don't ever tire of Mexican food!").

There is not an established history of Mexican cuisine here-one can barely locate corn tortillas and then it's usually hard, Old El Paso taco shells. Since M* and I have been craving Mexican food, I thought that maybe I'd learn to make tortillas, and I found the Mexican restaurant Taqueria online while Googling "tortilla presses UK." The restaurant has an online store, Cool Chile Co, that sells spice mixes, dried chilis, tortilla presses and more. The menu-with the al pastor, mole poblano, poblanas-resembled that of our favorite Mexico City style Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles-Loteria Grill at the Farmer's Market.

The three of us were not disappointed. We each had four tacos (al pastor was my favorite), beans, rice and mango sorbet for dessert. I also bought Achiote paste, smoky hot powder, dried epazote and tomatillo salsa. The only surprise was the expense-$90 for M* and me! I don't think it's possible to spend that much if you order the entire Loteria menu. We decided not to worry about the bill, as our bellies, mouths and taste buds were entirely satiated. Now back in Cambridge, I'd happily pay $45 for such quality Mexican food.


photos (top to bottom): Tower of London; view of Tower Bridge, Thames and Swiss Re Building from the Design Museum London; Design Museum Tank; shelving designed by Viable at the Design Mart at DML; Big Ben and Houses of Parliament (both at 3:15pm)