First opening their doors in Cardiff just over 8 years ago, what a journey Wahaca has been on.
Thomasina Miers and co-founder Mark Selby brought us Wahaca from a love of authentic Mexican food, heavily inspired by Miers’ time travelling and living in the country.
How grateful we are they choose to bring the vibrant flavours of Mexico, and the social dining culture to the UK. With plenty of fresh and exciting dishes made for sharing added throughout the year, there’s always something new to try.
2016 saw Wahaca become the first restaurant in the UK to be certified as carbon neutral. A deep passion for sustainability sees them sourcing all ingredients as locally as possible, or grown and transported with great care for the environment.
As the seasons change and we see the nights draw in, there’s plenty of vibrant Mexican excitement to cut through the darkness this Winter at Wahaca. The Cardiff restaurant was still decked out in traditional papel picado and the specially-created altars reflecting the traditional ofrendas for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
From a new seasonal menu, to specials and cocktails, we couldn’t have asked for a better first visit to this Mexican-inspired restaurant.
For starter, we opted for the Mexico City Nachos.
The nachos arrived artistically topped with, Trealy Farm chorizo, cheese sauce, tomato & avocado salsas, which was delicious. We believe there was also pink pickled onions on top, this added a sweetness we were a bit uncertain of. The nachos themselves were crunchy and the tops filled with a variety of flavours, If we were have them again it would be without this included.
Quesadilla
A flour tortilla, filled with Trealy Farm chorizo (£6.50) with crushed potato & cheese, then folded and toasted. This is something different to what we usually opt for and a surprising favourite. The subtle heat from the chorizo mixed with the cheese and crispy toasted tortilla was easy to eat and left us wanting more.
Tacos
One of Wahaca’s winter specials, the Lamb birria tacos (£7.95) was something that we also had to try.
Three tacos filled with, slow-cooked chilli-marinated lamb with a blend of spices including avocado leaf and bay leaves. Served with a consomé, a small soup that’s seasoned with red onion, fresh lime and a sprinkle of coriander – it certainly made for a different but tasty taco-dipping experience! It was very reminiscent of a hearty Welsh lamb stew and a perfect winter warmer.
Burrito
All burritos are filled with black beans, green rice, salsas, slaw & crema served with a handful of tortilla chips topped with a pleasantly sweet sauce.
We had our toasted flour tortilla filled with chargrilled steak, chipotle salsa, grilled spring onions (£10.95) and added cheese (+£1.25), because what burrito is complete without cheese.
Easy to cut into and filled to brim with a variety of complimentary flavours, our tastebuds were singing.
Sides
With so many flavours in the dished we picked, we thought a simpler side would be a much better accompaniment. The sweet potato (£4.50) served as crispy fried chunks, tossed in smoky caramelised garlic mojo de ajo was exactly what we needed. The soft centre meant they fell apart easily when eaten with the smoky flavours a perfect difference to the street food dishes selected.
This is definitely a side you’ll not want to share (as we did).
Dessert
To finish, we ordered the Churros (£5.95) crisp Mexican doughnuts, along with a rich chocolate sauce for dipping. Alternatively you could have dulce de leche caramel, which we will definitely try next time. The churros lovely and crispy on the outside covered with cinnamon sugar and soft on the inside, but perhaps a little undercooked yet still tasty. When they say rich chocolate, they certainly mean it. Tasting very much like dark chocolate, we found it best to be scarce with the dipping.
Drinks
What’s dinner without a drink to accompany the food. A new cocktail has been created by the bar team at Wahaca Cardiff. The popularity of which has been so great, their delicious cocktail is being served at all Wahaca restaurants.
The Mango Paso (£8.50) has a super-smooth flavour with a blend of golden rum, añejo tequila and mango purée is frothed with egg white and topped with freshly-grated nutmeg for an aromatic, autumnal finish. They’re so easy to finish and a great accompaniment with the array of dishes we choose.
We quite enjoy a nice Pale Ale and have found the hoppy flavour of Brixton Reliance Pale Ale a perfect blend, easy to drink without the strong bitter aftertaste of others.
As we were lucky enough to be offered such a wonderful opportunity to try the delicious food at Wahaca, we always look to leave a tip. We used the app to complete our order, but it’s worth noting a discretionary service charge of £5.99 is added. We saw no option to remove or increase it, as we often like to do.
Although like every restaurant, they do accept walk-ins, it can get extremely busy at peak times so we’d always recommend booking. For more information and to view their menu online, visit – https://www.wahaca.co.uk/locations/cardiff/
