Restaurants

Bland food, poor service. The wait is not worth it.

Cold food, poor service. This was our 2nd visit and we will not return

Hmmm, I've been here twice and both times I've left feeling annoyed.
They make you wait at least at hour for a table (I arrived on a weeknight at 7pm) and they give you unrealistic times so when you come back and expect your table ready, you have another half an hour to wait.
The Front of House staff are rude, sarcastic and kept forgetting our booking. I can understand they have a stressful job but no need to be rude, after all, we are the ones waiting for a table.
The first time we went, we ended up sitting about an inch away from the people who had been queueing behind us for an hour which was a bit awkward as it felt like we knew them by this point.
Wahaca is a money-making machine. If there is a table available for 4 but you are a party of 3, they would rather make you wait for an hour than lose out on that extra person's spend. This is not a struggling business, they are constantly full and pack everyone in like sardines. It's also noisy and you have to shout to make yourself heard.
The food is good but the above really does spoil the experience.
Wahaca claims to be authentic Mexican but I'm not so sure. They offer Churros y Chocolate (which I love) and, according to Wahaca: "churro stalls are found all over Mexico". Which is strange because I've travelled through a fair part of Mexico and never saw a churro stall.
So why does it attract so many people? I think us British can't help but be attracted to a queue. If there's a queue, it must be good right?
Please don't jump on this bandwagon and spend your money somewhere more worthy.

Tried to eat at Wahaca last night and was really excited about it given the press, but be warned - their seating/queuing system is atrocious. We were told it was an hour wait (well, first 45 mins, then 15 minutes later it was suddenly at hour...), but that we could have a table at 9pm, they'd take our number and call us. There were quite a lot of free tables, but he said this was for people 'coming back at a prearranged time'. He took our number and said he'd call, so we went off for a drink since crazily enough you can't wait at their own bar. Nine o clock came.. No call. No dinner at Wahaca. It may be they expect you to rock back up an hour later, but clearly this system does not work - hence the empty tables, long queue and ridiculous wait for what should be fast turnover food. Be warned!

Having subsequently returned to Wahaca for a second try (the amount of satisfied people around were too many and we had to see if something was wrong with us), we had the chance to speak to the staff and even the chef there and we have cracked it.
We were told that we we had ordered on our first visit (the wahaca selection to share) was more of an introduction to Mexican food for "novices", which may explain why we didn't find it as tasteful as we had hoped.
We therefore were more adventurous with our choices this time and must admit that it was indeed tasty and much more satisfying. The tortilla soup, Pork Pibil tacos and main were all very good, as were the churros we had for dessert (surprisingly light).
The only thing I would say is that for anyone out there it is not obvious (and the staff didn't tell us at the time) that the wahaca selection is merely an introductory fare for 1st time Mexican diners - you have been warned now. If you want taste, go for anything else on the menu and you'll definitely enjoy Wahaca and its ambience.

I went to Wahaca for the second time yesterday just because I was very hungry and in need of Mexican food. Again I was very disappointed to confirm that Wahaca lacks that sophisticated favour of proper Mexican food. The 'stylish Mexican market'concept works despite the fact that stylish and Mexican market contradict each other -it reminds me of that horrible name 'favela chic'. However, the quality of the flavour is quite poor. La Taqueria in Nottinghill and Mestizo in Warren Street are much better options than Wahaca. If you want to know what real Mexican food tastes like I don't recommend you to go to Wahaca.

I love this place! have been four times now and every time ive tried something different and every time its been delicious. Oh and the churros at the end are to die for. Its got a really funky feel and the waiters are all happy smiley people..love it!

I laughed, I cried, I ate.