Habanera

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this place is good! I had semi-​high hopes for Habanera (always dangerous) but it really came through.
We went on a Saturday night and though it was busy, we had no trouble getting a table. That may change as word spreads but that’s ok, good restaurants deserve to be busy and Habanera definitely deserves some success.
It’s basically a taco/​burrito place, very simple but very good. They focus on good flavour and an easy atmosphere. Which is just what I am looking for!
They also have brunch, and since I love a Mexican themed brunch, I may have to give this place a sixth star if it is good.
Well done Habanera!

So excited to have found this place. Good Mexican food is nigh on impossible to find in London. But this place has answered my need for hot sauce and tacos!
From the outside it looks a bit shabby but it’s actually quite nice inside! Loved the living wall of plants. It’s pretty big too so we were able to nab a table for two as a walk in on a Saturday night despite it being busy.
I ordered a cocktail (Get out of Jalisco free) which if i’m honest was a bit sweet and not as exciting as the menu made it sound. My fiancé’s raspberry margarita was much better — tart and tasty.
For food I ordered the baja fish tacos and the butternut squash tacos. You get three small tacos per serving which was more than enough. Both were really yummy and they provide three different types of hot sauce on the table, including cholula (my kinda place!).
We also shared some churros for dessert which were very tasty with a great slightly spicy chocolate sauce.
Looking forward to returning and trying lots of other taco flavours!

There’s all sorts of jokes about the food in London, with a general theme of «awful» or something of the sort.
Now I won’t say I didn’t have my fair share of lackluster steak and chips while making my way through the cloud covered city, but after 3 days I could take it no more. We were about to catch a QPR game and couldn’t bear the thought of another bunless burger (cooked to well done, of course) and squishy chips. I had remembered passing a blue squirrel that had stuck in my mind on the walk from the tube station, and so we purchased our scarves and set off back towards the mysterious squirrel.
Enter Habanera. We ordered quickly — no time to peruse the menu with the game starting in under an hour. Two build your own taco plates would do — one chicken, one steak. Already gluten free, you say? Fabulous, no stress there.
The service was friendly and quick (food came in under 10 minutes… maybe under 5) and the décor was comfortable, warm, and appropriate — a little quirky, not over the top, but you definitely knew where you were.
The food? AMAZING. So. Good. Did they perhaps benefit from the 3 days of less-​than-​great meals? Maybe. Or maybe not. The best parts were the fresh ingredients — the cole slaw, the avocado, the habanera house salsa. All seasoned to perfection, and all came together beautifully in my tiny taco shells. The steak bits made for some difficult taco making, but I’m grasping here for a negative.
The food was so good, and the service so fast, that we did it — we went for dessert and STILL made the game on time. Fried plantains with some sort of ooey gooey delicious cinnamon sauce all over them.
We actually tried to get the group to go back after the game — we were more than willing to have a 2^nd round. Alas, it didn’t work out, but for anyone looking for a good meal — Mexican or not — Habanera won’t disappoint. And in fact, may revive.
Thank God for that blue squirrel.