Wahaca

I must say, that after visiting the Wahaca street van in London, I was more than pleased to hear about the one in Manchester opening in the trendy corn exchange… And right by the cinema @ the printworks! Win!
However, for reasons out of my control it has taken months until I finally got to visit. A bit of confusion when entering about whether we just sat ourselves down, or waited for a member of staff was soon solved when a smiley waitress came over a quickly grabbed us a table (no uniform meant that we didn’t even realise that the lovely lady was staff for a few minutes). The service throughout the meal was very efficient and our waitress was particularly lovely and helpful.
We were pretty ravenous and could’ve eaten a horse, but as that wasn’t on the menu we opted for steak soft tacos, chicken soft tacos, chorizo quesadillas, chicken burrito, chicken wings, salmon sashimi tostadas, and a side of sweet potato (because that wasn’t already enough food for 2?!)
The food comes out as it’s made, and in our case that was really quickly. Before long, we had a table full of delicious food, and we’re busy tucking into our choices.
Everything was really good. Not out of this world, but with the tacos being a little over £4 for 3, and the bill coming to less than £35, I think the value is fantastic. I was very slightly disappointed in the burrito but that’s only because the one I had in the London Wahaca was mind-​blowing and this wasn’t the same.
It’s certainly a great place to go with friends as well as they serve a massive variety of margaritas and mescal and tequila.
We’ll definitely be back, even if it’s just for those sweet, sweet potatoes!

We were seated quickly on a weekday evening and got our drinks orders taken promptly. I tried the tamarind margarita which I thought was really good — the tamarind tempers the sweetness — and reasonably priced at £6.95. Bf got a negro modelo plus a lime/​chilli concoction wish he initially liked then found a bit sickly.
Food wise, the salmon sashimi tostada was excellent, great punchy flavour from the lime. Sweet potato side was nice. However I was disappointed with the huitlacoche empanadas which were described as truffely but didn’t taste of truffle at all, which is a shame as it’s my favourite ingredient. Bf not too impressed with his pork burrito and it didn’t look that great either… I’d say head to Pedro’s or LLLB if that’s what you fancy. Overall this experience was similar to my Wahaca experiences in London — a mixed bag but not a bad meal.

Tried here about a month ago for a friend’s birthday and definitely wasn’t blown away by food or the service. Granted one of the group was running late so we ordered drinks at the table while waiting! When the final memeber of our group arrived we waited around 30minutes for someone to take notice of us to order food, I had success with the third waitress who i managed to grab on passing!
I ordered the pork pibil tacos (delicious, tried and tested). The sweet potato and feta taquitos– which were really greasy and just tasted like grease, couldn’t taste any of the filling. As a side I got the Frijoles with chorizo… tasty but really needs to be served with a bit of tortilla or something because is more or less like a thick dip!
Overall, the restaurant setting here is lovely and theres a few quite nice dishes but nothing going on here to make me rush back!

As an easy introduction to Mexican, you can’t go wrong with Wahaca. Like every good chain, what you see on the menu, you get. As part of the revitalised Corn Exchange, it’s a buzzy and busy branch of the chain and its broad menu of Mexican staples with a little chef’s twist are great for exploring.
At this branch, there’s indoor and outdoor seating, as well as tables under the rotunda. Staff have always been very good and the food is high quality, fresh and served quickly, as good Mexican should be! There’s also a takeaway option, which I haven’t tried here, but like all good Mexican street food, be prepared to lick your fingers clean…

All the new establishments in the Corn Exchange have been incredibly impressive, this being one of them. To start off, they offer a very interesting menu with a variety of options.
Service here is to be commended as well! Incredibly personal and welcoming, each table has a unique server and they go through the menu while circling options to look out for with a sharpie. It’s a different approach and feels very hands on (if ya like that sort of thing ;))
Food did take a bit of time to arrive but it was still a newly opened restaurant when I visited and they were working at finding a rhythm. When it did arrive, the portions were quite small. At first I was a little disappointed but having tasted the stuff, become thoroughly satisfied.
Price range was OK but could’ve been better for the amount of food we had. There are definitely recommendations for improvements but this place has promise.
Things to try: pork pibil tacos, chicken tinga tacos, anything with cactus!

Great street food, quick and friendly service. will come back and try a more substantial meal as just had a few different street food options, which was great to try something new. place looks amazing.

Having been spoilt by the Mexican treats the States has to offer, I am always very very suspect of ‘Mexican’ places back this side of the pond, and even more so for ones that focus on Burritos. However it pleases me to report that Wahaca has passed the Matty test and gets 4 stars.
Now into the nitty gritty, a lot of people, basically anyone that has even eaten with me, makes fun of how plain and simple my food choices are. But that is what my taste buds crave, so who am I to rid them of simple joy at the expense of saving face and eating onions and peppers in my Burritos? Exactly — knew you’d agree!
So when it comes to actually choosing Burrito fillings, mines as simple as 1,2,3,4; Meat, spicy rice, sour cream, cheese — wrap it up and place it and a plate with chips and gauc and I’m you’re best mate for the next 2 minutes.
Wahaca did the above well and more. I’m impressed, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

I was really looking forward to coming here, especially after discovering this was owned by last years Masterchef winner Thomasina Miers.
Also when I glanced at the menu last week I thought ”wow this is cheap”
Walking in at 9pm on a Friday night, without booking (you cannot book after 6pm) we were informed by front of house that there was a 30 minute wait. Our friend was going to be arriving at that time anyway so we agreed to wait in in the bar upstairs. The staircase is the the vocal point of this place, very natural and striking .
Upstairs there was no beer on tap, but wine. For beer drinkers it is bottles for you like Corona etc. I opted for the Margarita slushie which was deceptively filling in its small glass.
After 30 minutes our flasher had not flashed… I ran downstairs to investigate. A further 10 – 15 minutes was the new timescale. After 15 minutes it still had not flashed, instead we were greeted by a waitress who led us to a table in the far corner… Hallelujah we were all starving by this point.
The reason why the plates appeared cheap on my initial inspection was because these were tapas-​like dishes. So quesadillas, burritos, tacos were under fiver as the portion was snack size. Our waitress was very upbeat and knowledgeable when she explained all of this, and enthusiastically recommended several dishes and stuck post it notes to our menu to showcase the specials.
I decided on one of those ”specials”, peppers with cheese and the main some trout with rice and beans, coming to a grand total of £16, not bad. While we waited some more, Guacamole and dips was suggested. The dip was the perfect consistency for me, not too smooth with good ol chunks of avacado. this intensified my hunger.
My fish landed first, and I have to say considering I had paid £10.50 for this main, it looked no different to the tapas style dishes… the trout was overcooked slightly, it was a tad dry… and the rest was forgettable.
The quesadillas tasted good, but I am not sure the price was justified,…towards the end there were a few plates missing. Our waitress came to our rescue without any prompting and hunted the missing plate party down. In all honesty I wish mine had been left lost.
A tiny bowl with a slop of peppers and cheese… mmm yummy, nothing special about this at all… same goes for the dessert, I decided to share a five quid salted caramel ice cream that was presented half melted in a bowl… hmm
Overall, our waitress was fab, so much so we tipped her (despite there was a service charge too), The setting is nice, upstairs you can people watch seated in different restaurants, who are probably doing the same thing. Now the food, I thought the mains were no different to the tapas style, and nothing blew me away… Potentially I might come back for a beer and a taco… my search for tasty Mexican food continues…

I’m a big Masterchef fan and have been since it was first around with Loyd Grossman, and also since the first series of the new one. So I have been aware of Thomasina Miers and her chain for some time but never actually tried it. Until two days ago, that is.
I went for someone’s birthday. We were sat on a table near the front. There were 10 of us but i think you could get 15 round this big table. The waitress was really friendly and attentive from the off.
Since it’s the week before pay day, I ate a big dinner before I went out, so I only had some of the street food. I had some sweet potato side and the salmon sashimi tostado. It was really nice and actually, would be quite a nice amount for a pitstop whilst shopping. The salmon sashimi particularly was pleasing.
I had a white peach margarita to drink. It was a really nice twist on a classic and would definitely go for that choice again.
For desert, I went for the churros y chocolate. I love this desert, probably because I am a complete Spain-​ophile. This was particularly good and they clearly used a good quality, high cocoa content chocolate for the dipping sauce. It was absolutely delicious and one of the best that I’ve had in this country. To accompany the churros, I had gin. How very Spanish, which I guess is apt when this is a Mexican place.
There were too many food combinations for me to talk through what my friends had but suffice to say that there was hardly a crumb left at the end.
I will definitely back and I will try the more substantial meals next time. I also highly recommend this to others, as it really does live up to the reputation.

After the usual deliberation, Kate W. and I decided to walk across to Wahaca and try out this latest addition to the newly revamped Corn Exchange. Despite disliking the general décor of the Corn Exchange (though hopefully this will change once everything is open and events start taking place in the central space) I couldn’t resist the pull of this Mexican, especially after great experiences in one of the London branches.
It was busy on arrival and we’d prepared ourselves mentally for a wait — we were told it would be around 25 minutes and our names taken. To my slight annoyance, you can’t leave and then return, meaning we had to go upstairs to their own bar, buzzer in hand. Presumably due to everyone having to remain in the building, the bar was pretty rammed. We managed to get served but were standing for the majority of our wait. The passion fruit margarita was tasty, if a bit sweet, and I much preferred my longer gin based cocktail.
While standing upstairs, we realised that 25 minutes had passed and then some. Kate W. managed to get the attention of front of house and she seated us about 5 minutes after making her aware, though we both suspect we were forgotten about.
When at the table, we instantly started taking in the menu. There’s plenty of choice here so the indecisive individuals out there may want to have a look beforehand! We decided to have a selection of the smaller street food plates to share, though you do have the option for bigger plates like burritos and salads if you so wish.
We were again left waiting for a while at the table, so when the waitress did arrive we listed off everything, drinks and food at once. We shared a bottle of prosecco — at £28, a real treat, but neither of us were in the mood for wine or more cocktails — and had some tap water for the table.
The food came quickly and consistently: pork tacos; chicken quesadilla; black beans & rice; pea & mint empanada; and black bean tostadas. Everything was served hot and fresh, with a little bit of time for resting between to main waves of food. A personal favourite was the black bean tostadas — the addition of corn and creamy beans meant they were more refreshing than anticipated — and the pork tacos, which were messy but worth it. There are two versions of hot sauce on the table, and I’d recommend the orange ‘lively habanero’ to add a little kick to your dishes.
With a little bit of room left, we couldn’t resist the churros. Served hot with dark dipping chocolate, these finished me off for the evening!
I think it’s fair to say we had an A-​OK time — the food was good, with one or two stand out dishes, and the drinks went down very well. However, the service felt disjointed and the fact you have to stay within the upstairs bar area when waiting will put me off from returning on the weekend again. Perhaps see you there as a week night treat.

I headed to Wahaca on a Sunday evening on Jess H’s recommendation that we should try some more of the new restaurants in the corn exchange. Having looked online and realised you cant book for a party any smaller than 6 we just had to turn up and hope for the best!
We arrived around half 6 and were given a buzzer to wait in the bar upstairs — something I am so against — why cant restaurants give you the opportunity to go elsewhere and come back?! So we were destined to spend the next 50 minutes in the packed bar where many others waited too! However that wasn’t a massive issue as we wanted to start with a cocktail or two! I started with a corona and then went for a fruity mojito number which was good.
I promoted a server at one point as we were waiting some time over the 50 minute estimate. Given the fact we were the first to be seated after we commented makes me think we were left out but all in good timing it was ok with me as we eventually bagged a couple of stools in the bar.
Next was the decision on some sharer plates; we went for a mix of everything. The dishes arrive as soon as they are ready in the kitchen so we dug in first with our chicken enchiladas (which was my favourite part) with the lovely cheesiness alongside the chicken chipotle — yum. Next was some pork tacos which were divine — although slightly on the oily side they were still full of flavour just difficult to eat as they did slide apart.
We got a little pot of rice and beans — which was a little smaller than I expected as a sharing platter. Nevertheless it was tasty. Next was the toastados which were smothered with black beans and some sauces — if I’m completely honest the flavour was a little bland. This was made up by the pea and mint empanadas which was the highlight for me — topped with spicy hot sauce it really gave the dish a kick which was cooled down with the pea centre.
To go alongside our meal was a nice bottle of prosecco — a little on the expensive side at £28 a pop it was worth it and served in a great shaped bottle too… its the small things!

I was introduced to Wahaca whilst visiting a friend in London, and so when the Manchester branch was announced I got pretty excited.
The new Corn Exchange venue is great, so light and airy, makes much more sense with the new layout than the old. Popped in for an early dinner before a gig at the arena. My friend and I were spoilt for choice with all the delicious options on offer, so decided to have our own Mexican ‘adventure’ with the larger sharing selection.
Well once the dishes started coming out they didn’t stop! So many delicious things to try. We both fell in love with the long stem broccoli and guacamole — yum! The little fish taco’s and the rich black beans were my favourites, but everything else was amazing too. Our server said to just let her know when we wanted out churros — also included in the sharing platter.
The churros were pretty good, but the chocolate sauce they came with was heavenly! They should have just given me the sauce with a spoon. Another thing I like about Wahaca is that you can order a carafe of wine. Its a little thing, but always makes me feel like I’m on holiday.
After we’d feasted, and every morsel had been consumed, we were glad that we had seating tickets at our gig — we were both stuffed!
Great staff, great atmosphere, and I can’t wait to go back.

When JQ mentioned earlier this year that Wahaca was scheduled to open this summer in Manchester, I was as excited as a five year old on Christmas eve. Finally when the opportune moment came, Wahaca became our unanimous destination for Saturday lunch, this past weekend. Having been to a few Wahacas in London town, expectations were riding high. Thankfully, it was one of those rare occasions when expectations and reality coincide!
We had micheladas and a gin sling to drink and ordered quite a few dishes to eat, such as cactus (yes, cactus!) and corn taco, plantain taco, chicken tinga taco, sweet potato quesadilla and churros with choclate sauce amongst others. All of the food was terrific and so was the michelada. Service was also excellent on the day. All I can say is, don’t be surprised if you find us there one more time, at least.
As with everywhere else, I sincerely hope they maintain their levels of quality and service.

We popped into Wahaca for a quick bite at lunch on opening day and it ticked all the boxes we hoped it would, having visited their London venues a number of places.
Situated in the upcoming revamped Corn Exchange building, you have a decent amount of seating in and outdoors (well a lot in the fake outdoors in the internal courtyard…) and it’s bright, airy and generally doesn’t feel too chainy.
The food we had was all great — tasty crab and avocado tostadas, chicken tinga taco’s and a really nice guac with nacho’s. Having cooked a number of recipes (and the Tinga being a regular go-​to meal) from Thomasina’s cookery books, I still have to say mine taste better though ;-P
Prices were fairly decent but the beer selection needs improving a lot. They just sell Mexican lager which isn’t too shocking I can imagine but there’s no other options in terms of beers and even Las Iguanas now sells Mexican IPA, Wheat Beers etc. Put it this way — I was wanting a beer but just decided to keep my money in my pocket and drink water.
I’m sure I’ll be back again regularly as it’s the best restaurant Mexican in town (Pancho’s will always be getting my casual burrito money though) — a welcome addition to the foodie scene.

Great staff welcome on the soft launch night, and first thing you notice is the sheer size of it and what I can only describe as a festival atmosphere !
Greeted by our server for the evening we had a very clear explain action of the menu process and opted for the adventure set menu as we couldn’t decide on some food so we let the best do there jobs and pick for us ! For £32.50 for two people with a dessert you are NOT left feeling 1) like your money has been wasted, or, 2) hungry !
When ever I’m in London which is seemingly increasing I tend to find myself at wahaca and as soon as I meet up with Paul B or Amanda H we have a blast at wahaca
Tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole to begin and help you mull over menu choices ! Also you tend to find wahaca seem to upcycle a lot of stuff, so in the bathrooms your sinks are what I can only describe as big plant pots !
The food is delivered to table as it ready you don’t get it all at once but as you normally get so much that’s good !
Don’t be afraid to ask a server to get rid of your plates to make room either. One big thing j would say is utilise the table sauces, the food is beautiful but a small drop or three can enhance it to that level !
Beer is good and being a Mexican restaurant you can have a wide range of tequilas !
I’ll have to update this review when I return in the near future !