St David’s Centre, Cardiff
Food **** Atmosphere ****
I think it’s fair to say that Christmas is well and truly nearly upon us. The carol singers are out, the lights are up, and a strange mix of festivity and companioning panic hangs in the air. Christmas is a period of anxiety and hysteria about a plethora of things, among them buying presents (with subsequent bankruptcy), seeing family (with subsequent fall-outs), pretending to be happy (with subsequent alcohol and food abuse), and of course the divisive work-do. With restaurants showing off their Christmassy menus, it felt only natural to give one of them a try.
Wahaca have a clear desire to show off genuine Mexican food to the UK market (there’s something of an irony with them getting their name from an Anglicisation of the pronunciation of the Mexican city of Oaxaca), and are at the front of the Mexican wave (sorry) that has swept over the UK in the past few years. Upon entering, my dining partner and I are quickly shown to our Christmassy seats where we sample from their range of tequila añejo and cocktails. The fact that Wahaca stock an unrivalled range of tequilas is also noteworthy, with añejos being the equivalent of a fine single malt Scotch.
With our whistles whetted, we felt bold and opted for the Mexmas Banquet, a mix of sweet potato taquitos, salmon sashimi tostadas, hutlacoche (mushrooms, corn and cheese) empanadas and tacos with beef shin, pork pibil, chicken tinga and rajas (poblano peppers with corn, spinach and onions) as fillings. The mix of food is perfect for sharing, and any Christmas function that may require sharing with a large amount of people. To finish, we go for the churros y chocolate, which were sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and rounded off a lovely meal perfect for a break from the manic Christmas shops of the St David’s Centre.
words LUKE OWAIN BOULT
photo SAMANTHA WILLIAMS