London always has its underground surprises and Wahaca is one of those best found by those wanting a little less Tex and a little bit more Mex in their foods. I’m not sure how long it’s been open for, with its brightly blue coloured walls at least giving it a newish appearance.

This restaurant has a strict non-booking policy and given its spacious dining area seems to be able to accommodate smaller tables of two to four. I’d definitely recommend arriving much earlier if you’re part of a larger party.

Dining is relatively informal with your placemat reminiscintly wagamama-styled except this time the entire menu is on the placement. Ordering feels almost overwhelming and I’m glad you can choose to either order full dishes, or tapas “street” style, both working well for groups of any size.

It feels like almost anything you would want out of a Mexican restaurant is there and more. Full of exceptionally fresh flavours and with some dishes having that additional kick, Wahaca does not disappoint. Even in the drinks department, they offer plenty of choice and serve other Mexican alternatives to the standard Corona export.

Definitely a gem that easily missed in the wealth of options in the area, Wahaca offers fresh, tasty Mexican food at reasonable prices. Definitely try the extremely tender Pork Pibil dish though watch out for the chilli that’s likely to literally knock your socks off!

Details: Wahaca
Found at: 66 Chandos Place, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4HG
Contactable on: +44 (0) 207 240 1883
Highlights: A hidden gem offering tasty plates of super tasty Mexican food that will make you regret ever declaring all Mexican food is bland
Room for improvement: It’d be nice if they accepted bookings for larger groups, limited to a certain number of course.
The Kua Rating: 8 out of 10

I’d read a little bit about Imli in a few places and, for the most part, appeared to be a pretty good place to eat so we went along to this modern ‘tapas’ take on Indian cuisine. The restaurant isn’t massive, located in the heart of Soho and it looks extremely modern and clean. The menu is simple and split into the different types of meats and a separate section for vegetarian and other side dishes. They serve all of the curries with rice on the side. It was the first time that we’d all come here so the waiter first explained how the menu worked and the recommend of two to three dishes each, or the alternative of a set menu that sounded a bit more thali-like and less shareable.

We tried a huge variety of different dishes between the four of us, following the waiters advice. They served it in about three rounds, giving us some time to clear out the table although the end result still looked like a bomb had hit it. Next time, I wouldn’t follow the waiter’s advice, instead sticking to one or two dishes between everyone and then perhaps ordering more at the end if you’re still full. The combination between different types of dishes, lots of rice accompaniments (as part of the tapas plate) meant that the sheer volume of food defeated us. In one way, it’s not bad for money although we ended up wasting some of ours since we followed the waiter’s advice.

One huge disappointment and shocker for this restaurant is their policy with their “bottled” water. In a way, we’re partly to blame as we missed the not very obvious hints. We should have picked up on the first tip when they said that they don’t have sparkling water, and then then seen the second when they brought out their tiny “Imli” branded glass bottles with the rubber stoppers you push backwards. At £1.95 for, what looked like, a 400mL bottle of filtered water we were stunned when we received our bill four bottles later. The worst thing is that they didn’t even warn us about it when we hesitated at the first one.

I really wanted to like this place. The food is reasonably priced, fairly tasty and presented in a comfortable atmosphere to share with friends. I’m still left with a very bitter taste, one from the recommendation of ordering far too much food, and the second not being warned about the bottled water that I definitely don’t think is worth the price.

Details: Imli
Found at: 167-169 Wardour Street, Soho, London, W1F 8WR
Highlights: Small plates of Indian food perfect for sharing with a number of friends
Room for improvement: £1.95 for water you bottle yourself? Pfff.
The Kua Rating: 6 out of 10

Elephant and Castle isn’t exactly well known for its thriving Chinese community and so Dragon Castle is a great surprise for those craving Chinese food on the south side of the river. You enter the restaurant through one of two doors alongside a towering red gate fronted by two standard Chinese lions only to enter a small foyer entrance. Compared to the other restaurants found in Chinatown, I thought this place looked much larger in space.

Given the large spaces, I thought the waiters and waitresses would push carts around though it turns out I was wrong. Instead, you walk down a large and grandiose path placed alongside the wall of the stretched out room and then shown to one of the tables clustered next to each other on the other, ordering from a small menu.

The attendants really earn their service in this place. Unlike many other dim sum places, our pot of tea always remained piping hot, constantly filled without any requests. The little parcels arrived at a steady pace without the sudden overcrowding other places give you and they quickly whisk the dishes away as soon as you’re completely done and, most importantly, not when you’re almost done with your chopsticks still picking up the food.

The food is excellent value and the quality reasonable though I wouldn’t claim it’s the best that I’ve had. The dim sum menu isn’t as overwhelming as many other places, instead keeping to a core set of favourable dim sum favourites. We also managed to order a main dish that remained off the dim sum menu and they seemed happy to oblige.

Details: Dragon Castle
Found at: 100 Walworth Road, SE17 1JL, London
Highlights: Decent quality dim sum at extremely reasonable prices in the place you’d least expect it.
Room for improvement: Would be a much better experience if they used carts to wheel food around for a more authentic experience.
The Kua Rating: 7.5 out of 10

One of the greatest things about being in our office is its location right on the corner of Covent Garden with so many places accessible by foot. Our lunch time outings seems to have formed a little ritual I will miss when I get back on a project. The other day, we went over to Mexicali, a place I’d noted when I’d visited Yauatcha. Although I consider myself a huge supporter of the Daddy Donkey stand, it doesn’t mean I can’t try other Mexican places such as this.

£5.20 will start the process of a soft fresh tortilla pulled from its stack, then wrapped around chunks of whichever meat you order, beans and a fairly ordinary salad together. I ordered a pork burrito that, although tasty, wasn’t as flavourful as the adobo one that Freebird (a Mexican stall at Exmouth market) offers. According to Luca, the flavour of the chicken also didn’t cut through the 50p guacamole and the beans. Mexicali’s establishment appears extremely new filled with some fairly casual tables and chairs, each topped with their very own cactus and Cholula hot sauce that does wonders to pep up your non-customisable burrito.

They have several other options on the menu although we didn’t get a chance to try them out. Unlike other places, this place also offers their burrito with a small serving of corn chips although they’re pretty tasteless without any options for salsa on the side and the like. I didn’t like the fact that they don’t offer upgraded chilli levels.

Details: Mexicali (website still in progress here)
Found at: 4 Berwick Street, Soho, London
Highlights: Reasonably priced burrito with extra hot sauce on the side
Room for improvement: Average taste with no room for customisation.
The Kua Rating: 5 out of 10