Two things to be chuffed about today – a celeb spot and seeing my brother during his short visit home from Calgary (catching him can sometimes actually be as elusive as a celeb spot – ha ha!)

So, as we making our way through to Covent Garden who should we see quietly having some coffee but Sir Ian McKellen! I couldn’t believe my eyes at first because I am totally rubbish as spotting celebs. He is known for many things but stands out as Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Magneto from the, ironically, X-Men Trilogy.

After this bit of excitement we made our way to Wahaca – a Mexican place so funky that they don’t take bookings. It prides itself on being Mexican Market style-eating but yet being cool and stylish. It was clear that this has been a winning formula for the venue with lines often nearly out the door and the restaurant, tonight at least, very buzzy. Located in Covent Garden the restaurant, once you get downstairs, was surprisingly gigantic.

As with Wagamama the food arrives as it is cooked (which is nice to know that you’re getting it fresh) so you’re not guaranteed that it will come in any order but when it does arrive, and if you order enough of it, expect it to fill your table. You can go for the Wahaca selection which, for £19.50 gets you a selection of Wahaca’s favourites (about 10 various quesadillas/tacos and taquitos plus slaw and salsas) which I reckon would be enough to fill you. We decided to go a la carte as we also wanted to get some other non-standard dishes such as the main-sized Pork Pibil. We ordered what I thought was reasonable for two people but ended up being way more than I could finish. The chorizo, thyme & potato quesadillas were my favourite dish followed by steak taco. I’m sure I would have appreciated the melt-in-your-mouth pork pibil but was too busy recovering from mistakenly eating the hottest chilli I’ve eaten to date to really get into it. I swear that even hours after consuming it I can feel the burn in my throat. Not pleasant but I guess I should have been on the look out for it!

Service, although very friendly and helpful, was a bit rubbish tonight. It was slow and often it was difficult to find where our waiter had gone. More often than not he had disappeared to the other side of the room. We didn’t mind too much but I think if we’d been in a rush we might have been a bit p’d off.

Overall Wahaca is a fun place to come to try Mexican food in quite a lively atmosphere. The offerings are tasty and with fresh ingredients. Price are also fairly reasonable. If someone has hated Mexican food in the past I would definitely take them to Wahaca to see if you can change their mind. Oh – and another thing that differentiates Wahaca is the offering of chilli seeds in match like books. Nice.