DF/Mexico

I think this restaurant is a great mix of casual and classy. You have table service, but you order at a machine, so it’s a great mix of both. The juices are really the star of the show for me, I still remember the lime one, and the hibiscus one, and it’s a really good deal for unlimited juice for 2.50 which you can serve yourself and mix and match them.
The burritos I’ve had have been really tasty but I would say one thing is that the guacamole is really scarce and liquidy and they tend to not put much salad (which I personally prefer to a minimalist burrito)… While it is a simple burrito, the flavors are interesting and not very mexican from what I know and love in America. They taste almost thai to me, or maybe just a little soy-​saucy, I can’t put my finger on it, but they are different. I do like it but it’s not my favorite mexican place.

I was pleasantly surprised by DF/​Mexico. It makes it clear that it’s a Mexican fusion place, so some of the slightly strange-​seeming menu items work in that context. It’s not striving to be 100% authentic. And for owning up to that (in a sea of «look how authentic I am!» competitors which are actually nothing like actual Mexican food), it earns major points and is more enjoyable for being just itself.
Both of us had steak tacos, but with different toppings. Both of us enjoyed them. We also ordered tortilla chips and guacamole. The guac was nice — mild, but still flavourful. The serving size, for the price, of the basket of chips was miniscule though. That was disappointing. The tacos would’ve been a bit better if doubled (which is pretty common with soft corn tortillas), but even breaking apart due to juiciness, they were delicious.
The all-​you-​can-​drink aguas frescas bar was nice, though I found the hibiscus agua fresca a bit syrupy and the horchata tasted sweet enough to send a person into a diabetic coma. That being said, they tasted nice in small sips! The lime drink was delightful.
After we left, I did some Googling and was absolutely shocked to see that DF/​Mexico was at all associated with the abysmal abomination that is Wahaca. Apparently it’s got the same creative team behind it. For as horrible as that place is and the myriad things it gets wrong, DF/​Mexico is the opposite — it feels a lot more authentic and gets a lot more things right.
I’d definitely come back.

Really, really enjoyed our quick meal here. Want to find an excuse to go back!
We were at nearby RADA Studios for a radio show recording, but had time to kill to grab a bite to eat. Were were going to go for the usual boring/​cheap choices and grab some sushi from Wasabi or a sandwich from Pret, but my wife spotted this place from the bus and had heard it was good.
Standard Mexican-​esque food from a quick glance at the menu, reasonable prices, so far so good. Bright on the inside with «art from around Mexico» and pretty much empty (it was a quiet Monday around 5.30) — so also good. And a warm, inviting server seated us and we browsed the menu properly.
What struck us was there was no huge pushing of just how «authentically Mexican» they are. Sure, it was «inspired by street food of Mexico City», but none of the attempts to tell you that this was THE place for Mexican food in London — I am so tired of that — and it so often leads to disappointment. What they did have was great sounding tacos and burritos, and also tortas, as an ode to New York/​Mexican fusion. Anyway, it all sounded delicious, but I couldn’t see past the steak tacos — and neither could my wife. Plus, a side of chips & guac, because who doesn’t love guac?
Well, we both LOVED DF/Mexico’s guac; it was just so more-​ish, as was the selection of hot sauces also available for my chips. I really wanted to take their sweet habanero sauce home with me, it was amazing. And then the tacos… which were nothing short of excellent. Really well marinaded, juicy steak and well stuffed soft shells — I normally find corn too chewy but these were perfect. A nice smokey sauce on top and we had 2 very happy customers indeed. We also really enjoyed their self-​serve (and free to refill!) drinks, though the hibiscus was a little too sweet to have more than a single glass off.
Reasonable prices, quality service, good looking menu, and really tasty food — probably the best Mexican experience I’ve had in London, and I’ve tried rather a lot! We’ll be back for more tacos (they had a build-​your-​own platter that sounded great value) or perhaps to try some tortas as soon as we can find a reason to be nearby again!

The place looks great very inviting, but the ordering process has a flaw for those dining alone. Being seated to a table then explaining that you have to order at the counter means having to take all your belongings with you to the counter. Either it’s self service where you order before going to a table or table service. Having it this way makes sole dining difficult.

I love me some Mexican, so I’m always down to try a new spot. Not sure why this place is getting some hate, but I had an excellent lunch here. I was trying to kill some time before shops opened on a Sunday (what is that about, in 2016, that they still have to wait til noon to trade?!) and just happened to run across this spot. Normally I feel like I’m in the know when Mexican joints open, (especially when they’re not just cheap Chipotle copies!) but this was somehow under my radar.
Actually it just ended up being a lovely surprise — especially due to the great service. I’ve only ever had (or seen) tortas on offer in hole-​in-​the-​wall places in San Diego, so I went adventurous and ordered the mushroom option here. It arrived fast, was juicy and tasty, and beautiful to boot! Reminded me a little of the Patty and Bun veggie option but with a gorgeous crunchy, grilled cheese layer. Will be back for sure!

The concept of this restaurant is basically Nandos but for Mexican, with similar ordering systems and help yourself service stations. Unfortunately unlike Nandos they don’t seem to be able to cope with this fast service style. Orders are encouraged to be placed via a computer screen, but this gives you no option for custom orders. As our party of 3 included a vegan this was essential. Instead we waited to see an actual staff member. Unfortunately, he struggled to make custom orders too, and just removing a couple of items to make one of the orders vegan took him over 10 minutes to organise this. We also had to order a wrap plain so the whole ordering process took over 15 minutes, by which time a large queue had formed of other people who didn’t want to use the computer, as there was only one staff member who could do this. The plain wrap arrived at least 15 minutes before the rest of the meal, and we were left perplexed as what arrived was a bowl of rice, not what we ordered. Apparently a mix up when the staff member was trying to amend the order. The staff member serving us seemed rushed off her feet, but did look anxious when she realised about the big gap between different items coming out from the same order, and they tried their best in the circumstances. The kitchen staff were seen adding and removing items to meals several times and looking clearly confused, so maybe they have new staff. The most straight forward order actually arrived last, about 30 minutes after we’d finally managed to place the order. Unfortunately, this was disappointing too and was too dry and tasteless for me personally, the side of corn and feta however was much better. The area offering different kinds of salsa only appeared to have ketchup and hot sauce which was slightly confusing. The best part about it was the refillable drink selections, which added Mexican juices and flavoured milk to the usual soda selection, and they were seriously delirious (although different to what was printed in the menus). As negative as this review seems, I think a lot of it could be improved with more staff training and s change to their systems, id like to try it again in 6 months time and see if they managed to iron out the issues. The staff tried there best, but seemed totally overwhelmed even though the restaurant was about half full.

It’s nothing like authentic Mexican food. More London Cream and lack of flavor.
The Guacamole was good. I left the wet bland creamy chicken tacos on my plate.

Looks cool, small portions though and wasn’t as flavoursome as competitors like Wahaca and Chipotle. I was impressed at the very quick service, despite them serving a large table of around 30 ppl, our food came within around 5mins… Although that’s scarily quick when you think about it!
The bottomless soft drinks were great, I tried the lime and chia and then got hooked on the Horchata.
I’m not really sure whether I’ll come here again… Maybe just for the bottomless soft drinks, but for the food, probably not, Leon’s is right next door and I’d rather go there to be honest…

Standard Mexican fare in London unfortunately, the food was good it definitely wasn’t bad but it wasn’t excellent for me. I had the carne con chile torta and the meat was nice, although there wasn’t much of it, but the bun was too sweet as Grant mentioned. The fries were good although not outstanding– crispy crinkly cut. The portion sizes were a bit wanting, absolutely fine if you are sharing a few extras as we did but without this a main on its own is unlikely to fill you up. The corn chips and guacamole were good. I really like agua frescas so it was nice to find them here, and having unlimited refills on them so you can try every flavour, the horchata was a bit too sweet and powdery tasting however the hibiscus and chia flavours were really good. We were discussing how much London is in need of alcoholic agua frescas– this would definitely inspire a return visit. The intense desire to clear the table was also a bit unsettling, personally I think it’s best to leave plates until people have finished eating– maybe it’s just me, but the fact that twice while we were clearly eating– including not long after the food arrived there were attempts to remove plates was a bit off putting. I am not sure why this would be as it wasn’t full at all so they can’t have needed the plates, and we had space on our table, unless they really wanted us to leave? It seems a strange policy as it wasn’t just one person but 3 separate staff members so they must have been instructed rather than it just being one really big fan of clearing plates as soon as they arrive. So overall I won’t be making an effort to return but wouldn’t make an effort to avoid it either.

DF/​Mexico is the new brainchild of Thomasina Miers and the Wahaca crew. Given my opinion of Wahaca, my expectations were fairly low for this place, but I do love trying New Mexican places around London, and my love for the new outweighed my low expectations, so I went with fellow Unilocalers Isabel and Vanessa to give it a try. This new branch of the chain recently opened and is close to work so we came here. (I say chain although there are only two branches. I expect at least one more during the next year. Eventually expect as many as Wahaca. It will happen.)
Like the other branch, this one is counter service. We opted to try several things. I got some of the habanero corn nuts as a nibble. I ordered the pork pibil torta with cowgirl beans (black beans with chorizo). We also decided to split the chips and guacamole and the cheesy beany chips. My fellow Unilocalers tried the fish tacos and the carne con chile torta.
I got a margarita to drink. As in stopped to grab some tap water from the water area, I noticed the salsa station that had four types of «salsa». The mild «salsa» was tomato ketchup. What a joke. I grabbed the green medium salsa, the red hot sauce and the yellow hottest sauce. On the table there was also so chipotle ketchup.
The food came quickly enough. The best was the habanero corn nuts that had a ton of spice and flavor. The margarita was average (pre-​made and frozen). The pork pibil torta was nice, but not amazing. The brioche bun is all wrong for a torta and they need to switch to a more traditional style torta bun. I put the «hottest» salsa on it (which was more of a mild to medium salsa), but it didn’t do a whole lot. The «hot» salsa turned out to be much better flavor and helped a bit, but not much. The beans were nice when I added some salsa to them as well. The «hot» was definitely the best, and unfortunately was the only one not made in house. The chips and guacamole were good. The chips were frozen crinkly chips with some average beans on top. I tried some of the chipotle ketchup on them, and that turned out to be a great spicy ketchup. I tried bites of all the other food. It was all okay, but nothing amazing.
I finished first as my food arrived first. Then while everyone was still eating, two servers tried to take all my cutlery and crockery. Weird and very American. I also wasn’t done as there were some chips still left I was trying to eat. Annoying.
All in all, I think DF/​Mexico exceeded my expectations, but only barely and only because they were quite low to begin with. They claim to be «modern» Mexican, but I think it’s more border town Mexican and not modern at all, unless your definition of Modern is dumb-​downed and Britishized. I’ve had Modern Mexican from real chefs from Mexico that is amazing and different. When the best thing you have are the pre-​made sauces and the pre-​made corn nuts, you know there’s a problem. This is just your bog-​standard food. I probably won’t be back, and I don’t recommend it at all. It’s not a MexiCAN’T, more a MexicOKAY, but not a MexiCAN. If you are okay with okay Mexican, this is your place.