Jalisco

If you want Mexican food in Brixton, don’t waste your time on Wahaca. Jalisco is a lovely, unpretentious place in Brixton Village serving some seriously delicious food as well as a great selection of drinks. Their draft lager is the Czech Kozel — serious props for that! Or, if you want to go for something more authentic, the Mexican Negra Modelo is the way to go. Jalisco also do exquisite (and cheap!) cocktails — the Hibiscus margarita is my favourite one. Make sure you catch the happy hour — it’s a steal. Great news for vegans: though it doesn’t seem to be clearly marked on the new menu, you can ask for a dairy-​free option of pretty much every dish! It’s a godsend, because otherwise you’d be missing out on the amazing nachos, tacos, burritos… The menu is also very flexible when it comes to portion sizes (and size large really is large!) and degrees of hotness — so even if you’re not crazy about spicy food, there’s stuff for you here. I always go for «spicy» and for me, it’s just right. The place gets really full on weekends, but during the week there’s always a space — upstairs is particularly nice and intimate. Quick service means you can easily get something here in your lunch break, and still have some time to spare.

The food is always good at Jalisco but unfortunately the staff are always rude.
There was a problem with our bill but we couldn’t really check because they don’t do proper bills.
The waiter said he would give us free shots if we liked them on facebook and asked to see our phones. My boyfriend explained that he doesn’t have facebook (which is true) so the waiter took his shot away.
They always seem to be rude and grumpy which is a real shame because the food is good.

Finding Mexican food that is not only affordable and delicious is hard in London. Jalisco is affordable, has friendly staff, especially since they were able to handle my party of 10. The portions are generous so when in doubt go smaller so you can actually finish. The sweet potatoes were yummy, pretty much everything on the menu was a hit and you cannot beat a 5£ margarita. Only gripes are that it does get noisy and the bill comes in sheets that you cannot really check.

No matter where I go, I’m always on the hunt for good Mexican food, which is a bit masochistic in a place that is so very far removed from Mexico.
However, Jalisco did not disappoint. I went with an LA native who quickly proclaimed «Now this is real Mexican food!».
Due to Chipotle, I’m never really sure if my tastebuds can tell the difference between «real Mexican food» and «good food that claims to be of Mexican origin», but I can’t afford to discriminate whilst in London