Wahaca Edinburgh has confirmed that it will be opening its doors at 16 South Andrew Street on October 10th, bringing its award-winning style of Mexican market eating to Edinburgh.
What’s on the menu?
The Wahaca Edinburgh menu will offer a wide selection of sharing street food dishes such as the signature Pork pibil tacos (£4.25), Devon crab and MSC shrimp taquitos (£4.95) and Corn, black bean and guacamole tostadas (£3.80). Also available will be bigger plates to enjoy to oneself, such as the Mexico City style chicken enchiladas, two classic enchiladas filled with grilled chicken, tomato salsa roja and topped with melted cheese (£9.95); MSC grilled cod fillet dressed with guajillo and parsley pesto salsas served with green rice and salad (£11.95); or a British Bavette Steak, the Mexican way, marinated in a pasilla rub, served with smoky chipotle salsa and green rice (£12.95). Wahaca also has a regularly changing specials menu, which allows guests to experiment with different Mexican flavours and ingredients. October’s specials will be the Poblano Taco (£4.25), a crisp breaded poblano pepper, grown especially for Wahaca by Riverford Organic, topped with tomatillo and fresh tomato salsa and the Lamb Taquito (£5.75) consisting of slow-cooked British lamb marinated in ancho chilli and orange and rolled in a crispy, fried tortilla.
Who are Wahaca?
Since launching its first restaurant in 2007, Wahaca has flown the flag for Mexico’s culture, food and drink. A large part of this are the traditional 100% artisan agave mezcals and tequilas that Wahaca handpicks and are a mainstay on the drinks menu. Wahaca’s cocktails blend the best tequila with much-loved Mexican flavours such as the Passion fruit or Tamarind Margarita (£6.95) as well as some British classics shaken up the Mexican way like the Hibiscus gin & tonic (£6.95) or the Wahaca Mule (£6.50). New to the menu this summer is a range of Mezcal & Tonics (from £7.25) available in four variations to be enjoyed as both a pre-dinner aperitivo or an accompaniment to the street food dishes. Also available will be wines by the glass (from £4.40) and of course, Mexican beers by Corona, Pacifico and Modelo (from £3.85).
Wahaca takes pride in showcasing street and graffiti artists’ work in its restaurants, inviting artists from across the world to leave their mark on each site. In Edinburgh, the 166-cover restaurant will feature artwork from Barcelona-based Max Rippon, otherwise known as Ripo, whose multidisciplinary work is heavily influenced by his extensive travels throughout Latin America. Typography and the nuances of language, symbols and textual communication play a powerful role in New York-born Ripo’s work in which he displays his skills in calligraphy, graffiti and sign painting.
For Wahaca, sustainability is of the utmost importance and each restaurant is designed to have as low an environmental impact as possible. The restaurant group was this year certified Carbon Neutral by Natural Capital Partners, becoming the first restaurant group in the UK to be awarded the certificate. Wahaca regularly assesses the efficiency of its restaurants to ensure that energy consumption is kept to a minimum. This is coupled with investment in renewable energy projects and local charity enterprises which has helped Wahaca reduce all of its company emissions to net zero. As well as these initiatives, all ingredients used in the restaurants are sourced as locally as possible or transported with care for the environment. Where specialist ingredients have to be delivered from Mexico, the approach is to buy direct from local co-operatives that support local farming communities.
Award winning!
Wahaca has won numerous awards for quality, sustainability and design. Earlier this month, co-founders Mark Selby and Thomasina Miers won the Catey award for ‘Restaurateur of the Year – Group’. Other accolades include winning the Sustainable Business Award at the 2015 Cateys, as well as being named the SRA’s Sustainable Restaurant Group of the Year in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
Wahaca Edinburgh will open on October 7th and will accommodate walk-ins and reservations through www.wahaca.co.uk
Find out more about Wahaca Edinburgh
You can follow the #WahacaEdinburgh hashtag on social media for further information on the opening.
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat: 12 – 11pm, Sun: 12 – 10.30pm
Wahaca Edinburgh
16 South Andrew Street
Edinburgh
EH2 2AU
W: www.wahaca.co.uk
F: www.facebook.com/wahaca
T: www.twitter.com/wahaca
I: www.instagram.com/wahaca
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