Tip Top Tacos At Mexican Cantina

Anne Flaherty reviews latest arrival to the local food scene

A cantina is a type of bar popular in Mexico and Spain. The word is similar to "canteen", and is derived from the Italian word for a cellar, generally a fairly basic room with home-cooked, tasty food and alcoholic beverages.

Cantina, Hammersmith’s newest Mexican eatery, gives a real Tex Mex feel with its shabby chic wooden tables and chairs. Owner Emily Johnson, who grew up in the Hammersmith/Chiswick area, ran a cafe and bakery specialising in cakes and cupcakes for nearly ten years before deciding to turn her hand to something completely different.

Emily says, "What I love about Mexican food and tacos in particular is the simplicity of wrapping something up in a humble tortilla that can then be bursting with so much flavour and have such a diversity of options. And furthermore they are just fun food and great for sharing and socialising over."

Cantina is a fun and laid back space, where diners can order a couple of margaritas and tacos, sit and chat in a relaxed, casual atmosphere.

The starter menu offers a variety of Little Plates, reasonably priced from about £3 each which would satisfy those not-so-hungry customers. You could pick cornbread, sweet potato fritas, halloumi or crispy squid and have a sort of Mexican tapas.

We chose a very simple plate of Tortilla Chips with Dip trio or guacamole, sour cream and salsa. The chips were piled high and sprinkled with diced chilli and paprika. Very moreish, especially with the two Margaritas the classic Mexican cocktail of tequila, triple sec, agave, and lime, with a salt and chili dipped rim on the glass. There were other cocktails on offer, which sounded intriguing, including Smoked Mary Tomato, (chipotle infused vodka, mescal, lemon, paprika, coriander) or a Cantina Sunrise (Tequila, aperol, grapefruit, prosecco, Lemon Sherbert). There are tequila shots, as well as wines and beers .

The mains consist of various fillings which can be served in either burrito style, a la quesadilla style or salad style. Prices averaged around £8 and included Spiced Pulled Pork, Chilli Brisket, Lime Chicken, Squid and for vegetarians, Halloumi or Smoked Squash with Corn Salsa. There are also Superfood Burritos with black beans, beetroot slaw, lemon broccoli and whipped feta.

We decided to opt for the the Mix n Match Tacos, six tacos priced at £15 which gave us three apiece, which is pretty good value. Our chosen fillings were the chicken, halloumi and the pulled pork. There is also a fish finger taco which soundes interesting.

The chef kindly minimised the chilli input on one half of the plate due to my sensitive palate. There are no gluten free tortillas available but I had thought ahead and brought my own. For those who like it hot, chipotle and habanero sauces were available, along with a verbal warning.

The tacos were tip top, and we make pretty short work of them. The atmosphere was relaxed and cosy, with no effort made to hurry us , though service was attentive. We chased the margaritas with beer and some sparkling water and carried on our conversation.

As the tacos are quite filling, we decided there was no room for dessert but happily accepted a pot of tea to finish off the evening. Cantina also offers breakfast/brunch with a range of egg dishes, breakfast churros and of course Huevos Rancheros - Eggs cooked on black beans, sweet potato with tostada, guacamole.

It also has an intriguing take on a Sunday roast- a Sunday Roast Burrito of roast beef, roast potatoes, carrots, shredded sprout slaw and horseradish sour cream, wrapped in a Yorkshire Pudding and served with gravy.

I'm not sure whether Cantina offers authentic Mexican street food, but it does provide humble simple dishes cooked with love and care. And very tasty it is too.

Anne Flaherty

March 20, 2018