Notting Hill, Mexican Restaurant Guide

With its “shortish menu of delicious small plates of tacos, fajitas and quesadillas” plus “lots of tequila and five flavours of margarita cocktails”, this Notting Hill original and its Exmouth Market spin-off serve “some of the best Mexican food in London” – both “authentic” and “good value”. A veteran of the capital’s taco scene, it started out with a stall in Portobello Road before moving into permanent premises 18 years ago.

This Mexican/Japanese hybrid in Notting Hill offers ‘gangster tacos’ served with Japanese elegance – and provides “the best fun dining out I have had in a long while”, full of “exciting, flavour-packed mouthfuls”. Finnish-born founder Markus Thesleff coined the label ‘Baja Nihon’ to cover a cuisine that does not exist elsewhere, and has taken over the site occupied by legendary fish ’n’ chip restaurant Geales (RIP) for more than 50 years. Top Tip – “it’s great for allergies – the entire menu is GF and you’d have no idea!”