Café Pacífico is a Mexican cantina in Covent Garden that opened in 1982. Its decor is breathtaking, it definitely doesn't get any more Mexican than that. The walls are covered in vintage posters and painted in a lovely turquoise colour so reminiscent of traditional markets. After a few Coronas you could easily forget the fact that you're in middle of London!
We were a bit bummed to realize that, foodwise, there's a bit of a TexMex vibe going on in the menu. We ordered the Enchiladas and the Chicken Tacos, to try and step away from other less Mexican options such as Burrito Especial and Chile con Carne...
Anyway, the presentation was perfectly genuine. The accompaniments of arroz rojo and frijoles refritos on the side are typically Mexican. On the other hand, we found the tortillas to be fairly soggy. They tasted of maiz dough alright, but they weren't crispy or crunchy at all. Chicken tacos or tacos dorados are supposed to be thin enough to fit in your mouth and crispy enough so you can hold in your hand without the filling coming out. In this case though, we had to use knife and fork as they were so thick and pulpy.
The enchiladas were red (red tomato based salsa rather than green tomatillo, a very elusive ingredient in the UK it seems) and tasted suspiciously peppery and very similar to wannabe Discovery Roasted Pepper Salsa (Pro-tip: real Mexican salsas, whether red or green do not contain roasted peppers. Peppers are sooo Tex Mex, don't be fooled!)
Last but not least, the drinks. We ordered Micheladas and boy were they good. The mix of chilli, lime and spices was just right. You might as well be in a proper cantina in Monterrey with this baby:
All in all, a fabulous place with a truly Mexican atmosphere. Food is, again a bit too on the TexMex (and pricey!) side although not nearly as much as other restaurants out there such as Chiquito.
Thanks for this review, very useful
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