Long-time readers of Two Crabs know that one of our biggest gripes is the lack of good, authentic Mexican food in London -- or all of Europe for that matter.  Our continuing search took us south of the River Thames to Puerto Mexico in Sydenham, a neighborhood so far south of central London that it might as well be in France (Life outside of Zone 1 & 2 is still hypothetical to the Two Crabs).  Anyway, we get off the train and walk about 10 minutes to Puerto Mexico.

Right away from the outside, you know it's going to be cheezy. The exterior and interior walls are covered in stereotypical drawings like banditos, cactus plants, sombreros, maracas, even a mural of a scene from the film "Desperados" with Antonio Banderas (ahem, who is Spanish, not Mexican). As expected, the food was Tex-Mex and American: fajitas BBQ ribs, tacos, enchiladas, steak, etc.  They have a full bar, a huge margarita menu and several bad Mexican beers like Corona and Sol. I didn't see any actual Latinos working there. But high marks for  customer service that was better than the average British restaurant.

Mrs. Crab had the chimichanga, which she gives high marks.  Mr. Crab has something called a salsita, which was basically chicken fajitas but without the tortillas.  I give it 2 out of 5 stars. It was filling and fine, but not particularly good, and later paid the price for it on the loo. Admittedly, Mr. Crab is Mexican and therefore has very high standards when it comes to Mexican food. 

Our search for good, authentic Mexican food continues!

RECAP REVIEW of London Mexican Restaurants

Cafe Pacifico (Covent Garden): Better than average. 3.5 out of 5 stars

Chiquito (Soho): Average Tex-Mex chain restaurant. 2 out of 5 stars

Desperados (Angel Islington):  Absolutely horrendous. 1 out of 5 stars

Mucho Mas (Angel Islington): Average. 2 out of 5 stars

Puerto Mexico (Syndenham): Average. 2 out of 5 stars

Texas Embassy (Trafalgar Square). Pretty good Tex-Mex restaurant. 3 out of 5 stars

Tortilla (Angel Islington):  Rather quite good! Equivelent to Chipolte in USA. 3.5 out of 5 stars

Others:
Cool Chile Company (Borough Market). If you want good Mexican food in London, you have to make it yourself. That's where Cool Chile Co. comes in. They are a market stall in London's famous foodie Borough Market that sells authentic ingredients including dried poblano chiles, tortillas, mole sauce and mole-making kits, Mexican chocolate, black beans, tomatillos and more.  They also have a taqueria in West London which we have not yet tried. 4 out of 5 stars (Lost a star for sky-high prices and rubbery tortillas).