Which Tequila Will You Go With?

London and the rest of Britain have long been associated with great drink. Real ales, gin, whisky … the traditional ties with classic quaffs runs deep.

But tequila? Yes, believe it or not, there’s actually a pretty vibrant Mexican restaurant scene in London. Indeed, a best of Mexican food post is well due on this blog. And with these restaurants comes the perfect spirit to wash down all those tasty tacos and burritos – tequila!

For your next flight to London, here’s a roundup of a few Mexico restaurants with bars specializing in serving quality tequila (the good stuff that won’t leave you with a headache the next morning):

Wahaca is a locally owned chain of London restaurants with an emphasis on Mexican street food. They have five locations throughout London: Covent Garden, Canary Wharf, Westfield, Westfield Stratford City and Soho. Wahaca’s Soho restaurant, located on Wardour Street, has recently launched a new Azulito bar on its lower ground floor where guests can “enjoy delicious tequila cocktails, listen to a selection of DJs mixing Mexican contemporary urban music, and challenge their friends to a few games of table football.” More importantly, the bar offers a collection of 80 “purely 100% agave tequilas” that stands unrivalled in the UK. There’s even a “tequila cage” where customers can get up close to read tasting notes and inspect the tequilas that they may want to drink.

Benito’s Hat is another notable Londoner owned chain with three locations: Covent Garden, Oxford Circus and Goodge Street. In addition to a delectable variety of burritos, tacos and such, Benito and co. has a particularly delish list of tequila based cocktails. The watermelon margarita is definitely worth a sip or two!

Crazy Homies in Westbourne Grove not only has a great name and a yummy menu of Latin flavored comfort food classics. It’s also got an impressive range of a few dozen tequilas served straight or in a variety of cocktails in its cozy downstairs bar. If you like your tequila served with some rock ‘n’ roll attitude with a kitsch Day of the Dead background.

Beyond these three recommendations, there are a few other decent Mexican restaurants serving quality tequila along with plenty of world class bars with top shelf tequila and creative cocktails. According to a 2009 article in the Independent, tequila is the booze of choice for Brits these days. So it’s viva la tequila here in the UK!

Photo: Chris Osburn