British Mexican Food

On Monday my friend, Suzette, and I went out for lunch for her birthday. We were both in the mood for some Mexican food and wanted to try this restaurant called Wahaca. Suzette was telling me that Wahaca is the phonetic spelling of the area in Southwest Mexico called Oaxaca. The decor was really cool, especially this light fixture made out of cardboard Chiquita banana boxes.

We ordered the tasting menu which came with a sampling of several menu items. The item on the left of the photo below was a sweet potato and feta cheese taquito. The one on the right was a chicken and parmesan tostada. The tostada was by far the best item that we tried but I also really liked the taquito. 

Another favourite item was the pork pibil taco. It was a little spicy for me but it was still really good! It had a slow cooked marinated pork and pickled onions.

This next photo is of the Huitlacoche quesadilla. It had a filling of mushrooms, corn, and melted cheese. It was good but nothing compared to the pork taco or the chicken and parmesan tostada.

The last item on the tasting menu was the winter vegetable taco. It was both of our least favourite item. It had a bean, mushroom, and onion filling. It tasted okay but I wouldn't order it again. 

At the end of our meal our waitress gave us what looked like a matchbook. When we looked at it closer we saw that they were chilli seeds and we are supposed to plant them in a public place. It was definitely unique and more memorable than a matchbook. 

After lunch we went to the British Museum. I know I mention the British Museum a lot but every time I go I find something new and interesting. 

Suzette got some amazing photos of some of my favourite items in the Americas section. This next photo is of a mask they made using a human skull. It is beautiful but also haunting. 

Snakes are a big theme in the art as well as turquoise. 

This mask has two snakes that make up the design. One is a lighter green and the other more of a blue green. You can see them wrap around each other on the bridge of the nose. 

Another of my favourite exhibits is the money room. Below is a photo of the print, $9, by Andy Warhol. 

We happened to be there at the time when they have hands-on displays. The British Museum employee working at the money display was really knowledgeable. She answered loads of our questions including the value of shillings and farthings. She told us that there are 20 shillings in a pound, shillings were subdivided into 12 pennies, and farthings were worth a quarter of a penny (she also had examples of them and other coins that we were able to hold). 

The coin pictured below is from Greece. It has an Athenian owl featured on it which is still used today on Euro coins from Greece. 

After the museum we went to the famous umbrella store, James and Sons, and found the Mary Poppins umbrella! They have the most beautiful umbrellas and the guy working there showed us the proper way to close and wrap your umbrella (a skill I think I will be using a lot in the coming months).