Tag: paddington

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Tacos from the Halls

trains

When arriving at Paddington and needing something for lunch, I have on the last few occasions headed to the Market Halls.

Having been impressed with the meal I had there, I had thought about repeating the steak and chips I had before. However, there is quite a choice of places to eat and I do like to try new things. I decided to try out one of the other stalls, so this time I headed upstairs and went to try out the tacos from Breddos Tacos.

I had their lunch deal, which was three tacos and some rice for £15. I went with three different tacos.

I did enjoy all three tacos, but in order of preference, my least favourite was the chicken taco. This was Yucatan grilled chicken, pico de gallo, habanero salsa, and avocado. I had anticipated a warm chicken taco, but this wasn’t to be the case. Don’t get me wrong it was really nice, but I was expecting hot grilled chicken.

The mushroom taco was full of flavour. This mushroom guisado taco was filled with braised mushroom, onion, jalapeño, and habanero salsa. I do like mushrooms, a and this was really tasty.

The fish taco was the best of the three. The Baja Fish taco had tempura cod, pico de Gallo, and habanero mayo. The taco looked great, the cod was hot and crunchy and the accompaniments were tasty.

Overall I really liked the three tacos and it was a nice meal, the rice in my opinion didn’t add much. I think next time I would forgo the rice and just go with the three tacos.

It’s interesting to compare this with the Wahaca lunch deal for one, which is available next door. I think the Wahaca meal is a better choice if you want tacos.

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Bao Buns at Paddington

Paddington Station

Having arrived at Paddington, I headed to Market Halls for lunch. This is a new place in the Paddington Square development. There are various places now to find somewhere to eat. Market Halls at Paddington is one of four halls across London, but this was my first visit to any of them. They consist of a range of street food stalls with common tables. A great place to go and eat if no one know what they want, or people want different things. Lots of choice including bao buns, tacos, curry, and burgers. On a previous visit when I was there, I went to From The Ashes Parrilla, which is an Argentinian grill place. I had the grilled picanha steak with fries.

This time I went to Bao and had two bao buns. I placed my order, took at seat and waited for the buzzer to go off. It wasn’t long

I had the Beef BAO, beef short rib, gherkin, and Sichuan mayo.

The beef was rich and deeply flavoured, and the gherkin and mayo added a nice contrast. The bao bun was soft and fluffy.

My second was the Fried Chicken BAO, soy milk marinated chicken, golden kimchi, coriander, hot sauce, and Sichuan mayo.

The bao bun was different, halved and toasted. The fried chicken was moist and tender with a nice crispy coating. I liked the golden kimchi.

These weren’t the best bao buns I have had, but they were tasty and I thought reasonable for £9 for the pair of them.

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Picanha Steak + Fries

Paddington Station

Having arrived at Paddington Station, I headed to Market Halls for lunch. This is a new place in the Paddington Square development. There are various places now to find somewhere to eat. Back in December I had a lovely meal from Wahaca. Market Halls at Paddington is one of four halls across London, but this was my first visit to any of them. They consist of a range of street food stalls with common tables. A great place to go and eat if no one know what they want, or people want different things. 

Meet Market Halls no.4. seconds from Paddington Station is our newest location, where you’ll find the best of London’s food scene, an outdoor terrace, live music and your favourite drinks. good times flow here.

Lots of choice including bao buns, tacos, curry, and burgers. I went to From The Ashes Parrilla, which is an Argentinian grill place.

I went with the grilled picanha steak, chilli-pickles, chimichurri and skin on fries. You can opt for a seasonal green salad instead of the fries.

You are given a table buzzer and I took a seat. The food was prepared to order, but it wasn’t long before the buzzer went and I headed back to Ashes Parrilla to pick up my tray of steak and chips.

Picanha Steak + Fries on a metal tray

The steak had been chargrilled and then slices. Alongside were the seasoned skin on fries with chilli-pickles and a pot of chimichurri.

The steak was cooked well, and was very tasty. The accompanying  chilli-pickles and chimichurri did enhance the steak. I thought the chilli-pickles might be too spicy for me, but the pickling had quite significantly reduced the heat of the chillies. The fries were nice and crispy, but they were a little over-seasoned for me. I think I would have preferred plainer fries in this instance.

Overall I really enjoyed the food and it was nice to have something which wasn’t a packaged sandwich from a coffee shop or a supermarket for lunch.

I think the hardest thing about Market Halls, is choosing what to have, I did spend probably too long thinking about what to have, as I was tempted by the bao buns, and I did like the idea of tacos. So, I will be visiting again in the future.

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Wahaca for One

I had really enjoyed my last meal at Wahaca at Paddington, so had thought about going again at some point.

Arrived in London and went to Wahaca for lunch. They do a deal for one, which looked nice. Better than a sandwich. Initially I thought do I want to go there, as it was quite early, just approaching midday. But then I thought, what was the alternative? A sandwich from Pret? So headed on up the stairs. I was the first person in the restaurant. However, by the time my food arrived twenty minutes later, the place was packed.

What you got was:

      • Guacamole & Tortilla Chips
      • Smoky Sonoran Hummus
      • Sweet Potato & Feta Taquito
      • Two tacos of your choice, I went for the Buttermilk Chicken Taco and the Beef Gringa Taco.

I loved the way the food was presented on a wooden board.

The guacamole tasted nice and fresh, and it was nice to have the mixed tortilla chips as well. I really liked the smoky Sonoran hummus, not too smoky, but I liked the addition of the sunflower seeds. The Sonoran hummus is a Mexican hummus, made with roasted vegetables, chickpeas, guajillo and herbs, drizzled with chilli oil.

At the heart of the board was a sweet potato & feta taquito. There was a variety of textures and flavours in this taquito. It came with caramelised onion, salsas and chipotle mayo, and was served in a crisp blue corn tortilla. The crunch of the rolled taco and the smooth sweet potato made this a tasty treat.

I had gone for the buttermilk chicken taco and the beef gringa taco. You got one of each. The gringa taco was slow-cooked British grass-fed beef with grilled cheese and salsa fresca, in a soft corn tortilla. The beef was tender and full of flavour.

The buttermilk chicken taco was chicken crispy fried in WildFarmed flour with pink pickled onions and spiced mayo, in a soft flour tortilla.

It was a great meal, really tasty. Service was excellent as well.

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Back to Wahaca

I was travelling back from London and rather than catch a busy peak train, I decided I would have some dinner and catch a later train. The other option was to catch a busy train, probably stand or be cramped, and then cook when I got home. So dinner it was, and I had already made up my mind to visit Wahaca.  I had heard about the branch at Wahaca at Paddington when it opened, but I hadn’t had the chance, or the opportunity to make a visit until this week.

It’s just outside the station and upon entering the restaurant you climb a set of stairs to get to the tables. Even though it was early the place was buzzing and quite busy. I was initially offered a seat at the bar, but as I wanted food and not a drink, I asked for a table.

I sat down and looked over the menu. I had a voucher for a free portion of tacos, so that was the first area of the menu I went through. I was tempted by the buttermilk chicken tacos, but went with the Ancho Mushroom Tacos, with jalapeño mayo, beetroot crisps and dressed slaw, in two soft corn tortillas

I had really enjoyed the Mexico City Nachos when I had them a few years ago. So that was next on my list of choices. I went for the veggie version, as I didn’t think the addition of the chorizo really added that much to the dish, and the veggie dish was cheaper as well.

My final choice was the Zesty Bean & Feta Tostadas, with chickpeas, borlotti beans and organic peas with fresh tomato salsa. I had hoped they would have the crab tostadas they use to have on the menu, but they didn’t.

The nachos arrived first and I was a little surprised by the size of the dish. Either the dish was smaller when I had it a few years ago, having made my own version of this plate, I was expecting something smaller, or more than likely I had just plain forgotten how large the dish was. 

There was plenty of crunchy tortilla chips, a large helping of guacamole, black beans, crema, pink pickled onions, cheese sauce, fresh tomato salsa and jalapeño. I left the jalapeño, but the rest of the dish was delicious.

I really enjoyed the Zesty Bean & Feta Tostadas, full of flavour and contrasting textures of crunchy tostadas and soft beans.

The Ancho Mushroom Tacos were really tasty, I liked the mushrooms and the intensity of flavours across the two tacos.

I really enjoyed all three dishes and the experience reminded me how much I enjoy the food at Wahaca. Service was excellent, warm, friendly and efficient. It’s a real pity that the branch in Bristol closed, as it would be nice to have somewhere local to visit.

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I don’t like doubled up cups

When I go out and buy coffee I usually drink in, and have a proper cup. I always think if I am spending a lot of money on coffee, I want it in a china cup, and not a paper cup.

I was at Paddington Station with some time before my train, and using my Three+ offer I had a £1 skinny flat white from Caffe Nero. As this was a kiosk, the coffee was in a paper cup.

They did something which they think is helpful, whereas I don’t. The Caffe Nero flat white comes in a smaller cup, which the cardboard sleeves they use on their larger cups don’t fit. The cardboard sleeves act as an insulation layer. As the sleeves don’t fit on the smaller cups they double cup; use an extra cup instead of a sleeve. They do this, so that it acts as an insulation layer. 

Now I get this, but as a result I personally find it difficult to drink from the doubled up cups after removing the lid. I also find it quite challenging to remove the spare cup without spilling the coffee. 

Yes, it is not a major problem, just a minor annoyance.

I need to remember the next time, to ask for a single cup.

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Sweet Chilli Chicken

I wanted a quick meal at Paddington Station, but wasn’t really sure what I was in the mood for. Well I was hoping to get some tacos from Barburrito, which I had really enjoyed on a previous visit. However like Chilango, they’ve stopped selling tacos.

I’ve had the sushi quite a few times from Wasabi at Paddington and have enjoyed it. However I didn’t really want sushi. At the Holborn branch of Wasabi I once had the Sweet Chilli Chicken and didn’t really enjoy it.

I quite like sweet chilli chicken, but in this case the sauce was overpoweringly with sweetness and stickiness, even with the heat of the chilli.

 I did decide in the end to give it another go.

Yes the sauce was, again, overpowering, rather too sweet and had a lot of chilli. Yup, probably not the best choice in the end.

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Relaxing Coffee

basement in Java U

There is a real nice cafe, Java U, on Praed Street, it’s a place I either visit just after I arrive at Paddington or whilst waiting for a train from Paddington.

Java U on Praed Street close to Paddington

There is always a lovely warm welcome and the coffee is excellent.

FLat White from Java U

There isn’t a huge amount of room inside on the main floor, but there is a basement which has a lot more space.

The last time I was in London was at the beginning of March, so I’ve not been since then. I am looking forward to the time I can go back and have a nice coffee.

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Time for Tacos

Paddington Station

I have been pleasantly surprised by the choice of food outlets at Paddington Station, not only a good choice, but the food is pretty good and reasonable value for a transport hub. Airports and service stations could learn a lot from Paddington Station.

One place I was sad to see disappear when the concourse at Paddington was refreshed was the Barburrito burrito place, but did smile when I saw it return to the first floor after the refresh.

Its a simple menu at Barburrito, pick your dish, from the classic burrito to what I decided to have a stack of tacos, the Stack O’ Taco. You can have two or three. Soft flour or corn tacos with achoice of filling, served with side order of tortilla chips and salsa.

You can choose your filling, with the tacos you can have them all the same or mix and match. I went with the Grilled Steak in two and Grilled Chicken in the third. Other choices include pulled pork, vegan, spicy shredded beef or chicken and chorizo.

I also got some salsa and toppings for the tacos, but didn’t go for the guacamole, which I usually would do.

Stack O’ Taco

The tacos were nice and fresh, really tasty. It was only after I finished that I realised I had forgotten about the tortilla chips, ah well. These were nice tacos, tasty and well presented.