La Pinata
Mexican Restaurant in Hackney
Authentic Mexican food in the heart of Hackney. From burritos to tacos, quesadillas to enchiladas La Pinata is a fun, lighthearted restaurant.
"A little Mexican corner in Hackney"
While there has been talk on some message boards of La Pinata being the saviour of authentic Mexican food in London, we just didn’t see it.
Real Mexican food is famously hard to find in London but a new restaurant in Hackney is hoping to change that perception. Located in the newest culinary strip on Richmond Road, Hackney Central, La Pinata is a vibrant venue packed with colourful Day of the Dead paper chains, piñatas and ramshackle red plastic chairs. Spacious and bright with a bar and a large hatch that peers through to the kitchen, the restaurant is all about the authenticity.
But. Yes, unfortunately there’s a rather large ‘but’. Even taking into account the teething problems that come with a new venue, the food and drinks let it down badly on this occasion. We order a bottle of house red and are met with a sheepish, ‘maybe’ before being presented with a barely disguised £5.99 Gallo Cabernet Sauvignon newsagent special. If you’re going to buy cheap wine, at least order from further afield than Mare Street.
Next up are the starters. We order the avocado stuffed with tuna, chipotle and onion along with the ceviche. If you’ve ever made tuna and mayo at home and balanced it on top of an avocado then you’ve tried this. The only hint of anything other than tuna and avocado was a thin veil of limejuice that tried its best to get through. This was the opposite problem to the ceviche. A mound of shredded lettuce, barely-there white fish and red onion came swimming in citrus to the point where there was no flavour at all beyond lime.
At this point we laugh nervously as we prepare for main courses. Sadly, there is only slight improvement. The De suadero tacos are billed as thin tender beef cuts, diced onion, coriander and radish on soft corn flour tortillas. They are dry and tasteless until piled with an admittedly good salsa that we order on the side. We then sample the beef burrito (no pork on the menu) and hope. Thankfully, this is much better. Packed full of rich meat, sour cream, beans and rice, it is up to standard. Looking at the menu once again we agree that if anything can save La Pinata then it is the presence of its Mexican classics. Think seafood stews, sea bass and rice, chicken in mole poblano and stuffed banana leaves. However, it’s unlikely we’ll be back anytime soon to put that theory to the test. While there has been talk on some message boards of La Pinata being the saviour of authentic Mexican food in London, we just didn’t see it.
Reviewed by T.A.O
on Jan 2, 2014
Published on Dec 11, 2013
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