London's Texas Embassy Cantina not sufficiently Texan?
All need not reply to this 'reply all' column (Ken Hoffman, Houston Chronicle)
Just got back from my vacation in London. While there, I stumbled across the Texas Embassy Cantina near Trafalgar Square. They serve Mexican food and barbecue — not bad, considering the location.
What I found tremendously irritating, though, was, in spite of the name, they had a large Mexican flag displayed prominently in the dining room. There was no Texas flag to be seen. This was an affront of diplomatic proportions! Can you use any of your vast political connections to get someone to send them a Texas flag to display? Yours till the revolution.
Lee K. Gleason, Houston
Maybe the Texas flag was at the cleaners. You really can't accuse this restaurant of ducking its Texas connection. After all, Texas is in the restaurant's name, and the Lone Star is all over the menu. T-shirts in the souvenir shop are emblazened with the Lone Star. The Texas Embassy Cantina is the No. 1 Tex-Mex (Tex gets top billing) restaurant in London.
Weird.
I didn't make it to the place this last trip, but I've always thought it was sufficiently "Texan."
The food is only so-so, though. Good salsa, decent quesadillas, not-so-good margaritas. The Texas Embassy Cantina should be visited at least once -- and after that, go for Indian food instead when in London. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 08/03/08 21:15 | Travel | Technorati
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Comments
Worst. Margaritas. Ever.
I thought the place was absolutely dreadful and it was a toss-up as to whether or not the food made me homesick, or just plain sick.
Posted by Chris Elam @ 22:15 on 08/03/08
Heh, I didn't think the food was THAT bad (the margaritas were, though!), but it's definitely not something that a Texan should go out of his way for more than the one obligatory time.
Posted by Kevin @ 08:17 on 08/04/08
I was going to stop by there, out of a weird sense of obligation....or something.
Posted by Cory @ 08:39 on 08/04/08
I think my advice for a first-timer would be... don't plan a "real" meal there. Go by, have a beer (or margarita if you must), some chips and salsa, maybe a snack (the quesadillas are passable), take some photos and soak it in, then move on. It's just off Trafalgar Square, so you'll probably be close by at some point anyway.
Posted by Kevin @ 08:44 on 08/04/08
While in London, one should go to the site of the *actual* Texas legation, located on St. James Street just up Pall Mall from the Texas Embassy Cantina. The building houses a wine merchant now, but there is a plaque in the walkway to the courtyard noting its former inhabitants were the Texas representatives to the Court of St. James.
Also, why bother eating Tex-Mex at all while traveling? It won't be as good as here, so use your meal opportunities to explore, like Brick Lane for a different take on Indian and Bangladeshi food, or Gerrard Street for Chinese (including Lee Ho Fuk's, the place mentioned in Werewolves of London).
Posted by Joe White @ 10:53 on 08/04/08
We actually managed Lee Ho Fuk's the last time we were in London. Just because...it's required. :)
I don't mind stopping in for "Tex-Mex" if I find it. We found a Tex-Mex joint on the island of Naxos in Greece a few months ago, believe it or not. It had some really good margaritas (Kev might disagree). And the owners even sent over some free samples of their frozen when they found out we were from Texas.
It's all in fun. There's no topping the stuff in town. What the heck then.
Posted by callie @ 16:10 on 08/04/08
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