El Pastor, London Bridge
Location: 7A Stoney St, London SE1 9AA, United Kingdom
Website: https://www.tacoselpastor.co.uk/
El Pastor is a small Mexican tacqueria located in a railway arch in London Bridge. My friend loves his Mexican food, he is a bit of a taco fiend to be honest and he reckons El Pastor do the best taco’s in London. I don’t claim to be a taco expert, having never been to Mexico and I haven’t even eaten that much Mexican food but what I do know is that the food here was absolutely incredible.
We basically had nothing but tacos (we did have a single enchilada but that is pretty much a taco anyway). We had the Al Pastor, a Mexico City favourite comprised of 24 hour marinated pork shoulder, caramelised pineapple, guacamole, onion and coriander; it was so juicy and full of flavour, I could eat these ones all day and never get sick of them. Next, we had a few Choripapa’s; a sort of deep-fried sweet potato & chorizo croquette with a generous dollop of salsa verde, not to be missed if you decide to visit. Next came the Mushroom Tacos, a very interesting dish, it is a bit hard to describe; it is like the mushrooms have been pureeéd and then made into a kind of pancake which is then rolled up and served with Oaxaca cheese, caramelised onion, pumpkin seeds and coriander.
To mix it up we decided to go for something a bit different from the tacos so we ordered the carnitas to share, but surprise surprise, it was served with tacos! I have seen a few videos on the internet about carnitas restaurants in New York and I have wanted to try this dish for a very long time so obviously jumped at the opportunity. Carnitas is pork which has been deep-fried in pig fat, it is succulent, tender and packed full of flavour. It is also (as you would expect) incredibly fatty so bear that in mind before you order this beast of a dish. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of this dish as we were all so excited to eat it, it didn’t last long!
They have a great range of cocktails but I only tried one, the margharita, it was so good that I had another for my second drink instead of trying something else!
The restaurant has an industrial vibe, with plenty of galvanised metal sheeting on the walls and ceilings as well as exposed brickwork which makes for a very trendy atmosphere. The restaurant is noisy and the food is messy so probably a better place to meet up with mates rather than go on a romantic date. Pricewise it was very reasonable with the bill coming in at £40 per person including tip, a great price considering we ate our fill and had a couple of cocktails each! This is definitely going to become one of our favourite haunts!