Address: 20 Atlantic Road

telephone: 020 3763 6357
email: BRIXTON@DFTACOS.CO.UK

https://dftacos.co.uk/brixton for opening times

This is a four location Taco shop. DF standing for Distrito Federale (Mexico City) for the locals and the Brixton branch is very large. Decor – think fast food meets the day of the dead – including our skull lighting. This was, of course, a branch of Wahaca, which we reviewed here. It’s under the same ownership and in practice it’s not much more than a change of name, with perhaps an emphasis on fast food. We went at lunchtime and there was plenty of space.

So what is on offer – lots and lots more than Nachos and Tacos. So choose taco fillings in a bun or a burrito and not forgetting a Margarita. The list is too long to repeat but remember the sizes of each dish (we didn’t……)

We chose Guacamole to share just in case the rest took too long to deliver – it doesn’t – it is really fast food so only order what you think you might like to try and then add more as you go along. Then it was a tussle – I ordered the Ancho mushroom Tacos (oven roasted mushrooms, habanero and pumpkin seed mayo and Feta cheese). My partner chose a Chicken burrito (Chilli rubbed chicken. Sour cream. Habanero & pumpkin seed salsa and House pickles) and for some unknown reason we also ordered fries.

So what did we think? Masses amount of food arrived. The Guacamole was very lemony and I assume that it was required to prevent the avocado browning. It was not unpleasant, just a surprise.

The mushroom tacos were lovely and savoury. The tacos were crisp, but, as usual with tacos, you need to eat swiftly to stop them going soggy. I had two pretty large ones so perhaps think about sharing as the sogginess increased on the second one. The habanero added flavour, but not heat, with the feta added just enough saltiness to the mushroom which were not at all waterlogged – oven roasting solves that. This dish is well worth a try.

The chicken burrito was certainly meaty, packed in with well-cooked flavoursome rice and salad. Served fresh the wrap was soft – still at the pre-cardboard stage. The fries were crinkly but turned out to be just too much starch at the end of the meal – so do not make the same mistake; just take along more companions to hoover up the remainder – a group of teenage boys would be just the right.

We washed the whole meal down with tap water and a passion fruit agua fresca. The bill was £28.96 which for the amount and quality of the food was really money well spent. This is not a Mexican which has hefty amounts of chili, sort of Mexican-for-softies. The flavours are subtle and so make this food much more available to individuals across the age span – take your kids and your granny. We will return – as hungry as possible – and will take friends so we can try some of the other offerings. We might even get to the ice cream sandwiches.