Cafe Pacifico

Reviews

• Well worth a visit

  Really enjoy this place. Great bar, good beers, really nice atmosphere and decent main courses. Good value despite touristy rip-off location. Starters not as good as mains though.

  Bowgreave
  Review Date: 10/01/2009 Report review
• Great drinks, great food, great atmosphere!

  Who'd have thunk it? A reasonably priced, high quality restaurant in Covent garden!This venue is the ideal place for a first date, the no booking policy means that if you decide to go for the sit down meal option you get a good 20 minutes chatting at the bar before you sit down to eat (and believe me 20 minutes is long enough to know if your date is worth spending the rest of the evening with)!Often however I will take the less expensive option and grab the bar menu (cheap moi?) the food is definitely the best Mexican I have ever tasted in this country (and better than most in California).I would have given this place 5 stars, but there are 2 things that let it down, first they have taken my favourite dish off the bar menu which was a selection of tacos (brie and mango, smoked chicken, beef and pork), secondly the seafood has been consistently disappointing, stick to the non-seafood dishes and you'll be a happy camper!Furthermore, the drinks are to die for, the choice of tequila is staggering as are the tequila cocktails, the bar staff are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful and produce the best Margaritas in London (IMHO).

  Toptripster
  Review Date: 04/10/2008 Report review
• An old favourite

  In tourist-trap Covent Garden it is easy to get ripped off with expensive, diluted cocktails. At Cafe Pacifico the very professional bartenders will mix them to your taste (and strength) and they have more than 100 tequilas to choose from.Mexican food is not fashionable or pretentious - it's stodgy and filling, so don't expect culinary fireworks.Having been to most Mexican restaurants in London, including Texas Embassy, Wahaca etc, I think CP is one of the most consistent, and the staff are really friendly (I witnessed a manager and waitress helping a customer who had clearly consumed too much alcohol, making arrangements for her to get home safely).CP has been owned by the same people for 25 years and they even grow their own avocados in Spain to make their guacamole. I think that attention to detail speaks for itself.

  Lig
  Review Date: 03/07/2008 Report review
• Not great

  I've been here twice and have not been impressed. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't completely unhappy about the whole thing, but I don't think this place is the best Mexican you can get. Plus the staff aren't that friendly, and it is expensive, for what it is. You can definitely do better than this, I just haven't found it yet.

  Chloebuxton
  Review Date: 03/04/2008 Report review
• Tasty and filling

  We scanned the dinner menu before sitting down for lunch and realised it could be quite expensive if you're not dining during the middle of the day.Having said that, the lunch special menu featured a number of spicy, filling, tasty dishes for £6.50 each. Add in a wonderful starter - the Taquitos with shredded beef were amazing - and you have a great meal for just under a tenner. Only downside is the day we went, the place was hopping so getting served, getting the cheque and paying took ages. What should have been about 40 minutes was well over 90.

  Greedoe
  Review Date: 02/02/2008 Report review
• Avoid!

  I'm sorry to say that we had a bad time at Cafe Pacifico. We were constantly rushed, couldn't hear each other speak, and were not allowed to leave the table at the same time in case we were 'runners'. How insulting.Added to that, the food is the worst kind of fake Mexican I have ever seen: microwaved rice, processed cheese, flavourless sauce which could easily have been Italian or any other tomato-based number.All in all, weak drinks, aggressive staff, laughable food and a non-optional 'optional service charge' which they in no way deserved. A real shame. A waste of an evening.I cannot recommend this place in any way.

  Mlangma
  Review Date: 10/09/2007 Report review
• Visit Mexico via Covent Garden

  Cafe Pacifico is a hip, bustling bar and open restaurant just off Covent Garden. Fabulous frozen margaritas, famous hot sauce and a wide-ranging authentic menu. The ambiance is vibrant and it's a great place for a fun night out and for groups. Though, be warned, it's charm is well known and you will usually wait an hour for a table... lucky, in true South American style, you can run a tab at the bar while you wait ;-)

  Samantha
  Review Date: 04/05/2007 Report review
• Tequila Tequila

  This typical mexican restaurant and bar offer more than 180 different Tequilas! I like the latin atmosphere of Cafe Pacifico. Staff come from Mexico, Spain and from the whole world. Very friendly.

  630

  Julie C.
  Review Date: 11/10/2006 Report review
• Best Mexican in London

  Cafe Pacifico is, hands down, the best Mexican food you can find in London. It's right by Covent Garden tube station, so very central, and always busy. The cocktails are strong, authentic and tasty (though quite expensive), and the food is invariably delicious. The portions are quite large, so there is really no need for a starter, though what would a Mexican meal be without the nachos dripping with cheese, guacamole and sour cream be, right? It has the feel of old Mexico, in that it is a little scruffy on the inside, though not in a "cheap" way, more in an "authentic" way. If you like Mexican food, drink and ambience, you'll be hard-pressed to find a menu item you don't like here.

  Nikothefinn
  Review Date: 11/08/2006 Report review