Jalapeno

If there is something Jalapeño does well, is check twice all the items in the list of what makes a Mexican restaurant terrible.
1. Décor: is this a Mexican restaurant or a mid-​90s, pseudo-​minimal Japanese eatery?
2. Music: were we in a dance club or a restaurant? Why were they playing Bob Sinclair in a Mexican restaurant?
3. Drinks: mini-​mini-​mini shot glasses, watered down Caipirinhas (garnished with a tomato. Yes, you read it right, I said tomato).
4. Charging for extra chips: original order came with 8 paper-​thin chips. We were charged 2.50 pounds for 8 more paper-​thin chips, and we weren’t informed about the extra charge. 2.50 pounds buy us two bags of chips in the US. How were we supposed to eat the rest of the guacamole? Guacamole was so forgettable I forgot to mention it at the beginning.
5. Service: it was barely there. In a city where fantastic service blew our minds, the one here didn’t make any sense to us. And the waitresses barely spoke English (or Spanish, which could be a possibility given the fact we were IN a Mexican restaurant).
6. Cheddar cheese in most dishes. Mexican food DOES NOT (listen again) DOES NOT include cheddar cheese as an ingredient. That’s Tex-​Mex food. They market themselves as a Mexican restaurant. Or is it something else?
We should know better, especially after reading that London doesn’t have good Mexican food. But it was POURING down, we needed shelter. We were running to escape the sudden appearance of the heavenly «falls», and Jalapeño happen to be on the way.
We will be back to lovely London in the future (at least once a year to visit family). Of course, Jalapeño ¡NUNCA más!

Worst «Mexican» I’ve ever had!!! Yeah, there may not be many great Mexican restaurants in London, but ANYTHING would be better than Jalapeño. I’m not a picky eater, or a super foodie person so I feel my review is realistic.
First off, the menu listed «tomato salsa» which made me wonder what other salsa there would be. Maybe they called it that because it was basically a can of stewed chopped tomatoes + onions + parsley. Not coriander, but parsley! Chips were greasy and a bit chewy. I asked if the salsa was spicey and the waitress said no, but you could add some tabasco sauce. Ha!
We ordered pork tacos which were pretty tasteless and had pineapple chunks in it (weird). Chorizo and potato tacos were ok. And napolito tacos, which is cactus — but not in those tacos, not a sign of napoles. It was more like diced potatoes with canned green chillies, lettuce and some kind of mayonaise dressing. They were crunchy corn shell tacos, like El Paso and filled with rice. I don’t think I’ve ever had rice in tacos.
We also had a black bean and cheese quesadilla that were accompanied by watery sour cream and guacamole — the packaged kind that tastes kinda tangy with preservatives.
All in all, this place is not fresh, not tasty, and when you go out to eat, you expect it to be better than you could make at home.
I’ve also been to Wahaca and Crazy Homies and Tortillas, but Wahaca is my favorite!

Jalapeño has taken over the premises of what used to be Soba restaurant. It’s next door to the Hare Krishna temple, so you may be treated to some free if noisy entertainment
After risking stirring controversy by awarding Yog 5 stars yesterday, I’m relieved that my dining experience at this Mexican restaurant fits in with the majority London Unilocal community view that there’s no good Mexican food in London.
The food here fits into the competent category. They offer all the tex mex quesadillas, tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, etc.
As I generally find Mexican food quite heavy and similar tasting, I opted for their Mixed Mexican option from the grill, giving me steak, chicken and pork from the grill, served with guacamole, salsa and tortillas. The meat was overcooked and quite dry and the best thing about the meal was that it was filling
Jalapeño isn’t really a hot place, more of a large pepper rather than a habanero!