It’s as if no restaurateur in Europe has ever been within 3,000 miles of Mexico.
Seriously, I’ve traveled through Eastern, Western, Northern & Southern Europe and I have only discovered one true Mexican restaurant. And by restaurant I mean a small kitchen in an ancient alley of Split, Croatia, where a few days a week a Mexican immigrant would cook tamales and other dishes of his homeland until he ran out of supplies. This usually happened within an hour or two because the hungry American backpackers outside could not get enough.
My other attempts at finding something resembling Mexican food in Europe have failed miserably.
To this day one of the most disgusting meals I’ve ever had was in Brasov, Romania (lovely town, by the way). We followed the Lonely Planet recommendation to what the writer assured us would be a place where we could get actual Mexican food. We ordered the nachos to start, because how can anyone possibly screw up melting cheese over chips? What came out vaguely looked like nachos, except the cheese was a creamy white European cheese with – *shudder* – ketchup instead of salsa. No, I don’t mean tomato sauce. I mean real, pour it over a hot dog, ketchup. I almost lost my mind. And did I mention it wasn’t even over chips? It was some sort of fried dough-like substance that looked like one enormous chip folded around itself.
It was quite a sight to behold.
That’s not to say every “Mexican” meal on the continent is terrible. We’ve run in to lots of plates that could be “inspired by” mexican food. This very afternoon at a Austrian/German/Portuguese we-serve-everything kind of cafe in Lisbon, Nick had a burrito that was a reasonable facsimile of what a burrito should look like. He described it as what would happen if Italians tried to interpret a burrito. Instead of salsa, it had a tomato sauce that, to its credit, did taste somewhat like salsa.
Today's lunch: it's burrito-esque!
It’s not just Europe, either. I’ve had lackluster Mexican food in Australia, and once had a friend in Singapore beg me to FedEx her a Chipotle burrito, only half-jokingly.
I don’t understand how one of the most popular foods in the Western hemisphere is so completely unheard of elsewhere. I can have KFC overlooking the Great Pyramid, McDonald’s next to the Louvre, and shawarma anywhere, but I can’t locate a decent taco in Europe to save my life. It’s not as if the ingredients are unavailable – beans, rice, tomatoes, peppers, flour, and corn are all easily found in supermarkets. Yet the Mexican chef in Croatia told us he had to have the corn husks for his tamales shipped from Mexico because the local farmers just threw theirs in the trash and couldn’t understand why he would want them. The idea of using them to cook was just unappealing to them, I guess.
How could anyone think this is unappealing?
Of course I love the local food in each country I visit, but sometimes you just want some comfort food from home. And for this American that often means some delicious tacos! So I guess what I’m saying is: if anyone wants to open a Mexican restaurant in Europe, you could make billions just from the homesick Americans! Well, maybe just millions. The Euro-Dollar exchange rate still isn’t great, you know.
AMEN SISTER! I tried – and failed – over and over again to find halfway decent Mexican food in Europe. Even when we went to huge grocery store chains that had international food sections and bought the correct ingredients . . . sigh . . . even then we could not manage to create a good burrito. Good Mexican food can only be found in North America. Sad but true.
Jessica – Of Revolt recently posted..Spotted By Locals: Budapest
It is so, so sad! I feel like if just one taco truck came from LA and drove around to European capitals, they would cause a revolution :)
On the bright side, Chipotle is supposedly coming to Paris, and has a couple locations in London already. We’ll hook them with delicious burritos!
Not so! In Berlin there is a restaurant actually called “Cancun” right across the street from Potsdamerplatz (I think). We all liked our food and drinks
If I make it to Berlin later this year, I will be sure to test out your claim! :)
Not true.
There are several in Germany (mentioned above) as well as a food chain simply called “The Mexican” throughout the Netherlands, especially Amsterdam, which has a lovely mix of Mexican food.
I plan on being in Amsterdam this summer, I’ll definitely check it out. Thank you Jamie!
Love this. I encountered a Tex-Mex fast food place in Irkutsk, Russia (called Kafe Amigo) and had to try – my taco shells were more like fried wonton shells, although the fillings (chicken, refried beans, salsa and ridiculously runny, gooey cheese) were pretty ok. The kicker for me was that they served the tacos with tartar sauce!
I did see Mexican restaurants in Warsaw and Vilnius but couldn’t bring myself to try them – although one in Vilnius advertised having the best margaritas in the city!
Katie recently posted..Warsaw: Somber and Inspiring
Tartar sauce??? Oh my god. That is hilarious… and quite gross.
Thanks for reading Katie!
I feel for you. Plenty of times I’ve been disappointed by food, why can’t they just get it right?. For someone who loves food, being served food that just isn’t any good – its frustrating, infuriating, well its not pleasant…
Sam recently posted..Mountain Biking in Canyonlands – Colorado River Overlook Trail
So true! Mexican food is non-existent in Europe. I remember being desperate from some spice in Italy and bought their version of Doritos and salsa. It was like eating potato chips with tomato paste.
Suzy recently posted..Vicksburg, Mississippi Wishes You Were Here
Oh, yes I think I’ve had those! I’d love to just bring over a ton of salsa to show chefs what it’s supposed to taste like. Thanks for reading Suzy!
I think you might be right with a few exceptions as other people have noted above. I wonder if it’s because Tex-Mex is more of an acquired taste… like, you have to grow up with it or be exposed to it repeatedly before you like it. When I moved from Germany to Texas, it took quite a few trips to Tex-Mex places before I actually started liking it. I think the first fish I actually enjoyed was a nice quesadilla, followed by fajitas (I know, not Mexican at all) and my now favorite Tex-Mex dish, a breakfast burrito. Yummy! But as I said, it took me a while :)
Sabrina recently posted..Cologne Christmas Markets
Interesting! Tex-Mex a sub-genre of Mexican food, but the ingredients are the same. I guess it’s true that American kids all start out loving Quesadillas, then tacos, then burritos & fajitas. I think we Americans just love it so much we miss it terribly when we’re gone too long :)
Though I’m sure there’s a few German dishes you miss living in Texas, huh?
It baffles me, too, that Mexican food manages to get so messed up all over the world. I can’t believe those “nachos” of yours in Romania!!
Amanda recently posted..Photo Essay: Queenstown to Christchurch
Ugh, I know. I almost didn’t want to inflict that image on the world, but it had to be shared! :)
Great post! I lived in Europe for ages and the lack of good Mexican drove me crazy. London has finally had a bit of a burrito revolution, but I once went to this place called the Texas Embassy (right in Touristland, I should’ve known) and ‘nachos’ were nacho chips with an entire large bowl full of…wait for it…Velveeta cheese. You could hold the bowl upside down, and nothing came out. And in Germany, well…they try to make Mexican food healthy all the time. Bless ‘em, but Spinach and Carrots do not, and I repeat DO NOT, belong in my Quesadillas. Good luck on your continued Mexican food hunt! :-)
Jess | GlobetrotterGirls recently posted..It’s a dog’s life for animal lovers on the road
Carrots??? Oh no, no no! I am pretty excited to be in London in March – I hear they have Chipotle now! I’ll make sure to steer clear of Texas Embassy :-)
This is really frustrating for me in Europe, and also in Australia…Mexican food is one of my favourites. I grew up in the States and lived in California for 2 1/2 years and really adore the fresh vegetables and delicious sauces of Mexican cuisine. But it’s nearly impossible to find great Mexican outside of the States (or Mexico, of course)
Andrea recently posted..How to Avoid Crowds and Experience Chinese New Year on a Budget
I shall keep fighting the good fight and try to convince other cultures that they need to adopt Mexican food like they’ve adopted Italian, Middle Eastern, Chinese & everything else!
Thanks for reading Andrea!
I lived in the South of France for 8 months, the only place we came across was a place called El Rancho and its in Le Pontet outside of Avignon, you’ll find it in the Auchon Le Pontet complex. It seems like a typical chain restaurant but the food was pretty good and well priced if you take one of the formula’s. Plus the sangria was pretty good here.
If I’m ever nearby I’ll be sure to check it out! I could start a whole series on finding Mexican food outside of the Americas :)