Heads up!
This is an old page, so some of the details here may be out of date. Check out Vegan Edinburgh’s city guides for the latest and most accurate information.
Wahaca Edinburgh
16 South St Andrew Square
Edinburgh
EH2 2AU
+44(0)131 202 6850
Overall score: ★★★★☆
Wahaca is just one of the many UK restaurant chains that have woken up to the fact that catering for vegans is an important – and lucrative – thing to do. This fun Mexican-style chair recently opened a restaurant just off St Andrew Square, its first location in Scotland, bringing with it a whole host of exciting vegan dishes to try.
Vegan food at Wahaca
Ask for the vegan options as soon as you arrive and you’ll be presented with a separate, completely vegan menu. At the time of writing, the vegan menu consisted of:
Nibbles
- Guacamole & tortilla chips Freshly made every day with Hass avocados, lime and coriander
- Roast tomato salsa & tortilla chips Charred and mashed with fresh lime and a touch of chilli
Street Food
(These are smaller dishes – order 2-3 for starters and see how you get on)
- Roast winter vegetables with sesame hummus Squash, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes with sesame hummus, Wahaca’s Mexican sriracha sauce and purslane
- Plantain tacos With black beans, marinated cabbage and a sweet & spice chipotle adobo
- Fire-roasted poblano pepper & corn tacos Sautéed with crushed potatoes and herbs
Sides
- Sweet potato Crispy fried chunks, dressed with smoky caramelised mojo de ajo
- Chargrilled tenderstem broccoli With Wahaca’s grilled spring onion salsa and fresh lime
- Rice ‘n’ beans Green rice blitzed with coriander, onion and garlic. Served with black beans
- Green salad Mixed salad leaves tossed with diced avocado, topped with toasted pumpkin seeds
Bigger Food
- Fire-roasted poblano pepper burrito A toasted flour tortilla wrapped around black beans, shredded cabbage & green rice with poblano pepper, courgette & crushed potatoes, served with a handful of tortilla chips
- Sweet potato burrito A toasted flour tortilla wrapped around black beans, shredded cabbage and green rice with mojo de ajo coated sweet potato, served with a handful of tortilla chips
- Winter vegetable enchiladas Fire-roasted poblano peppers and crushed potato folded into two corn tortillas, with a tomato salsa. Served with a green leaf salad
- The Sonora salad with roasted winter vegetables Avocado, pumpkin seeds, black beans, organic British spelt, roasted winter vegetables and Cos lettuce, served in a crispy tortilla bowl
Desserts
- Mango sorbet A cool and refreshing hit of fruity sorbet






If you are looking for a good ol’ fashioned Mexican feast, then Wahaca certainly is a solid bet. I like to cobble together my own meal combo with a selection of street food dishes and sides. Their plantain tacos are particularly tasty! Add on some tasty greens like their grilled broccoli and some filling rice and beans, and you’ve got yourself a very delicious and varied meal indeed.
Their burritos look pretty good too – many thanks once again to my dining buddy Michelle for her hand modelling skills above 🙂 Fun fact: today is Michelle’s one-year vegan-versary, so pop over to her blog Oh Sew Vegan and give her some props!
Michelle started her vegan journey by signing up for Veganuary 2017, and she’s still going strong. If you’ve signed up for the 2018 challenge, take a look at my top Veganuary eats in Edinburgh and start browsing the rest of the site for even more inspiration.
Choice: ★★★★☆
Menu info: ★★★★★
Deliciousness: ★★★★☆
Value for money: ★★★★☆
2 replies on “Wahaca”
A waitress at Wahacas informed us that their tortilla chips and hard corn taco shells are fried in the same oil as meat. We don’t eat there anymore.
Thankfully Wahaca are super-clear about their fryer policy, so you can tell if something might be cross-contaminated. You can read more on their website here > https://www.wahaca.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/WAH-Menu-Vegan.pdf. 🙂