El Pastor

El Pastor sits under a railway arch on Stoney Street, close enough to Borough Market that the crowds spill over naturally, which makes sense given it comes from the Hart brothers, the team behind Barrafina and Quo Vadis. It opened in December 2016 pitching itself as a proper taqueria rather than a generic Mexican restaurant, and the name gives away the signature dish immediately.

The taco al pastor is built from pork marinated for 24 hours in dried chillies, spices and orange juice, served on a handmade corn tortilla and finished with chunks of pineapple, a technique borrowed directly from Mexico City street stalls rather than a Tex-Mex approximation. The soft-shell crab taco, paired with a spicy chilli mayo and fresh slaw, is the other dish that comes up repeatedly as a highlight. Guacamole and a handful of other small plates round out a menu that is deliberately tight rather than trying to cover every corner of Mexican cooking.

Drinks are a genuine strength here: the mezcal bar runs to more than 25 bottles, alongside a solid tequila list and cocktails, which is unusually serious for a restaurant built around counter-style taco service rather than sit-down fine dining. Staff are generally knowledgeable enough to talk through the mezcal list properly rather than just pointing at a menu.

Seating is limited and mostly counter or bar-height, so this suits a quick, focused meal rather than a long lingering dinner, and there is no reservation system for most of the room, meaning queues build fast at peak Borough Market times, particularly weekend lunch. The railway arch setting adds a bit of atmosphere too, low ceilings and the rumble of trains overhead giving it a genuinely different feel from a standard high-street taqueria.

The honest criticism, raised by more than one reviewer, is that individual tacos add up quickly once you are ordering enough to actually fill up, and the final bill for what is nominally street food can surprise people expecting taqueria prices. Go with an appetite and a rough budget in mind rather than assuming a taco restaurant automatically means a cheap meal, and treat the mezcal list as part of the experience rather than an optional extra bolted onto the food.