Part of the El Pastor family of restaurants, Casa Pastor is the cool and lively little sister. An authentic Mexican taqueria with live music, laid-back vibes, and a tequila-slinging bar.
Casa Pastor
Find Casa Pastor
Coal Drops Yard
London N1C 4DQ
For more information and opening times
It’s one of those large, laidback joints you go to for casual catch-ups, the kind that combines good looks with helpful staff, better-than-average food and fairly friendly price tags.
TimeOut
There’s a fairly succinct menu featuring a handful of starters, sides and sweets, meaning that tacos and sharing platters both take centre-stage. Quite rightly, too, as they both star Casa Pastor’s incredible tortillas. Made by hand each day using heritage Mexican corn, they are gloriously authentic, soft and delicious.
For taco fillings, choose from prawn, chicken, mushroom, or our favourite, Baja – beer-battered pollock served with chunky pico de gallo. The sharing platters are either short rib, sea bream or slow-cooked pork served with a stack of those to-die-for tortillas. And if you run out, extras are on the house.
The original Victorian features with high ceilings, exposed brick walls and tall vaulted windows are given a chic Mexican twist with vibrant murals, artwork and hanging basket lighting. Diners are invited to sit by the counters or at tables in the main restaurant, which centres around an enormous tree draped with strings of lights.
The outside space of Casa Pastor is Plaza Pastor, a heated and covered outdoor dining terrace with its own bar and a separate, more casual menu.
Sustainability
All of the ingredients used by Taco Pastor are sourced locally except for their corn. Corn is more than just a crop – it’s an important part of Mexican culture. Casa Pastor is therefore proud to source their corn from Tamoa who work directly with farming communities. They offer above market pay in recognition of the farmers’ labour and work towards the preservation of agricultural biodiversity. Tamoa’s associated farmers grow ‘landrace’ (heirloom) maize, where a variety of species of crop has grown and adapted naturally over time in a specific place. The corn is then traceable to its community, where it has sustained the livelihood of the farmers for thousands of years.
