Homies on Donkeys - Leytonstone, London (Review)
Our Rating: ★★★ | ££££ (£27.50 pp) - Believe the hype. Incredibly delicious, well-filled tacos cooked with scientific knowledge (How we rate restaurants)
We’ve been desperate to get to Homies on Donkeys for about three years now. Ever since we wrote our first article on tacos in London, it has kept coming up on forums as some of the best in the city. So yesterday, we finally made the trip out to Leytonstone to see what the hype was about… and we can confidently say it was absolutely worth it.
Homies on Donkeys opened its permanent Leytonstone site in April 2023. What started back in 2017 as a small setup in Walthamstow, founded by Chef Smokey (Erik) and Sandra Bello, has grown into one of London’s most talked-about taquerias.
Smokey and Sandra, who were raised in Tijuana, bring a deep-rooted understanding of flavour, balance and technique that you can taste straight away. This isn’t just good taco spot hype; it genuinely delivers some of the best tacos we’ve had in London, full stop.
Everything is cooked fresh and made to order, and it shows. The tacos come out generously filled, carefully put together, and built on blue corn tortillas that hold their structure. The flavours are bold, rich and properly developed, rather than relying solely on heat. The chefs here make sure the fillings are cooked to perfection and don’t rely on flavourful salsas to cover up poor meat cookery.
There’s a strict no cutlery rule, which feels right. These are tacos you pick up, eat properly, and inevitably make a bit of a mess with. From our trips to Mexico, this leans more towards a modern restaurant interpretation than a straight street-food replica, but importantly, the flavour is there. That’s what matters.
Smokey is a lover of punk rock, and the space mirrors that energy. It’s colourful and lively, with clear nods to his influences, and feels like a place built with real personality rather than trying to imitate something else.
Details
Website: www.homiesondonkeys.com
Instagram: @homiesondonkeys
Opening Hours: Tue-Thurs: 5-10 | Fri-Sat 12-4, 5-11
20% off lunch on Fridays if you book in advance and email them for the offer
Parking is available nearby at Tesco
Book a week in advance if you want to go for dinner at the weekends
What we ate
The menu is mostly tacos, and that’s what we came here for, so we ordered a variety of different meats to test them all out:
Drinks
Jarritos (Guava)
Food
Guacamole with Pico de gallo, coriander and totopos (freshly fried tortilla chips)
Corner to Corner Tostada - Aguachile of hake, cured in Pillars Helles Beer, Lime Juice and Homies' Bloody Maria. Served on a toasted black corn tortilla and topped with fresh red onion, yellow bell pepper and baby cilantro.
Camaron Enchilado - King prawns cooked in chilli, garlic and tomato.
Birria - Braised chuck cooked in a roasted guajillo chilli with Salsa Tatemada, cilantro and pickled onions
Lamb Barbaccoa - Braised Lamb shoulder, ghee, topped with green tomatillo, arbol chile, mint, red onion, Spanish onion, coriander shoots & lime
Salsa Tasting Platter - Red habanero, salsa verde, sweet chipotle, roasted guajillo, salsa macha
Guacamole with totopos
Corner to Corner Tostada
The guacamole was super smooth, and the totopos it came with were crisp, fresh and clearly made to order. It instantly took us back to the ones we had in Mexico City, simple but done properly.
We absolutely love aguachile, and the tostada here was excellent. The hake was cured perfectly with that soft, almost melt-in-the-mouth texture, and the sauce had a real punch to it. The tostada itself was properly crisp, holding everything together just as it should. It’s a messy eat, but that’s exactly the point.
Camaron Enchilado
Birria
The prawns were cooked beautifully, and the sauce had this deep, smoky, almost curry-like richness that we didn’t expect but really enjoyed. It felt bold without being overpowering.
The birria was also very well executed, generously filled and full of flavour. The pickled onions added a really nice balance and brightness. The only thing we felt was missing was a broth for dipping, which is traditionally part of the experience and would have taken it up another level.
Lamb Barbaccoa
The lamb from the specials menu was deep, rich and full of flavour; it really stood out among an already strong lineup.
We also tried the salsa tasting platter. While it’s a nice addition, we don’t think it’s essential. The tacos are already well-balanced and generously sauced, so they don’t need much extra. That said, we particularly enjoyed the roasted guajillo, and the salsa verde added a nice cooling contrast to some of the deeper, richer flavours. So maybe it’s worth getting a couple (one spicy and one cooler one) for your meal.
Overall thoughts
Overall, this is somewhere you should absolutely make the effort to visit, even if it means travelling across London. It feels considered from top to bottom, and you can tell Smokey genuinely cares about what’s coming out of the kitchen.
The ingredients are clearly well-sourced, everything is cooked properly, seasoned well, and served fresh. There’s a real attention to detail in how each element is prepared, whether it’s the fish, the meat or the sauces.
These aren’t rough street-style tacos, but they’re not overly polished either. It sits somewhere in between, a slightly more refined take that still holds onto the soul and flavour you want.
We loved it here and will definitely be back, most likely dragging a few friends along with us.
Their Guajillo Salsa sitting in our kitchen cupboard
Map
686 High Road, Leytonstone, Bushwood, London E11 3AA
