Homies on Donkeys, London E11: ‘Astonishingly good’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

Vibrant and nonconformist, this Mexican taqueria is the area’s most exciting new opening for a while

There is no cutlery at Homies on Donkeys, a taqueria in Leytonstone, east London, that is run by Sandra Bello and chef Erik “Smokey” Bautista. “No cutlery, no exceptions, we got napkins, get messy,” it says on the single-sheet menu, alongside descriptions of their abundantly stacked tacos filled with reverse-braised bavette or confit pork with dripping, wobbling amounts of jalapeño relish.

This fork-free zone will come as a relief to some informal diners, who find all those butter knives, dessert spoons, cheese scoops and grape shears a bit bamboozling. It may, however, dismay anyone wearing a non-wipeable fabric such as cashmere. Homies on Donkeys is more of a sou’wester kind of place, with added salsa verde and chipotle on your chin when you pay the bill. It’s also a place for people who like 1990s hip-hop, graffiti-strewn walls and the sensation of eating in a suburban skate park: Naughty By Nature, Main Source, Gang Starr and Grand Puba blare from the stereo as I sit at a table that is absolutely nowhere near big enough for all the tacos, large plates, sides and drinks that we’ve ordered; we’re also wedged in next to the till, where the servers are constantly ringing in orders. While the seating may not be ideal, the soundscape just about makes up for it. This isn’t a 90s-themed restaurant, but if you’re of a certain age, remember the Beastie Boys back when they were gobby kids, videoed Dance Energy with Normski on BBC Two or ever got grounded for tagging your neighbour’s garage, this place is like sensory whiplash with tacos on top.