Slow service takes the spice out of Katherine MacAlister's lunch at a new Mexican eaterie

The name says it all, El Mexicana, and as suggested, the new cafe/take-away/fast food joint turns out to be a cross between Subway and Mission Burrito.

It’s nice mind, in a DIY canteen sort of way (you need a tray). But the staff are friendly and you can eat at the bright tables and chairs framing Gloucester Green or inside in the neon decorated interior.

It also fills a gap, because apart from Mission Burrito and Las Iguanas we are rather lacking on the old Tex Mex front ever since Old Orleans packed its saddle bags and disappeared into the prairies.

So marching in for lunch this week on Gloucester Green Market Day, with a swagger John Wayne would be proud of, we tried a bit of everything to see whether the food would be as clichéd as its name or whether it would surprise us.

You can order burritos, nachos, tacos, salads, churros or the chilli basket which is like a giant crispy taco box. While contemplating the beer and margueritas I chose the nachos – a good test because it can be good, bad and horrid. As the staff began making the nachos up at the counter in front of us, they began by squeezing some cheese right out of a sauce bottle in front of me, at which point I actually yelped as my culinary aspirations crashed to the floor, and I went rather pale.

Luckily, this was then covered by real cheese, real guacamole with large chunks of avocado, rather than the greeny glooped packet variety, mixed fried peppers, black beans, sour cream and the strongest salsa I could find.

The staff were reluctant to let me try the salsa inferno, but as my palette has wizened into something bandit Pancho Villa would be proud of, the hotter the better, this was definitely tourist strength.

The tacos we tried with each filling – the pulled pork, the chargrilled chicken and the Barbacoa beef in chipotle sauce, each with a different salsa, and they were great: compact, generously filled and good value, though you pay extra for guacamole.

The downside was that the sweet potato chips (£2.49) we’d ordered first didn’t materialise until after we’d finished our meal because they’d only been prepared after the restof the food was served, meaning we’d rather lost our appetite by the time they finally appeared.

But instead of pistols at dawn, we scooped up the last trace of guacamole, paid our £20 bill and hot-footed it back to work. Whether we’ll be back is another matter.

El Mexicana is in prime position to catch the kids and passers by, but the service was quite slow considering no one else was there. With two Mission Burritos nearby, being such an established, quality contender, they’ll have to fight hard for their patch.

The question is, can Oxford sustain three Mexican take-aways? Hasta La vista.

El Mexicana, 
92 Gloucester Green,
Oxford 
OX1 2BU