La Bamba
This two-story restaurant and bar offers RMB 5 drink specials, hearty food, a pool table, foosball table, darts, and tv screens.
Location
- Wudaokou 五道口
- Wudaokou, East gate Huaqing Jiayuan, Haidian District
- 海淀区五道口华清嘉园东门，五角星酒吧2、3层
- Daily 10am-2am
- 8286 6755
User reviews of La Bamba
Fantastic
- Joined: Oct 26th, 2008
- Posts: 1
Review of La Bamba
This place is a fantastic place for foreigners to go.
Happy hour is 7-11pm with beers ranging around just 10 Yuan!
Food deals are daily, inclduing Burritos for only 15 each, which by the way are AMAZINGLY tasty, even if other people sa they are not very Mexican.
THere is a free pool table, free table footie, excellent staff and cheesey music!
Then theres Propaganda club just below making for a quality end to the night out
They also do HUUUUGE 16 inch pizzas for jst 60 Yuan, something that has to be seen to be believed!
Fantastic place!
Dissapointed
- Joined: Jul 29th, 2007
- Posts: 3
Review of La Bamba
Im really dissapointed, Im mexican and when I tried the nachos there, was just chips with a slice of white cheese over them, then tried Tostadas, they dont really know how to make mexican food!! Im so angry that this restaurant is supposed to sell mexican food and they dont even are close to it!!
La Bamba fails at Mexican Food
- Joined: Jun 19th, 2008
- Posts: 6
Review of La Bamba
No don't get me wrong, I'm not one to enjoy throwing dirt at a restaurant for having done nothing wrong but attempt to prepare food that they just didn't understand how to prepare, but La Bamba does just that: Just doesn't how to make good Mexican food.
I have lived and worked in Oaxaca, eaten real fresh black mole chicken, warm hand-made tlayudas, menudo, tamales, tortas, tacos, etc. I know good Mexican food, but I certainly wasn't expecting something near as good as that. What I was served was even worse.
Their burrito was lackluster to put it best. A hearty portion arrived on my table. My burrito was flat and folded like a large dinner napkin, ready for me to be devoured with a knife and fork. Not only does La Bamba not know how to make a burrito, I'm sure that no one there has ever actually eaten a real one. The taste was flat. The salsa was a sad blended, watery, bland mix of tomato stuff and who knows whatever. Mild and non-spicy, adding the salsa just sogged down my burrito and made me want to cry out to the land where the sombreros and blankets on the wall came from.
The only positive thing about this place is that La Bamba actually uses real beans. Most Mexican places in Beijing don't even use beans for their burrito. Imagine that! No beans in a burrito. Might as well operate a burger joint without any beef.
Stay away from La Bamba unless your inner Mexican-food love compels you to eat something vaguely resembling Mexican food--that's all you'll get at this place.
La Bamba - Not so bad.
- Joined: Feb 18th, 2007
- Posts: 6
Review of La Bamba
Went around 5pm to avoid the dinner rush - but it's 3 floors of restaurant - so no rush. The salsa lacks zest and the beef burrito was sloppily wrapped (shame) - but arrived in a generous serving - perhaps to compensate for the kitchen staff's wrapping inexperience.
Tostitas chips and dip were fine - but again - the salsa really lacks tang - but perhaps most foreigners aren't used to zippy Mexican food and like the rather bland salsa.
Overall - a marvelously average dinner - but if you simply must quench the craving for Mexican food (like me) - it works well enough - and I was stuffed - bordering on bloated after I'd finished dinner - which is perfect for Mexican cuisine!
The sofa style booths by the windows are nice for people watching - nice place for a casual date.
Didn't enjoy it
- Joined: Mar 21st, 2006
- Posts: 392
Review of La Bamba
La Bamba was recommended to me by some friends and it sounded alright.
Food: The food was alright - neither good nor bad-, except that the two mains we ordered were brought to us a whole 25 minutes apart from each other.
Drinks: Ordered a Sex on the Beach and a Long Island Ice Tea. Now a Long Island Ice Tea is normally served in a Jumbo glass, not a Long Drink glass - but I can live with it. But a Long Island Ice Tea is known to be a potent drink and this one certainly didn't taste that way. Not impressed. The Sex on the Beach was mediocre at best. Not impressed, better to spend 5 kuai more in Lush next door and get proper ones.
Service: Friendly, but not too competent. I don't expect Chinese service staff to speak English, but I would imagine it should be possible to learn to understand the names of the most common items on the menu. For example: Cocktail names (Long Island Ice Tea, never heard of it, Tacos: big question mark). Now my Chinese isn't too bad, but I really don't know the names of Mexican food in English 
Overall: I can imagine that the specials can be quite attractive, but if you are going for a casual meal and drinks I really wouldn't recommend it.
