Green & Red Bar & Cantina

here was a time (read: all of 2007) when I couldn’t get enough of Green & Red Bar and Cantina. I must have eaten there five or six times last year. Despite its not-super-accessible-by-public-transport location, Green & Red served, in my (admittedly East-coast) opinion, the best tequila-based drinks, the best quality mole-slathered mains, and the most delicious carne asada and carnitas tacos in London. I loved the young, energetic vibe in the dining room, and the relaxed lounge downstairs was just icing on the cake.

Maybe I OD’d, but I hadn’t been back to Green & Red since 2007, so last weekend, Jon and I moseyed on down with our friends Kara and Jeff to get a taco-and-tequila fix. The service was still friendly (though harried and distracted), and the food was still good, but the bloom’s off the rose. Is it me, or is it the resto? It’s probably me, just feeling cranky about the multiple (large and loud) groups of birthday celebrators who’d taken over the dining room the night we were there. And I’d forgotten that each pitcher of margarita - full of ice cubes, too - ran north of £25 (£27.50 to be exact).

Luckily, the tacos we ordered were still as delish as I remembered. At Green & Red, you order the taco filling you want (£12.50-£14.50 depending on the meat); you’re served taco garnishes (cabbage slaw, several salsas) and a stack of hot, soft, aromatic corn tortillas; and then it’s all Do It Yourself from there. So you can eat tacos with the filling-to-tortilla proportion you like. Extras like guac (£3.50) and queso fresco (£1.50) aren’t bad additions, but the Green & Red versions are kind of bland, so I add them more for texture than for flavor.

Jon and I always order a carne asada, which is smoky and rare like the yummy steak it is. I like that Green & Red cooks the steak and then slices up the meat (i.e., you’re not eating meat scraps or pre-chopped meat that gets dried out/overcooked). Simple and delish.

Carnitas is our other favorite, mostly because you get such a generous portion of pork belly (with crackling). Green & Red’s version can be a bit dry despite that thick layer of pork fat, but I throw on the cabbage slaw, queso and salsas and I’m all good.

You get a lot of meat, regardless of which taco filling you order, so Jon and I never make it to dessert, which is good, because Green & Red isn’t cheap. All the above-described food ran the two of us about £70, which strikes me as a lot for a pitcher of margaritas and tacos, however tasty. But it’s London, so I’m willing to pay for quality Mexican food. Query whether I’m willing to deal with all the large birthday groups, though.

An's profile     Other reviews by An     An likes    

The dining room is on the ground floor, along with a bar. A larger bar area is downstairs. On a Thursday evening the place was very busy, with some tables being turned. Salsa and tortilla chips were nothing out of the ordinary: the tomato salsa seemed home-made but a little bland and lacking in bite, it could have done with more lime juice and maybe some fresh coriander (round up). They have Bohemia beer and make a good marguerita at the bar, and there is a whole menu of tequila. The menu is Mexican rather than Tex-Mex, so not a burrito in sight. Camarones Puerta Vallarta was four shrimps cooked in their shells, served with a warm salsa of plum tomato and Serrano chilli. The prawns were cooked correctly though they were unremarkable, and the salsa was again pleasant but lacking any real interest (1/10). My friend’s salad of broad beans, white onion and coriander featured a nice bite from lime juice but excessive chilli, which all but killed off any other flavours. I am fond of spices, but this was just one-dimensional chilli hotness which smothered the rest of the dish (1/10).

My main course chicken was supposedly corn-fed chicken roasted with achiote spices, served with (you guessed it) a tomato salsa. The chicken was decent enough, correctly cooked and served on the bone, but in this cases the spices were restrained, a little chill hotness but little else coming through (round up). Refined black beans with chorizo were mushy (0/10). If I am kind I could get this up to a 1/10 score, given that the prawns and chicken were correctly cooked, but the use of spices was crude; I’d have been tempted to score it a round-up. This is actually better than most Mexican restaurants in London (mostly cynical chains aimed at teenagers on dates) but it is really not very good Mexican food compared to some that I have had in the US.

One bonus is that the place is just across the street from the Brick Lane 24 hour bagel place, which is useful if you have the mosfortune to order as your main course the soggy roast pumpkin with lentils and sweet potato as my friend did.

Andy's profile     Other reviews by Andy     Andy likes    

love this as a local hang out too
an incredible selection of authentic tequila and some great mexican food this place also has a club downstairs where the DJ fuses some latin grooves with some funk soul and disco
great vibe...

Tim's profile     Other reviews by Tim     Tim likes    

ia an amazing venue.....lucy and i we had a great time...great bartenders !!!

I was at Green & Red yesterday with a couple of friends(2 Jun '07). Loved it. I don't know what genuine Mexican food is like, but I can tell you that everything I had was fab. We sat at the bar (upstairs) and snacked on several starter plates, dropped back a few beers and chatted with a lovely girl behind the bar. Very good, laid back, great service. Definitely recommend it.

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