Santo

This is by far the most authentic Mexican restaurant in London. The specials of the day reveal all that is wonderful about Mexican cuisine - smokey sauces, incredible stews and soups, and mole sauce of course. All this in addition to the more traditional Mexican food like enchalidas etc. The drinks are out of this world, and easily the best margaritas in London. I agree that the drinks are on the pricer side but then again, they are very good. The atmosphere is cool and cozy and perfect for a big or small dinner. The service is highly personal ,and while may be slighly slow, its worth the wait. Would highly recommend to anyone who has been to Mexico and adores the food.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, September 04, 2008

Santo is doing it right. The food is amazingly fresh, and the quality superb. It seems much of the food is organic or free-range and I don't feel guilty ordering chicken for a change. I really liked the atmosphere..it was a quiet night, but they didn't over-work it, with the music just right and lights low and relaxing. I had the Pollo con Mole, it was a mind blowing dish; a savoury sweet, chocolate chilli sauce with re-fried beans and homemade corn tortillas. My friend had the vegetarian enchiladas with the home-made salsa verde. After the chicharron (strips of fried sea-bass with salsa) and tostadas con ceviche ..we were fairly loaded. We had a couple of the house Margaritas to start and a bottle of the house red with the food which while not an 'amazing' wine, complemented the flavours in the food perfectly.

I don't want to wax lyrical, but this was a truly stylish and authentic Mexican experience. 9/10. I mean it!
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, September 04, 2008

Yes the service is a little slow, but providing you are not in a hurry, the wonderful staff more than make up for it. Very good caipirinhas, much more so than the Margaritas - drinks are all a little pricey though.

Have been here a few times of late and the highlight visit was definetly breakfast- fantastically fresh and delicious. Full Mexican is a great way to start a Sunday. The Santo Steak meal is around £20 but so large it would easily serve 2 people. No, it's not Michelin starred, but it is a great local and absolutely worth a visit.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Friday, July 11, 2008

Why do I do it? I have probably watched too many movies with Mexican themes -"once upon a time in Mexico" with Johnny Depp being particularly good.

So every now and then, I get optimistic and say to myself ..."Mexican food cannot be just sludge in a wrap" - there must be more to it. Out there somewhere is a great Mexican restaurant. So I gear myself up and trundle off to the latest place.

And of course, it turns out to be ...sludge in a wrap. This is not a UK thing either. I went Mexican in NY and California (never Mexico due to something called Montezuma's revenge - a different sludge problem entirely) and it was all consistently the same sludge, by different names,and colours (guacamole) in a wrap. The Americans seem to love it, but are they the yardstick we want to follow?

So Santo lived down to sludge in a wrap, with the added piquancy of being the slowest service north of the border. Nice looking place,and nice staff - pity about the food and the preparation time. Won't go back.
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C.Elder
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, July 02, 2008

I really wanted to like this place. I think London is crying out for some more Mexican restaurants. We had two margaritas which were exemplary, if slightly on the small side. Our friend was running late so we ordered some starters while we were waiting. We waited, waited and finally enquired where our entrees were. (apart from us and 2 other tables the restaurant was deserted.) Our waitress apologised and explained there had been a mix-up with our order but by then 45 minutes had passed and we were still without our guacamole and corn chips and ceviche. Surely not that difficult to make fairly quickly?

My husband and I both ordered enchiladas - the vege and chicken version. My friend ordered the special burrito with asparagus. His burrito was underdone, asparagus nearly raw. Our enchiladas were awful. Bland, uninspiring. Drenched with cheese but very little else. A few scraps of chicken and some very basic vegetables. No rice, refried beans or even guacamole....and they were priced between 11-13quid. I can make a better enchilada using a kit from Sainsburys.

Because of the poor service we opted not to pay the 12.5% service charge. I have never asked for this to be deducted but felt quite strongly given then slow service and average food.

When the manager asked for our comments we were honest and told him that our main courses had been disappointing. He was extremely agressive and condescending and suggested that because we had never been to Mexico, we could not possibly have an opinion on what constituted decent Mexican food. I haven't been to Japan either but I know the difference between good and bad sushi. Very disappointing
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foodiefro - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Monday, June 09, 2008