Green and Red Bar and Cantina

I’m sad to say this was one of my most disappointing meals in quite a while.

On arriving the 10 of us were greeted in a friendly way, sat straight down and ordered 2 buckets of beer as part of the happy hour. Seemed like a good start. The menu is very limited – 8 starters and 6 main courses. Still, I thought, its quality not quantity, right? Well unfortunately the quality wasn’t there either. The food wasn’t bad per se, but it wasn’t great either. It didn’t help that it was lukewarm and the portions were relatively small. The side dishes weren’t good either. The pre-made guacamole was poor, the refried beans equally disappointing, and they only gave us 2 small flour tortillas each. When we pointed out that wasn’t enough they brought us 3 more. There were 10 of us. It took them 15 mins to do this by which time the food was cold and they even charged us for the extra tortillas. I was the most cursed that evening, as the waiter got my order wrong and I had to wait 20 mins (was told 5) for it to arrive, but at least they gave me a free beer for that bit of trouble.

One of my companions rates Mexican restaurants on the quality of their Margaritas. Considering this place is a Bar and Cantina, and they do indeed have a very good selection of Tequila, we’d hoped that would at least be good – unfortunately again, it wasn’t a particularly impressive Margarita, and it wasn’t cheap. So overall: the staff are friendly but very slow and unresponsive, the food would have been average if it was hot, the menu is unexciting but mostly tries to be authentic and if you want a good drink you’re going to have to pay for a premium one.
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Fraser Pearce
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Visited Green and Red bar a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was delicious; we particularly liked the extremely tender and very tasty pork and beef main courses we tried, and the ceviche octopus starter which was an excellent combination of textures and flavours. I suspect if you went there often you might get a little bored with the menu - it's not extensive - and we found the churros a bit hard and overcooked, (although the accompanying chocolate sauce went a long way to making up for that!)

Staff were friendly and efficient, particularly our waitress who seemed to be looking after at least 10 tables single handedly but still delivered our food, drinks and bill promptly and with a friendly smile.

If I had one quibble, the volume of music was slightly louder than I like it, and as it soon became busy, that made the whole restaurant a bit noisier than I would choose ... but that's a very personal preference, and one I know many people don't share.

Overall, very pleased, enjoyed ourselves and are heading back tomorrow night for a replay.
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Sarah
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

I went there with a group on Friday night with pretty low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. Having read all the reviews below, I didn't expect much from the service, but it was actually quite good - reasonably attentive and very friendly.

The wine was good, and the starters were very good. The mains were a bit dull. I had the vegetarian option which was a decent meal but not worth raving about. Tasted the chicken and the pork - again, both good, tasty enough but not yearning to go back there. Better than other mexican restaurants I've been to, with some atmosphere and a good cocktail menu if you're into that. But as I'm sure you can tell, I wasnt wowed.
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Heather
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Let's be clear: the food is awful, almost laughable. Think bag of Doritos and canned tomatoes style food preparation and you're getting there. How you can get Mexican food wrong is completely beyond me.

The crucifyingly slow service, inexcusable pricing and dingy interior ice the cake.

Since I was with work, and they were footing the the bill - it was paid. If it was a social meeting - no chance.

Makes Taco Bell look like Le Gavroche.
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PW
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Thursday, December 06, 2007

After reading a collection of mixed reviews for Green & Red, I must admit I was slightly apprehensive. Nevertheless, my husband insisted on booking a table last weekend for my intimate birthday party gathering. None of us had been to Green & Red before and we all pleasantly surprised.

We arrived and were immediately greeted and sat down at our table. Not long after, our waitress took our drinks order, a jug of their pomegranate margarita. By the time she came back, we hadn’t even opened our menus! We were all very hungry (our reservation was for 9pm) we asked our waitress for her recommendations. Our waitress was informative and we all ended up with a different starter and main to share! If I remember correctly, we ordered the chorizo, calamari and the best guacamole I ever had (seriously)! The chorizo was meaty and juicy, the calamari was perfectly crisp which came with a green salsa, and the guacamole fresh and zesty! We finished our jug quickly between the three of us and promptly ordered another but this time their staple house margarita, which turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to our main courses. We had ordered the steak, pork (one of the great dishes I had previously read about) and chicken. The steak was cut into strips. The pork came in 3 parts, scratching, belly and ribs. And the chicken was so tender our knives glided right through the meat. The extra sides, especially the black pinto beans, were amazing!

The food was such a happy discovery and the drinks went down a treat, but mostly our waitress made the night. She really seemed to care about the customer, and especially seemed to enjoy her job and guiding us into the unknown territory of Mexican Food!
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hazel baker
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, August 13, 2007

We were really disappointed withe the food. Very lack of choice, the guacamole was the worse we never tasted.

We don't recommend this resturant to anyone
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, August 13, 2007

After having a little trouble getting through to the restaurant on their reservations line, I finally managed to make a booking in the restaurant for my leaving do (travelling throughout Central America for 6 months). There was 15 of us, so we selected their sharing menu at £25 a head. It was four courses, and most of us didn’t even make it to desert! It started with some salsa and guacamole, when we first arrived, followed soon by some appetizers, calamari, a broad bean salad and meatballs in a lovely tomato sauce. So far everything was good and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Then came the mains. Multiple bowls of shredded chicken, pork, mushroom and roasted vegetables. WOW. We were deceived by the size of the appetizers…these portions were massive! On top of all this, they served pots of tortillas and refried beans, red and green salsas and a salad. We tucked in! Haha. By then end my friends and I started comparing the size of their belly’s! Collectively, we were quite proud of our achievement of ALMOST finishing the main course. BUT THEN, after we were given hand towels for our sticky fingers and few moments to digest OUT CAME THE DESSERT! The light option of watermelon slices and the irresistible hot chocolate doughnuts you can get in Spain and Latin America. I think I had one doughnut and a bite of watermelon!

After our meal, most of us carried on the night drinking more beer and tequila in their basement bar, which had a real party vibe. All in all, I couldn’t have picked a better destination for my leaving do. If you manage to get though to the on the phone, take what you can get! You are spoilt for great food & drink at Green & Red, and the staff are so funny! I’d be returning sooner if I wasn’t off in a few weeks.
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milla
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, August 01, 2007

I have a new "favourite" bar! I went to school in America and discovered Mexican food. That was 3 years ago I have been on the epic search for decent Mexican food in London since. I found Green & Red over the weekend tucked away out East, right across town from my usual haunts and hit jackpot!

Green & Red is like a slightly more sophisticated version local taqueria/cantina’s you find in the states. The food was well proportioned and flavours well balanced. I was on my own so I ordered from their starters and bar snack menu. I had the calamar to start, which was slathered with a gorgeous tomatillio green sauce. Perfectly spicy! Followed by their taco platter, which came with a small pot of refried beans (heaven), shredded salad, homemade corn tortillas and green and red salsas (you could taste all the different chillies) with a choice of two fillings. I went for the carnitas (pork) and courgette, garnished with coriander and dill. The waiter encouraged me to get hands dirty and that’s exactly what I did! I barely finished the platter, a great sharing dish for two I later found out, but I was so hungry anyway it hit the spot. No room for desert, but eyed out the churros for next time!

Alongside, my beer, they didn’t have modelo especial (my favorite) but instead happily settled for a negra instead, I ordered a “tequila flight”. After a “refreshers” lesson in tequila from the barman (I was at uni when I discovered tequila after all), who came from around the bar to my table, I ended up with small shots of three individual types of tequila throughout my meal! Also, I didn’t realize there was new category of tequila of extra aged tequila. The whole thing was fascinating, and the personal attention by my waiter and bar really made my experience!

I do not know how this gem passed me by (apparently they have been open for two years) but I will definitely be returning soon. Thank you Green & Red!
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Alex
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, July 02, 2007

An American friend who goes here almost every week took me an a few others along last night and we had a great time. Friendly people, good atmosphere and food unlike any other Mexican food I've had before. Meltingly tender pork belly was the highlight for me, the person next to me had a really beautiful piece of hake that I also enjoyed picking at (as the waitress who served us explained it's all about sharing here).

Add to that zingy salsas, a very unusual but tasty Jicama salad (never had Jicama before, but I like it!) and lots of margaritas and it really was a great night out. Thoroughly recomended - good food, fun place! And try the churros - even better than the ones I used to live off when I lived in Spain!
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simon11 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, June 15, 2007

went last night for the first time, there has been a bit of hype and pr about this place so was expecting good things. It was pretty dissapointing, the food was OK and probably as good a mexican as you can find in London. Drinks menu very impressive and well thought out. The service though was terrible, surly waitresses who would rather stand about chatting than wait tables or deliver drinks and when questions were asked on why drinks had been been sitting on the bar for ten mins rather than being delivered to my table i was given a side glance and no hint of a sorry, oh and of course 12.5 % service charge was added, laughable . Maybe there PR should have a meal there before the next round of releases.
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Pete
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Friday, June 08, 2007