Green and Red Bar and Cantina
our review
Green and Red is part of the Underdog Group that also owns Hawksmoor, allegedly the best steak house this side of the pond. A modern, trendy classic, Shoreditch type restaurant and bar. Green and Red, in comparison, leans heavily towards the goings on in Jalisco, traditionally where Tequila comes from, with food and decor to match.
The first thing you notice when you walk in is the buzz, compliments of the classic after work crowd, enjoying beers, cocktails and the odd Tequila. We went for the ceviche of octopus with avocado, tomato, onion, serrano chilli, coriander and lime, and served with tortilla chips. Really tasty and the flavours worked fabulously well. My lightly spiced broth with pork and shredded chicken, served with crunchy tortilla, fresh cheese, sour cream & pasilla chilli though was a bit dull, though.
For mains my slow braised lamb shank cooked with beer, cloves, cinnamon, ancho chillies and sesame seeds was great. As for the char-grilled aged rib eye with chipotle salsa and spring onions, meat was fantastic, but the black beans with chorizo and the refried pinto beans was a bit too street-food for our taste. Dessert was a rather long sugarcoated donut with chocolate sauce. Exactly what it said on the tin.
Back at the bar after dinner, we were given an impromptu Tequila mini master class, which, I must admit, was very informative and fun. Like with all good things, the more you spend the better they get, and for those of you who want to know more, this really is the place to find out. Downstairs in the basement bar, things are being upgraded with a re-opening imminent. Cocktails, Tequilas, live music and a reported always up for it crowd. This has all the trappings of becoming a dangerously fun place to hang out...
F.H. - September 2008
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
My boyfriend and I popped in here for drinks and nibbly food bits recently. Even though the place was half empty we had to wait forever for our order to be taken. We forgave this though because the staff were really lovely and friendly, but painfully slow. It felt like they'd forgotten we existed. We had a couple of tapas type things and some topos and a couple of drinks. They were OK. The atmosphere was ruined by a very rowdy bunch of men nearby though.
I have to say though, I was surprised to have the tip automatically included in our bill. For a couple of drinks and nibbles. For two people! I would have tipped anyway, I always do, I just found it SO cheeky for a place to slap that on as a mandatory thing when a) we hadn't even had a proper meal, b) there were two of us we weren't a huge group (most good places only add the tips for large parties) and c) the service was so slow and terrible! This assumption really put me off. You know, I'd let the slow service go, I'd let the not so nice other customers not get to me... I'd really tried to give the place a chance and consider returning but the cheekiness of the 12.5% inclusive just put me off. I'm not tight, I always tipe between 10 and 20& depending on my enjoyment, but the assumption... argh!
I paid the ridiculously huge bill (for what we had) and left and I won't be going back.
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Overall rating 
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The food was REALLY and I mean REALLY poor. Their sister restaurant HAWKSMOOR was ok, just ok, so we tried this and the weak reviews bar one who might even be "in house" are so justified, I won't be going back unless they lift their game. I've been to Mexico a few times, and I loooooooooooove the food, this was a very poor imitation, it's the equivalent of a guy opening a curry house and selling those bland microwave versions, not very authentic
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Jes
Overall rating 
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, December 04, 2009
What a disapointment. The waitresses treated us like we were causing a massive inconvenience for asking why were being served mains when the starters hadn't arrived, why we were shocked to find a £15 rib eye steak looking more like a few pieces of tiny chunks of meat on the smallest plate, and for asking where our desserts were after waiting 20 minutes. And let's not even get into the overpriced bill...best for those with no appetite otherwise just head for the door and don't go back.
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Overall rating 
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, September 27, 2009
I am not a fan of Tequila, but with the young and very knowledgable bar man coaxing me I managed to find my drink (pom margarita!) and enjoyed serveral.
Passing much time at the bar the staff asked if I would like a table for myself and my friends arriving later....(what service!). After much debate about the menu our waiter suggested a number of the most mouth watering starter dishes! The fish cakes had so much flavour we order another before we had finished the first and the calamari was cooked to perfection. For mains we had the Birria (lamb shank) and watched it fall off the bone and disappear between my father and brother. We also took up the waiters sugestion of taking on the sharing plater, with more than enough meat to keep the boys happy. All in all mains was a great succes. For the girls churos and torta and a few after dinner cocktails with tequila and coffee.
Never been to Mexico, but feel i have touched the boarder with these guys, would recomend to everyone!
Comment on this reader review
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Expect one of the worst services in London from the staff, they'll make you leave the table before you've finished your meal. As Mexican I can say that food in this place isn't great. A no go...
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Arturo
Overall rating 
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Four of us had dinner there on Saturday night. Table ready on time but it took ages to be served. 45 minutes later our dips & mini tortillas arrived. The table next to us who arrived at the same time were on their mains. Food was fine but small portions and the menu was limited. We brought our expensive jug of margarita (£33!) up from downstairs which lowered our bill - £27 a head which was not worth it considering all the great deals you can get in London restaurants.
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Sonia
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The cocktails and the music downstairs are fantastic, the decor is nice, the food however was far from nice. A dish of dry tasteless meat, a few tortillas, a stale donut and a bill of £50 per head. Owch. Skip the food and head downstairs for dancing.
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Londoneater
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Monday, November 10, 2008
Went to green and red on a recommendation from friends and was very impressed. Staff are very welcoming and helpful, the food was delicious, I'd recommend the lamb to anyone, just falls off the bone. Atmosphere was pretty good for 6pm on a wet Tuesday evening, nice buzz to the place, overall a great experience
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James
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The food was good quality and tasty but tiny portions for the prices! Even the table next to us was suprised by the amount of food they got. There was only one waitress runing the whole place so service was a bit slow but she was very friendly to us. All in all, I won't be going back I'm afraid.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Friday, June 27, 2008
Being from Peru, our accents made the waitress very happy and she could not enough do for us.
I have never felt so happy in my life. The food was incredible and the atmostphere. .. caramba! we recommend mucho mucho!
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Manuel L Habour
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
@AndyLynes - Have used ours twice and found it much the same as tomato puree. Perhaps we've missed a trick?
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