Cantina Laredo

It was a good meal and the tiger prawns wrapped in bacon were excellent. The steak and lamb were also good. Presentation was good and service friendly. In this location, you pay for that-£125 for 2 in our case for a three course meal. Bit expensive, but still good if you’re OK with that.

Really good mexican food. Not tex mex either. The best dish had to be the guacamole which is made right on your table. All the dishes tested extremely fresh and whilst the food is quite expensive, it’s definitely worth it.
Interior was pleasant and clean and the staff very helpful in explaining all the dishes. The prawns wrapped in bacon were the standout dish for me.

I would normally be on the border of 3 stars, but I would return back here if I was in the mood for Mexican /​Tex-​Mex food so hence the 4 stars. The food is fine. The location is quite central when you are out and about.

Hmm, so I have to admit id heard many, many good things about this place and so was super excited to check it out. When I went there, they had no tables and we had to wait for almost half hour which at 7pm in an evening, I can understand. My and my friend rather awkwardly sat at the cramped bar while we waited, drinking a cocktail each. He ordered an avocado one, which he assured me tasted nothing like avocado at all and I ordered a fruity drink, which was nice but didn’t blow my socks off.
When we finally got a table, we browsed the menu for a while before deciding to order. I opted for the chicken stuffed with prawns and he went for the salad. My chicken was amazing but was just that! A chicken breast on the plate with no sides. Luckily I had opted for a side of rice, so I meant I wasn’t leaving hungry but at almost 15 pounds for this, I thought it was a tad overpriced. The salad was enormous and with chicken came to around 10 pounds and so I thought it was a far better dish for a main course.
We did get a side of guacamole, but not the demonstration, as I watched at the table beside me and whilst it was good, I didn’t think it warranted double the price to see.
All in all, the meal was just ok and came to almost 75 pounds for a main each and a few drinks. If you want Mexican, I think you’d have far better food if you tried chilangos or chipotle and save a hella lotta money.

Drinks are overpriced– the class of the venue does not warrant GBP10 Margaritas and small GBP5 beers. The food was good, but comes in tiny quantities. My main turned out to be half a chicken breast with 3 shrimps in it– no sides. Service was very friendly but slow– maybe they were understaffed that night.

My husband, friend and I had an overall very pleasant experience here Friday night. First of all, the aroma of delicious Mexican food hits you when you enter which is always a good sign. We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table but NBD in the end.
I got the chile en nogada (vegetarian) which was quite good– a bit of spice was a great addition to the mixed veggies in the creamy sauce. I highly recommend this dish. Also the avocado martini was perfect!
My husband love his carne tacos but the patatas side dish it accompanies was terrible. The spice on top is just… blech. My husband said it tasted fishy. We sent it back and the waitress kindly removed it from the bill. I got the asparagus in its place which was lovely.
We shared the chocolate brownie with walnuts but my friend became alarmed when he bit into a shell. This time the manager came over to apologise and again, he removed the item from the bill.
The service overall was much better than I typically experience at London establishments. The prices were fair.

Not worth it. I’d rather eat at Chipotle for 10 quid.
Find better food at better value somewhere else.

I really wanted to start this review as follows: Don’t be misled by the 1990’s office décor, the food in this restaurant is fantastic!
Unfortunately much like the interior design the food and the service we had was pretty average. I eat a fair bit of Mexican food and found meals from places such as Poncho 8 and Chilango were superior to the salad and enchilada that we ate. The service was OK but it felt very much like a chain restaurant despite the fact it isn’t from what I can see.
Admittedly we visited on a Monday evening so maybe we caught them on a quiet night as it seems most reviews are positive.

Very busy and loud, but great food and very friendly people. Great place to be!!! Also kids are welcome.

Stumbled upon Cantina Laredo in Coventry Garden when Bill’s was too crowded. Glad we did. The food is excellent. The desserts are some of the best we have ever had. The entrees were delicious. Will de finitely be back.

This place is clearly tourist heaven — while sitting in view of the door I saw at least four suitcases stowed away in a cupboard clearly used to that purpose. But don’t let that put you off… good Mexican food is the draw and this place delivers.
The guacamole made at the table is super gimmicky, but luckily was also delicious. I do recommend it. Can’t give you a broad overview of the menu as my friend and I ate the same thing but I can say that everything we had was delicious.
Chicken fajitas were lovely and the sides (particularly the cheesy potato thing) were especially delicious, if on the small side for the price. The wine was good and the desserts headed to tables around us looked fantastic — unfortunately we were too full to give them a try.
The only downside was the price. At £19 the fajitas were on the pricey side and, as mentioned before, you didn’t get a lot of your side for a £5+ price tag. Good food and nice service but, for Mexican, definitely not the best value. But then you are in the heart of theatre land and if you’re a tourist you probably won’t even notice.

The guacamole was amazing. The rest was good but paled in comparison. The staff were nice.
It was very overpriced, though.
The seating was a bit awkward, our table was right next to the staff’s station and it was uncomfortable with the staff looming on top of us for extended periods of time.

I get the impression this place is frequented by theatre goers and tourists who otherwise don’t know where else to go for Mexican. For the same price, there are a few other places off the top of my head where you can get tastier food and much better value. A few of those are actually walking distance from there!
The restaurant was very busy and with no reservations, we waited about half an hour (not too bad!) There were no empty tables in sight and about 20 people waiting for a table at peak time. We were greeted with a smile at the door which made the wait bearable.
Margaritas are £9 which can quick increase your bill so I suggest drink wisely if you don’t want to spend a lot just on drink. The menu highlights their signature dishes in red and we found ourselves ordering exclusively those items. We declined their freshly made at table guacamole as fro £7-​ish, we thought that was not such great value. Also good to note that mains do not come with sides. We enjoyed the food, but nothing really stood out.
We spent just over £50 for 2 drinks, 2 mains, a starter and 3 sides keeping in mind the portions are quite small. We were full but didn’t think it was great value. The staff were lovely however so the overall experience was favourable.

More like Can’t-ina Laredon’t.
I feel like a huge joke has been played on me. There are a plethora of decent to good reviews from Americans stating that this place has the best Mexican in London. The only possible way this could be true is if a) they have only eaten at ONE Mexican restaurant in London, b) their idea of good Mexican food is average Mexican food from terrible American chain restaurants and/​or food from Taco Bell or c) they’ve just really forgotten what good Mexican tastes like. After dining here I found out that this is actually one of those terrible American chain restaurants transplanted into London, so it’s no surprise that I felt the way I did.
We got there a bit early, so a few of us split the table guac and some of the tomatillo salsa. They were both actually tasty, but I’m not sure why the salsa needed to be served hot. The guac seems kind of expensive for about £8 considering you see what they put in it, and it’s literally one avocado and a bit of chopped up onion, tomato, chilies and cilantro. I also opted to have a couple of margaritas, and neither of them wowed me. Fairly standard and average margaritas. But wait, the best of the bunch (which still isn’t amazing) comes in at a whopping £12! For a fairly average margarita. So not worth the prices for the drinks.
Knowing how easy it is to over-​order at Mexican restaurants we opted to not get starters. Big mistake. For mains, I ordered the chicken mole enchiladas because I absolutely love mole sauce. I love it so much, I’ve hunted down good recipes and made it at home and kept it frozen for a rainy day. So when I see mole on the menu, I always get excited. My partner decided to get the steak wrapped around a shrimp stuffed pablano pepper. And we decided to share, because that’s what we do. Then we ordered sides for the table, because SUPRISE! Unlike pretty much every other Mexican restaurant you will eat at, the sides are extra. Plus they come in at a value price of £4 per side! We split four for the table as there were five of us eating. The food comes. Now for £11 and no sides, I expected a pretty hefty serving of enchiladas. Nope. Don’t expect that at all. I got two slightly larger than average enchiladas. Filled with bland, unseasoned shredded chicken (probably pre-​cooked) covered in what turns out not to be a mole sauce but what can only be called a chocolate sauce. Now mole has a little bit of chocolate in it, but it’s not a sweet, chocolately sauce. Where is the rich, development of flavors that Mexican cooking is known for? Clearly this chain has no idea what Mexican food is, yet somehow they’re a massive American chain that has managed to set up a place in London. The beef was much better, but for £20 and no sides, it’s like the owners are just laughing at you while they put your money in the bank. Basically it seems they want to make the meal look cheaper by having the mains include no sides. So if you want one small side with your main, you’re looking at an increased price, but given the size, you may have to go for two which is going to put your meal up to a minimum of £20 most likely. For a plate of average Mexican food.
Since we clearly didn’t order enough food (because when does that happen at a Mexican restaurant? Here obviously), we all opted for dessert. I got the Mexican apple pie. So it comes out. It’s presented nicely in a hot dish with a bubbling caramel sauce and ice cream. However, given this is the same dessert that is on the menu in the United States, it’s definitely just shipped in and not made in house, and it definitely tasted like it as well. What a disappointment. If you do go here and get dessert, go for the ice cream. My partner had it, and that was actually a really nice trio of Mexican flavored ice creams: Tequila, Guava and Chocolate and Chili.
For food like this, it’s a solid 3 stars, if the prices were normal. However, they manage to make their mostly pre-​cooked and pre-​made food pretty and increase the price by making you pay extra for sides, chips and salsa. I really feel like the joke is on me with this place. They obviously know they’ve got a good thing going by their location, and their lack of caring really shows. Mexican should be about putting your heart and soul and love into your food, and here you just get sterile, nice-​looking, bland food.
Save your money and go someplace else. It’s completely not worth the money you will spend here.

Okay so full disclosure, I am a pretty big snob when it comes to Mexican food. I lived in Southern California for a while and maintain that greasy, cheese-​covered, no-​English-​spoken, hole-​in-​the-​wall Mexican restaurants will always taste so much better than TexMex or «fancy» Mexican. After living in DC for five years I resigned myself to the fact that the East Coast of the US has no good authentic Mexican food, so high-​end TexMex will have to do. So far I’m feeling that London will be on a similar page.
Cantina Laredo has what you’d expect from any other relatively expensive global Mexican chain. The food is tasty, ingredients are fresh, the service is impeccable, and the price tags are hefty. The guacamole is made to order at the table, which is always a plus because I can make sure they leave out the cilantro (coriander for the Brits). We ordered the mixed fajitas, which included a surprisingly small portion of steak and chicken, supplemented with a ton of grilled onions. The mojitos were very tasty, and my colleague loved his Michelada. A pleasant meal overall, but not mind-​blowing.

Good high end Mexican food. I think the food is quite solid here, well made with fresh ingredients. The service attentive. But you certainly pay a premium for the experience here. I recommend it if you want some Mexican and you’re willing to spend a bit, but I’m sure you can better value for money in London (though perhaps not in this part of town).
A decent meal for two with a couple drinks will pretty easily top 50 quid.

Meh.
£10 Margaritas. £6 tiny ceviche
£10 for three (boring) tacos. Ok I was spoilt living in Chicago, but there has to be MUCH better Mexican restos in London

Finally found a place that does very good Mexican food.
I recommend get the gucamole en molcajete — they make the gucamole in front of you and it is to die for!
For my mains I got camaron poblano asada — grilled stake rapped around stuffed pepper, tiger prawns and some other stuff.
The waiters where very nice and friendly and the drinks where made very well.
Definitely a place to go in London if your craving some good Mexican food.

It should be noted that I am an EXPAT from Texas. Cantina Laredo was one of my favourite places in Dallas and I was thrilled to see them open in London. But… I wasn’t sure if it would be the same.
It was fantastic and brought back many memories of home. The salsa was authentic and great and the margaritas were equally as impressive. For my main I had Pork Tamales. Absolute fantastic. The flavours were great and very much what I expected as one who grew up on TexMex.
If your are a Brit looking for a taste of Texas, this is it.
If your are a Texan visiting London, this is a little slice of home.

A warm welcome awaits you, slip away from the crowds of Covent Garden into a modern and delicious experience. This is a really good Mexican place — a little nicer than most and generally worth the price.
Staff is very attentive, which I find a nice change from a lot of eateries in this area.
Cocktails are great: I’ve been here a few times and have always been pleased with the freshest ingredients mixed to quench your thirst.
I highly recommend the guacamole starter — they make it at the table in front of you. The vegetable enchiladas were perfectly done, not too much cheese, and vegetables still holding a bit of firmness. My friend had an enchilada or burrito with a chocolate laced sauce which she said was divine.
Desserts …oh to salivate thinking of them… I’ve uploaded a picture of the sizzling brownie & ice cream. The only thing that lets this place down are the value of the side dishes, as the price is a bit high (£3.50) for small sides of rice or vegetables. However that’s a bit of a blip, don’t let it stop you from visiting.