| Ambiance: |  (4 / 5) |
| Service: | (4 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (4 / 5) |
| Toilets: | (3.5 / 5) |
When Sam asked where I’d like to go for my birthday meal, I had two requests: Mexican or tapas. In all honesty, it’s incredibly rare that I’m made to take a back seat with the “deciding where to eat” process but Sam stuck to his guns and ended up pulling something pretty good out of the bag with Cantina Laredo.
Street View!
Situated in the heart of Covent Garden on St Martin’s Road, it was fairly easy to find. Sam had booked a table for 5.45pm (you guessed it, we had a pre-theatre booking 
) and I was surprised to see how busy it already was. I suppose it IS London… Considering Sam had booked in advance and we were told we had ‘priority seating’, I was surprised at the table we were presented with. Located right in the middle of the restaurant, it didn’t seem very personal and evidently I obviously wasn’t happy as I had to ask to move.
Our “Aperitif”
Second time lucky, we were given our menus and ordered our drinks. A frozen raspberry mojito for me and a Mexican beer for Sam. There was the option to get our guacamole made at the table, for the price of £7.95, however, I wasn’t sure how much of it I wanted and we could see it happening all around us, so that was enough for us! We settled for a smaller portion and a side of chilli con quesos to start the evening off with.
Chilli con quesos and guacamole
The food came within minutes and was presented really nicely. The chilli con quesos was served warm and came with a mountain of tortillas to dip into it with. Sam had never had this spicy cheesy goodness before and seemed very impressed with it. The guacamole tasted fresh and vibrant but wasn’t spicy enough for our liking. Saying this, we could easily have asked for some tabasco… oh hindsight is a beautiful thing!
Ceviche
Ribs
While enjoying our dips, we ordered the sticky ribs and ceviche (yet another new dish for Sam) and both arrived as quickly as our first round. I also ordered a Pacifico beer to go with it as the worst thing about cocktails is how quickly they go down, not helped by the salty tortillas! I don’t know what’s going on with me and enjoying beers but I’m starting to think they actually go better with some foods…
Chicken Quesadillas
Re-fried Beans
The ceviche was possibly the best I’ve ever had. A mixture of prawns, scallops and avacados, everything tasted zingy and fresh. I’m not sure why tortillas were served with it, but it worked in our favour as we were running dry from the first round! By this point, I’d had enough food but for once Sam was the one with eyes bigger than his stomach and he demanded more food. We chose chicken quesadillas, refried beans (I had a craving) and more guacamole (with tabasco this time).
Unfortunately, in the time it took for our third round to come, Sam seemed to hit a brick wall and when three more plates of delicious looking Mexican food appeared in front of us, both of us felt slightly defeated. We managed one quesadilla each and not much more, so called it a day and asked for a plastic container to take it home in. Doggy bag style.
Happy Birthday Churros!
When I thought I was on the verge of bursting, out came a group of waitresses singing Happy Birthday with a plate of churros with chocolate dipping sauce. Yes, I was quite mortified – thanks Sam! I guess that gets me back for the times I’ve done it to people in the past… but, it was a nice touch despite the churros being slightly undercooked, however, Sam justified this by saying he’d asked them to rush as we had to leave.
For the second time, we had to ask for a plastic container to put the churros in and we left very satisfied, with full tummies to help us through the theatre!
Recommendation
I would recommend Cantina Loreda for the food alone. For central London, it wasn’t too expensive and I liked the fact that everything was, and tasted so fresh. Ideal for a date or special occasion!
