A yearning for Mexican food, coupled with a short lead time to find a table, led us to a quaint little restaurant just east of London Bridge station, called Santo Remedio.
Though we were limited for choice when trying to find a booking for an early evening Saturday dinner, I feel like we could have done a lot worse. Santo Remedio’s menu was different to many other Mexican places around town. They reeled me in with the prospect of being able to order a grasshopper garnish for the guacamole. The menu was brief, and, though I only have limited knowledge of what traditional Mexican food might look like, this seemed like it was.
We’ll start off with the positives.
Actually, no. We’ll start off with a negative, and a major peeve of mine. We arrived and greeted, only to be curtly told that we’d have an hour and a bit to eat up and leave, as the table was required afterwards. Whilst I’m appreciative and am all too aware of the need to turn tables, try to tell us in the right way, not in a manner reminiscent of visiting hour at Strangways. Also, this information was given to me when I booked, and when I received the booking reminder email the day before visiting. I can read. Rant over.
Now let’s get down to the positives. The restaurant is lovely and snug. It’s charmingly rustic, just like a cantina. Buzzy, full of beans (no pun intended) as well as diners. It’s a place where you feel good and carries the vibe that you expect of a Mexican restaurant. We were given a lovely table away from the hubbub, and with enough space to accommodate the excessive amounts of food we inevitably ordered.
The servers were incredible. They know the menu like the food had been in their own families for generations. Given the questions we had about ingredients and how much to order, we felt very well looked after. The waiter who brought us our sustenance loved sharing his opinions. Yes, they were all positive and clearly biased due to his love of working here, but I loved it. I am easily swept along by this stuff.
And onto the drinks. The cocktails are very very good indeed. Complex, thoughtfully executed and very tasty. A mango margarita was lauded by The European as her new favourite cocktail. My Mezcal Sour was bitter but balanced, carrying the food wonderfully.
Ultimately, you visit a restaurant to eat. And that brings me onto the things Santo Remedio does less well. The food, as original and well-conceived as it had been, was bland. Of honourable mention was the guacamole which, though we ordered it without grasshoppers, was excellent. The tuna sashimi tostadas were fresh, perfectly cured and seasoned well, dressed with a spicy mayonnaise. I especially enjoyed the Queso Fresco with Chile Ancho peppers and pumpkin seeds; it was earthy and very different. A Mexican staple to be enjoyed by the table, it was a revelation both in terms of me never trying it before, and as a reminder about how complex this cuisine can be of you are just a little curious. A plate of that with a few drinks and I’d be anyone’s. Les complex was the corn, but The European sang while she ate it. Seasoned with chipotle mayonnaise, it was thoughtfully executed. I don’t have much time for corn – I spend more time scraping it out of my teeth then eating it – but even I’ll say that it was tasty.
Nevertheless, much of what we ordered let us down. The pork belly tacos were tasteless and very chewy. The soft-shell crab tacos were also lacking in flavour, which was a shitcake of a surprise for such a bold ingredient that usually bring us joy by the spadeful. Black bean enchiladas were stodgy and somehow far too rich; the sauce was sweet to a fault.
We tried to order dessert as they looked great, but my first two choices – a dark chocolate and rum tart and churros – were 86ed. The evening wasn’t a washout – the drinks, the ambience and the service ensured that – so we ordered another round and when promptly reminded that the table was to be returned, settled up and headed back out into the rain.
Santo Remedio wasn’t cheap, but the experience was saved by its excellent attempt at being a bar. Would we go back? Yes, for two reasons. One, to get a side or two and enjoy some drinks in a lively area of town. And secondly, to get the guacamole, this time garnished with bugs. I’ll forever be asking myself “What if?” otherwise.
Visited on 13th March 2023.
A table covered in food and two rounds of cocktails, came to around £one hundred and thirty (for ninety minutes).
The food thing. 
Leave a comment