Massive margaritas and fresh guacamole will undoubtedly pull in the Covent Garden crowd at Cantina Laredo.

The Venue
Cantina Laredo is a generally well regarded American chain that serves up Mexican food to a couple dozen locations, mainly in the southern United States. Recently opened in Covent Garden, near the new St Martin’s Lane development, Cantina Laredo’s decor looks much the same as its big American siblings. What works well for the US market, though, doesn’t necessarily translate well for a small venue in Central London. Mexican restaurants are known here for their personality and, although no one’s suggesting the London outpost hangs sombreros on the walls, a bit more colour wouldn’t hurt. With huge booths, plain wood chairs and basic striped carpet, Cantina Laredo looks like it should have a hotel lobby – or a great big suburban parking lot – attached to it.

The Atmosphere
The hotel-like decor doesn’t really match up to the cheery Latin pop music playing in the background and, in terms of atmosphere, there really isn’t any – you could be anywhere. The clientele seems to be mostly tourists, no doubt due to the very central location, but the service is quick and good natured.

The Food
Things start well with a basket of warm tortilla chips that come with two salsas, tomato and chipotle. One of Cantina Laredo’s signature dishes is their top shelf guacamole (£6.95), which comes highly recommended by staff – even the table’s decor of an avocado and a lime in a metal bowl seems to tempt you into ordering it. It’s recommended to be shared between two and it’s prepared at the table by staff, who mix bowlfuls of tomatoes, red onions, chopped coriander and jalepenos together with avocados in a molcajete, a kind of Mexican mortar and pestle, with feet. They use forks to mash the avocados at Cantina Laredo, which kind of takes away from the theatricality of it all, but the guacamole is undeniably fresh – certainly one of the contenders for the freshest guacamole in the capital. For £6.95 it’s a large portion and more than enough for two.

Other starters include chilli con queso (£3.75 for medium, £4.75 for a large) which seems a bit incongruous served on its own but is perfect with the chips and salsa – it’s smooth, slightly spicy and not too oily. The Oaxaca quesadillas (£5.95), made with Oaxaca cheese and mushrooms, are also good, with the stringy, subtle Oaxaca cheese a nice match to the mushrooms.

There’s a huge variety of mains, including several big, interesting-looking salads, which are common in American restaurants but haven’t yet caught on here. Enchiladas de mole (£12.75) is a huge, almost unfinishable portion of two enchiladas smothered in mole sauce. The mole sauce, a blend of chillis and chocolate, leans more toward the chocolate than the chilli but the chicken is well cooked and the corn tortillas a good consistency. Tiger prawn flautas (£13.75), fried rolled up tortillas, are crisp and light, the tiger prawns fresh and slightly sweet. If you have room for dessert after the big portions, go the whole hog with a Mexican brownie (£5.95), which, although probably not very Mexican, is at least entertaining, with a brandy butter sauce poured over a nutty, cakey brownie on a sizzling hot plate.

The Drink
With a bar menu as long as the food menu, Cantina Laredo offers various types of wines, beers, cocktails and spirits, plus a big list of tequilas, which range from £2.50 to £32 for 25ml. There are four types of Mexican beers, a handful of Champagnes and some international wines (from £4.25 - £6.95 a glass and £16.95 to £60 a bottle) but the main draw are the margaritas, which are as massive as the meals. Unfortunately, some of them have the price to match, with the priciest of them at £14.50, which seems expensive despite the high quality liquor. One of the more reasonable options is the Casa Rita, (£9.50) which is available frozen or on the rocks. A good blend of sharp and sweet, with a salty rim, it has a strong alcoholic kick that’ll sneak up on you.

The Last Word
Though the nondescript decor may put some people off, Cantina Laredo is worth a trip if only to share a big bowl of guacamole.

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