What's the draw
It seems a long while ago that Mexican food in London was represented by pale imitations of the real thing. Restaurants like Shoreditch's Santo Remedio show just how far it's come – and how far it could yet go.
What to drink
Choose from a compact but exciting cocktail list (built around, as you might have guessed, tequila, with one mezcal option), or go for a Michelada – one of the restaurant's range of Mexican craft beers with a pungent lime and chilli salsa. First-timers might baulk at the description, but it pairs perfectly with the menu's punchy flavours. There's also a white, rosé and red (a full-bodied shiraz with black fruit flavours and a peppery finish) from Baja California winemaker L.A. Cetto.
What to eat
From the obligatory appetiser – tortilla chips with fresh, slick guacamole (among the best we've tried) topped with crickets – it's obvious that Santo Remedio isn't afraid of what you think of it. You'll find tacos and even the odd burrito here, but not as you know them. We scoured the specials board and had ox tongue so unctuous we could cut it with a spoon; an utterly superb fish taco, whose fiery garlic and breathy mint flavours make themselves known when you breathe in after a bite; and grilled cactus tacos whose smoky agave flavour is like biting straight into a bottle of mezcal.
Sharing plates from £6; wines from £22 by the bottle. 22 Rivington Street, EC2A 3DY; santoremedio.co.uk
