Los Guaduales

A rainy January weeknight is never really the best time to gauge a restaurant’s atmosphere, but a range of niggling issues soured a recent visit to Los Guaduales: skipping CDs, toilets without soap or hot water, and painfully slow service despite a lack of diners. A shame, as we’ve previously enjoyed the party vibe at this cheerful Colombian restaurant – pleasantly decked out in bamboo furnishings, framed tapestries of forest scenes and a few ethnic trinkets (pan pipes, pottery) – as much as the food. The latter was hit and miss: a chorizo starter was dried out, although another of garlic prawns was juicy and generous of portion; a main of spicy seafood stew was packed with prawns, squid and the biggest mussels we’ve ever seen, but our steak (served on a sizzling plate) was unpleasantly fatty. We’ll put it down to an off night.