Cantinera review: As easy to fall for as a ragged-edged Latin lover

10 Coulgate Street, SE4About £120 for two @cantinera.restaurantAs restaurants go, it’s hard to miss. Get off the train at Brockley station and look for the butter-yellow building on Coulgate Street. That’s Cantinera. It’s a small neighbourhood cantina which specialises in Spanish and Mexican-inspired dishes, where pig’s head carnitas and padrón peppers with mussel escabeche are magicked up in an alcove-like kitchen.Cantinera is BYOB and walk-ins only, so there are no spicy margaritas on site, but Salthouse Bottles — directly opposite — will solve any of your craft beer and natural wine needs. Corkage is £5, and turning up early should net you a table with minimal hassle.CantineraMadeleine Gammon & Emmet Holmes-BoyesWe arrive at 6.40pm on a Thursday and are seated straight away. Had we come any later, we’d have had to wait for a table or counter spot. Which is fine — give them your details and you’ll get a call when it’s your turn to stare longingly at the blackboard menu.Our meal starts with bread, a fitting beginning considering Cantinera started life as a sandwich pop-up. The joint project of chefs Jake Barwood and Celia Ortiz, whose Spanish and Mexican heritage informs the menu, their early days involved ramming delicious things like pork rillette and salsa macha-spiked fava beans between slices of springy focaccia. What that venture has evolved into feels more dialled in, but is no less inventive.The bread is baked fresh and served with pickled radish rounds and a smear of confit garlic butter. Sea bass comes as ceviche, with the fish cut into small chunks and muddled with tomatoes, fermented in their own juices, and dressed with a fruity, fiery peach hot sauce that spotlights the quality of the fish. The only downfall is that the snap of the marinade is outmuscled by the presence of too much basil.A dish which hasn’t left the blackboard since Cantinera opened is the tortilla de patatas. An oozing half-moon of Spanish omelette topped with a sharp manchego-laced salad and chile de árbol salsa, which keeps the richness in balance. Every bite is like receiving a text from a friend cancelling plans you didn’t want to go to. Bliss.In Mexican cooking, tostadas often act as vessels for carrying food. There are always two on the menu, with constantly rotating toppings. We have both. The first: chicharróns (deep-fried pig skin, à la Quavers) on a coriander mayo and pickled green tomato base, dusted with parmesan. A somewhat structurally unsound dish where the tomato is forced to cut through the layers of pig and dairy fat like an explorer hacking at jungle vines. The other tostada, topped with satiny refried beans and pico de gallo, is a marked improvement. The beans are nuttily savoury, contrasting with the freshness of the pico while complementing the roasted corn notes of the tostada. It’s not a Taco Bell-y salt, cheese and salsa overload; it shoots for the subtle satisfaction of flavours in harmony.There’s an infectious passion in every plateAmid the gentle hubbub of noise — complete with the occasional elbow to the sternum — people poke their heads through the door and ogle at the glowy interior. Some are just rubberneckers, while others are would-be diners, surely hoping that the two-top in the corner would hurry up and finish their dessert.Despite that, we never feel rushed. The service is warm and friendly. Staff talk us through dinner like a good lover, ensuring we don’t leave bloated or filled with self-loathing. Two feelings which are far from my mind as I shovel meaty flakes of poached cod into my mouth. From the perfect cook on the fish to the sweet chardonnay grapes and garlicky swoosh of ajo blanco it’s paired with, it’s a showcase of confident cooking.There’s only one dessert: a yoghurt mousse coated with dark chocolate nibs and syrupy figs “from the allotment”. It’s a posh Müller Corner, and a refreshing finish to a lovely meal.There are some growing pains, yes, but there’s an excitement to eating at a young restaurant. It’s like seeing a band perform at your local decades before their radio-friendly hits and sanitised world tour. The imperfections matter less because there’s an energy behind it all — an infectious passion being put into every plate. They care, so I care. And I think you’ll care, too.Read MoreKevin “The food was excellent and full of flavour, although it is a little on the pricey side for what it is.” Edward Burkin “The food was delicious and great quality which is why I’m giving four stars. That said, I don’t think the overall experience represented good value for money. The portions were quite small.” Samuel Lloyd“Seems to be a few comments about the pricing and for those people I would say you have zero idea of what it takes to run a restaurant in London. The service here was great and the food is excellent.”