Latino's Leisure Ltd — Restaurant in Castle Point

Prices are high for what you receive. Check receipt - added costs. I never write bad reviews, but unfortunately very disappointed with this place. 4 of us came here for a birthday after we had been recommended it. When we arrived we ordered drinks - 2 beers and 2 soft drinks off of their menu - they did not have one of the beers and one of the soft drinks. In the end, I ordered a lemonade, when it came, it was watered down and I let our waiter know that the syrup had run out. He assured me that it had not and brought me another, but it was the same unfortunately - just flavoured water for £4. Regardless, we ordered our food and waited. The majority of our food came minus some. We all had our main dishes so we began eating and the other dish still hadn't come. We asked if it was coming they said that it was forgotten so we said not to bother as it would take too long to start cooking it now. Food was fine. I ordered a mixed fish dish with veg (all included). Some of the fish was very chewy and the veg was just boiled broccoli and carrots, but overall, fine. Slightly disappointed by the £22 price for the main. Before we left, we checked that we hadn't been charged for the food we didn't receive and the drink which was replaced, which we hadn't been. After we had left, we checked the receipt to split the bill and noticed that we had been charged an extra £6 for adding veg to the dish which came with veg included. To quote the menu "All fish dishes are inclusive of potatoes, vegetables or salad". As we didn't have potatoes or salad with our meal, we were surprised to have been charged extra for the veg. Too late now to say anything but worth making a note to check your receipt properly before you leave. Not somewhere I would rush back to...

The service was excellent, and the wine, coconut ice cream, coffee, and filled potato skins were delightful. Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end, as the main dishes were quite disappointing and lacked flavour.

The sardines should have been grilled or pan-fried to achieve a crispy skin, as traditionally served in Spain. Instead, they arrived without any crispiness, making them overly fishy and unenjoyable. The paella was also bland and lacked flavour, with far too much liquid—resembling risotto in a bowl of broth rather than an authentic paella. Some of the fish chunks tasted off, and despite the menu stating “king prawns,” there was only a single prawn on the plate. Additionally, the socarrat—the crispy, caramelised layer at the bottom of a paella pan—was completely missing due to the excess broth, which is a crucial element of a well-made paella.

As for the ambiance, this is probably not the best choice for a quiet, candlelit dinner—something we learned firsthand. The noise level was extremely high, almost overwhelming. Several birthdays were being celebrated, and each time, the lights were turned off as cakes were brought out and “Happy Birthday” was sung. While it was a nice touch at first, it quickly became excessive when it happened every 15 to 20 minutes.

We were also there for a celebration, but we chose to mark the occasion quietly rather than making a spectacle of it and...

I'm a believer of saying nothing at all if you can't say anything nice but, on this occasion, I must give some feedback.... judging by all the reviews, at some point, Latino's must have got things right... either that or none of the reviewers know the difference between good and bad food. The menu is 4 pages long.... not a good start as an indication of quality produce. It means a large majority of the produce must be frozen - you can't serve up over 50 dishes daily of fresh produce that's all cooked to order. We waited for over an hour for any food - during which time our party of 7 were ignored, no apology for having waited 30mins for our drinks order let alone over an hour for starters! We arrived at 7.30pm and started eating our mains at nearly 9.30pm. All could have been forgiven if the food had been good but where to start... dry chicken, stringy, rubbery calamares in greasy batter, pale limp fries, a small soggy pizza, a sad and limp salad with no dressing served or offered, hard, bullet-like patatas bravas with a dolmio-like sauce slopped on top. It was bad food and there's no nice...