This tiny 20-seater oozes with charm and genuineness. Yes the decor is bordering on kitsch, revolving around familiar day of the dead motifs, but it’s cheery and atmospheric. The waitstaff are genuinely nice and helpful. The guy who took our order offered welcomed advice for navigating the menu and we took him up on pretty much everything. 

To start, he suggested we try the trio of guacamole: original, spicy and exotic (i.e. with mango). This went against all my instincts of just getting the spicy but what the hey. It was our first and possibly only meal at this place so better to have no regrets. Predictably, the original guac was somewhat of a let down. The flavour was avocado. It was guac for children or very boring adults. The exotic was actually surprisingly pleasant, slightly sweet and not worth re-ordering, but definitely not a disappointment. The spicy was by far the best. Legitimately spicy! Rare in Geneva.  

We followed that up with four tacos to start: a ‘tinga’ pulled chicken, a ‘pibil’ pulled pork, a vegetarian ‘poblano’ and a shredded beef that wasn’t on the menu. All were decent – the chicken and beef in particular – but none outstanding. I was very grateful for the green chilli sauce that is placed on the table, which added some extra spice and flavour. Still a bit peckish after these, we ordered another two to follow, which came in record time. 

Just to live in the moment, we decided to try two of the dulces: a crêpes cajeta served with goats cheese caramel and pecan; and a spicy mexican brownie. The descriptions sound sooooo tempting which made the reality all the more disappointing. Both were too sweet and quite dry. Not worth the calories. 

The drinks were expensive but the one with tamarind was super yum! 

All in all good but not great. I would certainly not oppose a suggestion to go back but would likely not necessarily recommend El catrine to others or initiate a return visit myself.