Chorleywood, Spanish Restaurant Guide

Run by husband-and-wife team Charlie (who worked at Heston Blumenthal‘s Hinds Head pub in Bray) & Arantxa, this upscale high street tapas spot is “still the buzziest place hereabouts”. There are some quibbles in reports (“the food has lost its edge a little”) but also praise for some “super” dishes, ranging from their signature acorn-fed 100% Iberian pork, to the rather ingenious ‘Patatas Invisibles’ (“invisible chips”), which have zero calories and are essentially a £4.50 charitable donation to Hospitality Action.

“A beacon of originality in a slightly characterless property development in Ealing Broadway” – this Hispanic venture with South American influences from a Colombian chef is, say fans, “a perfect blend of neighbourhood restaurant and Spanish fine dining”. It was already a hot ticket locally before a rave January 2024 review from Giles Coren in The Times brought it to wider attention and perhaps inevitably one or two sceptics fear hype: “it is enjoyable but I feel that its reputation now creates excessive expectations”.