Fitzrovia, Spanish Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: This pioneer of Spanish and Italian small-plates dining near Goodge Street station is “still going strong after so many years for a very good reason” – “interesting and yummy dishes plus good wine”. Ratings have remained solid since the whole group (including siblings Dehesa, Opera Tavern and Ember Yard) was taken over late last year by Urban Pubs & Bars from Simon Mullins and Sanja Moy, who opened Salt Yard in 2005. There’s even been a “big improvement in the ambience of the basement”. Top Menu Tip – “deep fried courgette flowers with honey: the cheesy goodness within marries perfectly with the honey sweetness drizzled over… just wow!”

2021 Review: “Popular for a good reason”, this Goodge Street spot is valued for “authentic tapas, served fast and fresh, with knowledgeable and friendly Spanish staff to guide you through the choices”. It’s “great value” for central London, but can get “hot and cramped”, with the “buzzy and loud” atmosphere rising to “raucous” on busy evenings.

2021 Review: From its first branch, on Great Portland Street, which opened in 2007, these “buzzy”, “authentic” and relatively stylish Spanish tapas-haunts grew into a national chain, boosted by their “consistent standards, fair quality and sensible prices” (although “service is a bit uneven”). Tough times saw the group go through a CVA in the second half of 2020 and the closure of Manchester and Glasgow outlets (leaving Leeds outside the Capital), but all London branches were saved and the formula and management seem to have survived the restructuring.

2021 Review: “A fantastic paella” is the signature dish at Quique Dacosta’s very well-publicised (well, he does have three Michelin stars back in Alicante) two-floor, Spanish yearling, which opened in June 2019: too late to receive a huge volume of survey feedback (so the ratings should be seen as indicative). Such as we have is brimming with enthusiasm all-round, both for results from the extensive menu (not just paella, but skewers, grilled and roasted fish and meats) and for the “really good atmosphere for a restaurant just north of Oxford Street”. The newspaper critics have painted a mostly upbeat, but more mixed, picture.

2021 Review: Up-and-down reports on this “lovely” Soho haunt, specialising in wood-fired, Mediterranean, grilled dishes – part of Salt Yard Group (all of which was absorbed into the Urban Pubs portfolio in November 2018). Fans applaud the “delicious tapas from this ever-reliable family” but quite a few reports express disappointment: “maybe there’s a sense it isn’t quite what it was”.