Soho, Spanish Restaurant Guide

“Authentic and delicious tapas… if you can get a table” has made the bustling, original branch of this Hispanic food importer’s chain a well-known feature of Borough Market, and “at busy times, it feels rushed”. It has spawned a number of spin-offs over the years, which are generally high quality, if not as vibey as the original: most recently opening a ‘Brindisa Kitchen Bar’ at Jubilee Place.

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”.

Especially “on a rainy night, snuggled up in the window by candlelight”, this small modern tapas restaurant off Carnaby Street can still be a valued haunt. But its ratings have dropped sharply in the past two years as the Salt Yard Group changed hands. “The food used to be really delicious: the ideas are still good” – the “brilliant inclusion of Italian elements in the tapas” – but the realisation nowadays can be “mediocre”.

“The tapas is perfection and the equal of Cal Pep in Barcelona” at the Hart Bros’ “vibrant” chain of small (typically 30 covers) no-bookings bars, which its vast fanclub acclaim as “the best tapas in London or in the UK or perhaps even in Europe north of the Pyrenees!”, with “delicious, ultra-fresh seafood” a particular highlight. The preparation at the counter is “still a great piece of theatre” and – buoyed by its “exceptional, friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff” – helps create a feelgood experience. The queue used to be part of the ritual, although the ability to book is one silver lining of Covid-19. The Pandemic has also led to the reformatting of the Drury Lane branch as ‘Barrafina Mariscos’ with a seafood menu and waiter service.

2019 Review: The Spanish neighbour to Aqua Kyoto shares all the characteristics of this roof-top operation – terraces, clubby decor, dazzlingly central location – and generates even less feedback that its sibling! Such as there is however paints it in a good light this year.

“Just thinking about it is making my mouth water!” – Nieves Barragan and José Etura’s “bustling, casual and friendly” three-year-old, tucked off Regent Street, is establishing itself as one of the West End’s brightest stars: “a guaranteed first-class food experience with a lot of fun thrown in”. “The downstairs bar serves modern tapas, including the beloved carabineros and croquetas. Upstairs at the communal tables, you’ll feast on traditional dishes like suckling pig, cooked in an Asador (wood-fired oven)”. Both locations score a big thumbs up: “not cheap, but what an utter treat to have well-executed, passionate, uncomplicated cooking of Spanish classics in the middle of London”.

“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.

Albert Adrià (pastry chef back in the day at his brother Ferran’s world famous El Bulli) operates this marbled café, overlooking Regent Street, near Piccadilly Circus. When it comes to the menu, the clue is in the name, and on most accounts his “original”, delectable sweet creations – including the signature cheesecake – may be “a little pricey”, but are “simply legendary”.