Marylebone, Spanish - Restaurant Guide

“Luke Ahearne is cooking up a storm” at this modern Mediterranean yearling in Marylebone, whose name is a contraction of ‘abuelita’ (meaning grandmother in Spanish) and where cooking over a dramatic open grill is a feature. But even if no reports fundamentally dispute its top quality, “the price can be eye-watering” – leaving a couple of diners feeling that “in spite of enjoying what we ate I would not return because of the feeling of being taken for a ride”.

“It serves croquettes… It does what it says and it does it well!”. So say fans of this small chain – a “simple concept well-executed” with the main dish containing “a wide variety of fillings: think of any Spanish tapas ingredient and it’ll be in there”. “The cocktails are good as well”. In April 2025 they added a 50-cover site in Broadgate Circle to their existing locations in Soho and St Christopher’s Place.