Marylebone, Spanish Restaurant Guide

“Decent tapas for the price” – with “all the usual suspects (patatas bravas, padron peppers, tortilla, croquettas)” – win praise for this Hispanic quartet, now well into their second decade. These days the cooking is reckoned “competent”, if “not up to the earlier standards” – perhaps a reflection of improved competition. Top Menu Tip – “it’s worth checking out the vegetable dishes” (“with some left-field options for the adventurous; the beetroot with coffee was great!”)

“Fine food but spectacularly expensive” is a fair summary of views on this Marylebone newcomer, whose level of sophistication is somewhat at odds with its attractive but deceptively casual style. Co-founder Luke Ahearne is a former head chef at Corrigan’s in Mayfair, and cooks over wood on a dramatic grill, with simple, ingredient-led dishes inspired by the southern Mediterranean. But its ‘bistro’ billing is belied by prices that mount vertiginously (particularly on the wine list); and even though many reporters do see it as a “class act”, too many feel “the high cost matches the area, not the food or drink on offer”. “A meal for two with a decent bottle of wine was £630!! Hello!??”