barrafina

ham croquetas had to be ordered because i’d never make them at home. fiddly, fried & overindulgent should be kept for restaurants. these little orange balls were crispy and moreish with a hefty amount of bechamel. the ham was strong in flavour so cut through the rich creaminess.

barrafina in soho is one of those places i'd been to several times and then hadn't been for a good few years. it's still considered one of, if not the best places to go to in london for tapas. even today still has people queuing, sometimes for a good hour, from 12pm till late evening. as mr d isn't a lover of tapas, i jumped at the chance of seeing my cousin, mr h whom is a fan. barrafina was one of our top choices and he arrived around 11:50am on a friday, and was already third in line (they open at twelve). by the time i arrived at 12pm a small snake was forming. tapas gets such a mixed reputation amongst my friends for varying reasons, many exclaiming being 'too selfish to share' - their words not mine! personally, i love it for the sharing aspect, the talking point the food gets around the table and also as i never know what i want. so, several mouthfuls of different dishes suits me perfectly. in this case, and also most other times i'm with mr h, i left it to my cuz to order for u

best couture tapas in london (yes even better than la tasca ;-) )
no reservations - get a bottle to ease the pain in the queue. go for lunch to reduce your wait time.
food and watching it being made is pure theatre a joy to watch eat and share. cava at 30 a shot - oof! go here.

we continued our spanish food extravaganza by visiting barrafina, another restaurant recommended by my friends.

barrafina is famed for its no reservation policy, and with only 23 stools available, you better get there early (or at non-regular dining hours) or you can forget about it - we were there sharp at 12 noon and managed to immediately snare two of those precious seats.

the food is good, but the service is absolutely abysmal. the waiter had forgotten to put our order through to the kitchen - so of course 30 minutes later, we enquired about our food (as they should come out fast, tapas style).

got a half-hearted apology from another member of staff. who then put the order through properly.

but no offer of a free drink. the original waiter, while serving our dishes later and also bringing us the bill, did not offer any apologies. nor offered to take the service charge off the bill. when i mentioned i'd like the service charge taken off, he just agreed - again, no apologies offered at that point.

another staff member did come by to ask how our food was. and we mentioned it was good, but the waiter forgot to put the order through and there was a long wait. again, a half hearted apology, and an excuse "oh we have new staff". this on a saturday evening, where they should definitely not be deploying any new staff.

while the food is good, there's no shortage of good spanish small plates in london, with better service, for the same price point (which is not cheap by the way, i'd say mid to upper range). so why come here?

the hardens guide ranks this as the best spanish tapas place in london. i do agree and i love this place. the only problem with this place is that it can only seat around 20 people in a small room in soho, so unless you come at 5.30pm for dinner or some other obscure time when people don't usually eat, you will wait for a table for at least 1.5 hours as you cant book. but still you can order some dishes whilst you wait and stand against the wall. food is excellent and is worth the wait, when i last went there i had - pan con tomate, my favourite pimientos de padron, jamon, little chorizo and potatoe chips (see in the 1st pic), cuttlefish, octopus, baby gem salad and more chorizo and potatoes (see in the 2nd pic). this is also my favourite tapas place in london, and the charm of the small room in soho, just adds to the whole cool vibe of the place.

i've been meaning to eat at barrafina literally forever having read tons of reviews praising their tapas and reporting on how long the wait can be, this must be special. after a few drinks one evening in soho thomas and i decided to see what all the furor

well worth a visit. changing specials, the opportunity to try lots of different tastes. try the lomo (sp?) melt in the mouth cured pork.
trust the sherry options, enjoy the theatre and waiting to get a seat by planning your choices then changing them 15 times as more lovely looking dishes go past.

i had been planning to go for ages but never found the patiencr to wait in line! till the other day! it was sooo worth the wait! everything was sooo flavorful! savoury and sweet in one dish wow! the courgette flowers are a must have, the calamari too, the octopus, the beef, everything was amazing! i wouldnt recommend the tortilla especially if you have ordered alot of other things as its quite heavy! but its a must try place!

we asked if they had a table, the chef just did a hand across the throat signal.... i mean... a polite no would have been sufficient.

highly fresh filling and appetizing food items are served in a very bold ambience and decor . the prices are reasonable, the staff is highly professional and friendly and the service is prompt and punctual too.

it’s a must visit place if you are in london. i visited this place quite often when i was in london. sea food is the best out here. spanish food is also great. many people return because there’s a long queue but the food is worth the wait.

amazing place in london. i love the food. can’t wait to come back here again. congratulations to the staff.

barrafina is such a popular name here in london for spanish food that they’ve needed to open several places to handle the demand. despite this, they still turn away so many people as they’re always so full. we have a huge place in our hearts - and stomachs - for spanish food and regularly visit spain in our travels. the food is certainly a major drawcard. this barrafina also has one michelin star - quite an achievement for such a casual place where almost all the seating is at the counter and your food is mostly cooked in front of you. it’s almost dinner and a show, watching it all unfold!