barrafina

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 inlondonfor 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 inlondon(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.

barrafina is such a popular name here inlondonfor 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!

despite the fact thatlondonis a world city, this is not the restaurant you expect to easily find and to be só wowed! the food is exquisite, the service is extremely friendly and professional and the menu is amazingly diversified.

arrived at 6pm, queued for about 45 minutes for 2 seats. barrafina is a one star michelin inlondon- i've passed by this restaurant for the longest time and have finally decided to try. cold meat platter (£15.50). cold cuts to start off... favourite spanish delights!. ham croquetas (£5.50). i could have a few of this - crispy balls, inner batter that melts (no idea what it's made of, milk? butter? cheese? but there's definitely ham inside!). this is really very addictive.

we were around inlondonyet again and wanted somewhere casual where we could dine without the need for booking. barrafina perfectly suited the bill and was close enough that we did not have to go out-of-the-way to get to. there are currently three branches of barrafina inlondonbut in the 2015 guide, the original outlet located on frith street was awarded a michelin star. the restaurants do not take bookings and sitting around the counter-top is on a first come, first served basis. this makes getting a seat here even more difficult. the queues here are known to be legendary and we were there to witness it first hand towards the end of our meal. with that in mind, we started waiting outside the restaurant at 4:45pm and no problems snagging seats when the restaurant opened at 5pm.

barrafina offers the best tapas you can find, outside of spain, hands down!
with seating in the form of a bar all around the spot where your dishes are prepared, right in front of you, and the staff shouting orders to each other in spanish it is almost as if you suddenly leftlondonbehind and are now seated at a tapas bar in spain having the most succulent meats, tasty seafood together with a glass of amazing spanish wine.
the place is rather small, but that is half the charm!

hey there! i knows it's been the longest time since i last posted a review; i've been out of town for the past few months. anyway, what's important is that i'm back inlondonfor a bit so what follows is a few restaurant reviews! be on the look out for two more reviews. before i leftlondonfor a few months, barrafina had long been on my list. i had heard amazing things about the top-quality tapas from other bloggers so i knew that when i was back in london, barrafina would be the first place to visit. after visiting the christmas markets in south bank with my equally quirky companion, i headed back to soho with great haste in order to get there early.  you may be thinking, "why would i want to get to a restaurant early?" one possibility is that i may be rushing to attend some event. the other possibility is the combination of a no-reservation policy and a small seating capacity. in this case, i would reason towards the latter possibility. after arriving in soho, it took a while for me to locate the restuarant due to the inconspicuous external design but google maps soon aided my direction *thanks google*.  upon entering the restaurant, the first thing i had in mind was to join the queue. luckily, we were allowed to queue inside which protected us from the harsh winter weather outside. however, if you're one of those strange people who enjoy eating in the cold, you can opt to do so. the waiting time for eating outside is basically non-existent so good for you! for the rest of us warm-blooded folk, it took about 2 hours to get a seat! one thing that kept me going was the amazing food being served to the seated customers. my theory is that the chefs work extra hard on presentation to incentivise customers to wait longer. on the other hand, this theory isn't without fault as i recall rejoicing when a party of 4 left the queue. it was like playing a game of last man standing. if you wish, you can have a glass of wine or a small appetiser while waiting in the long line t

it's 6.30pm on a wednesday evening and i'm practically chomping at the bit i'm so starving. turning left out of tottenham court road tube, i get caught in a gridlocked pack of tourists and i have a strong urge to punch a particularly snail-paced, camera-clutching sightseer in the back of the head. i'm approaching barrafina and as i wind through soho square i grow panicked at the thought of not eating for the next hour because, without exception, every single review i've read of this frith street gastro-haven has detailed the eternal wait for a coveted stool at the l-shaped counter. you linger within tantalising sniffing distance from the iberican offerings for at least an hour, if not longer. it is to my great surprise, therefore, that when b and i turn up, there are two shiny, leather-topped bar stools with our names practically etched into them.

we practically leapfrogged onto them to secure what felt like thrones at the altar of spanish 'food of the gods'. first mission accomplished, with far more ease than anticipated. but how lucky we were; i do not exaggerate when i say that a mere ten minutes after we sat down, there was a queue of people pressed up against the wall and snaking out into the street. you have been warned... arrive at six thirty and no later.

the menu is a well-balanced combination of spanish tapas classics (pan con tomate, solomillo de ternera and pluma iberica with confit potatoes) and a couple of lesser known options (grilled quail with ali-i-oli and lamb sweetbreads). paired with the specials menu which boasts fresh fish and pork belly, you'd be hard pushed to lodge a complaint here. we start with a couple of croquetas de jamon - my absolute favourite when i was living in madrid - and happily chatted away as the waitress poured the wine.

then came the gambas al ajillo which where pretty heavenly if you don't mind peeling them yourself.

b ordered us the ham and spinach tortilla, which was cooked in a perfectly formed tiny frying pan and was reassuringly crisp on the outside, and deliciously gooey on the inside.

your whole dining experience is a show and you have front row seats. the chefs are the actors, overwhelmingly confident on the stage that is the open kitchen. you are given a peek into the implements they use, the secrets to their techniques and above all you witness their dedication to each individual dish. they quite rightly take pride in their creations as they present them to you with one final flourish.

the chorizo and potatoes are the flavours of spain through and through. in fact, just a single glance at the menu sends me right back to spain, what with the scattering of jerez (sherry) and spanish vino tinto (red wine) to accompany your iberican nourishment.

now for a dish which didn't tempt b but i just couldn't resist. a house favourite and very popular choice among regulars here, the tuna tartar is served with a 'quenelle' of guacamole (you know you've been watching too much masterchef when you know the word 'quenelle') which is a genius combination.

we decided to dip into the specials and try the skate wing and we were rewarded for going off-piste. topped with pine nuts and baby basil, the cut yielded a very decent amount of meaty fish and the sweet sauce which came with it sang with flavour. 

as we came to the end of our meal, it was becoming increasingly evident that barrafina is the perfect modern tapas bar. owners sam and eddie hart, the creators of fino in fitzrovia, returned tolondonfrom spain in 2002 and quite clearly brought with them a full repertoire of skills and inspiration. barrafina opend in 2007 as a homage to cal pep in barcelona which had been the brothers' favourite restaurant.

wallet damage: £40 for 6 plates to share and wine
ambience: suitable for those who don't mind noise and uncomfortable stools
reservations: none - too cool for school

located in soho and serving the best spanish cuisine on all of london, this place has truly kept me fascinated. with mostly busy evenings, the place does not take reservations at all. you may want to consider reaching here prior to 6 in the evening, or you may not be able to enjoy you favourite wine at ease.

this casual dining place is mostly the pre-theatre hang out spot for everyone around town. the tiger shrimps are to die for as they are prepared in an unusual yet sublime manner. the perfect ending to your generously served spanish meal here will definitely be when you have their cream caramel as dessert.

this place truly serves the best tapas in all oflondonand you must give it a try for that reason, if nothing else.

almost three years ago when we got married a friend of ours got us a barrafina cookbook as a wedding present. since we constantly discussed food together it was a highly appropriate & lovely gift. i did some online research and found that barrafina is a top tapas restaurant inlondonand dreamed of going ever since. once thelondonflights were booked it was top of the ‘must visit list’ and we did just that.

barrafina is one of these ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ places – understated and off the main thoroughfare. thank goodness for my trusty smartphone and google maps. arriving as their lunch session was finishing we had planned to go for dinner but both being hungry we chanced our hand and were welcomed in.

just in case you are planning to go i’ll tell you some things that i found out in my research. one is that they don’t accept bookings, two is that it is a teeny tiny place & three is that it’s likely to be packed to the rafters. i didn’t realise quite how small it was until we got there. seating is all along the bar and there are no tables out with this. i’d guess there’s about fifteen seats in total and i’ve heard that there is a queue most days when they open for lunch and dinner. a ledge goes along the other side of the room and is used to rest drinks on whilst you are waiting for a table. it’s not the kind of place you linger in so it works & i can imagine it’s bustling and ever so spanish at night.

there were some quick decisions made because we didn’t want to keep them back at the end of lunch (luckily another table came in after us too). we ordered bread with olive oil and then a cold meat platter, which was sliced in front of us when we ordered. salami, chorizo, jamon iberico… so simple yet so so good. quality trounces fancy ever time.

so far the only disappointing thing had been that they did not have balsamic vinegar. and i had over two years of expectations so it was almost a miracle.

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.

we decided to forgo the octopus with capers for the special fish of the day – seabream stuffed with herbs and lemon. all i have to say about this dish is that it was marvellous. when we returned home we realised that the recipe is in our book and we have made it at home twice now.

our last offering was a difficult decision. i narrowed the choices down to grilled quail, milk fed lamb and chorizo, potato and watercress. after choosing the former it occurred to me that we had also chosen the meat platter but i guess you can never have too much meat on your birthday. i’m confident that we would have raved about all of the above as much as we did with the chorizo.

next time i will leave space in my belly for the pears in red wine or santiago tart. i say next time because i don’t want to imagine never going back here. i’m in love.

overall, i enjoyed my meal at barrafina. there were no standout dishes that i'll dream about for the next few weeks, but every dish was well executed. definitely one of the best tapas bars inlondon(i think i still like josé more). well, is it the very best? i think i'll need to visit it a few more times to be sure ;) i still have to try their tortillas and their courgette flower with goat's cheese...

delicious. while inlondonmy partner and i visited barrafina last year.
when we got to the door and saw the lineup i wasnt impressed, unknown to how long we may stand there he convinced me to stay. we stood in line for over an hour watching everyone eat delicious food. a lovely wait staff came to us in line offering us the drinks menu. once seated we were greeted with a lovely chef ready to help. we ordered an array of things from the menu all arriving quick and they tasted amazing. could have easily ordered another tortilla.
it was so worth the wait. i would go back anyday

since i'€™m back inlondoni have been finally going to places i wanted to try for a long time. another one in that list was barrafina . spanish tapas bar with no tables just a long l shape bar, friendly spaniard staff, and fresh ingredients

barrafina has been my favourite tapas restaurant since the first visit, clearly everyone inlondonthink so too. the queue forms as soon as the bar like restaurant opens at 12 for lunch and 5 for dinner.