Barrafina, Soho

What else can be said about Barrafina except for this: make haste and go there ? it serves probably the best tapas I have ever eaten, even better than in Spain itself. You can?t book, but don?t fear the queues ? just order a sherry and some nibbles while you wait, and the charming Spanish staff will sit you down at the marble countertop bar for the feast of your life?

Please note ? the below wasn?t consumed in one sitting? I would have had to have been winched out of the restaurant, carried out Tudor-style in some kind of sedan chair!

Pan con tomate: garlicky, fresh, crispy and soft, drizzled generously with grassy olive oil ? sensational:

Pimientos de Padron: one in every 20 is said to be hotter than Hades, but these little fellows were lovely and mellow:

Cured meats: melt-in-the-mouth:

Sardines: I don?t normally like sardines in this country because they?re never fresh enough, but there was no problem here:

Chipirones (baby fried squid): crsipy and very moreish, a bit like squid popcorn:

Chorizo with potatoes: smoky intense and delicious sausage offset beautifully by the creamy flavour of the potatoes:

Coca with spinach, raisins and pine nuts: beautifully savoury with flavours of nutmeg and bechamel sauce underneath the spinach ? much more impressive than you?d imagine:

Ham and cheese croquettes: phwoarrrrrr! Crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside ? nutmeg and salty nuggets of bacon. Yum!

Clams (left) and fried potatoes with aioli and salsa brava: gorgeous garlicky plump clams, and the chips were a revalation because they?d been sprinkled with crushed garlic, fresh thyme and rock salt.

Santiago (almond) tart: flaky buttery pastry, gorgeous buttery almond top. Not really suitable for sharing.

Pedro Ximinez Hidalgo sherry: like drinking liquid Christmas pudding ? intense!

Barrafina
54 Frith Street
Soho, London
W1D 4SL