Call it the Spanish imposition: as of last week, a (barely insurable) trip over to the land of cava and croquetas now comes with a government mandated fortnight of self-isolation on UK touchdown.
This threat of quarantine needn’t mean Spain is entirely off the menu, though.
London's restaurants have a longstanding love of doing things the Mediterranean way and so, from paella to patatas bravas, and with plenty of padron peppers to boot, here’s where to pile on those carbs cut in the name of Marbs.
Tapas Brindisa
Being in Brindisa feels like finding the perfect bar in Barcelona, where tomatoes come untouched and still, somehow, have more flavour than everything in Waitrose. The group has long supplied Londoners with carefully sourced Spanish produce — they deliver, though it’s more fun at the Borough and Balham delis — but to see their ingredients treated right, head to one of the five restaurants. Few things top good chorizo served simply on toast with piquillo peppers, while a peach, tomato and basil salad is enlivened with Nardin anchovies. Sat up at the stools, you’ll feel like you’ve got a front-row seat at La Boqueria.
SE1, SW11, SW7, brindisakitchens.com
Cambio de Tercio
A sure sign of a good Spanish restaurant is that Spaniards will eat there; at Cambio, even Rafael Nadal is a regular. Unassuming from the outside but something of a celebrity hotspot – fellow fans include Jose Mourinho, Kylie Minogue and, er, Piers Morgan – here the classics are given lux upgrades. Tortilla is topped with spring black truffle, flame grilled pluma Iberica pork is served with roasted pineapple and chard, while wild seabass comes with wakame seaweed and kimchi.
163 Old Brompton Road, SW5 0LJ, cambiodetercio.co.uk
Moro
Spanish food has a long history — and one that goes beyond Europe. Moro serves Moorish food, with Iberian and largely North African cuisines combined in a nod to the 700-year Moorish presence on the Iberian peninsula. And so, besides the Spanish staples, Moro’s menu is a hybrid of flavours associated with the likes of Moroccan and Middle Eastern cooking. Rice dishes range from arroz negro to saffron and barberry pilaf, and a tapas menu lists padron peppers and patatas bravas alongside babaganoush and fried spiced chickpeas. A beautiful blend.
34-36 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QE, moro.co.uk
Barrafina
On opening, Barrafina – named in part for co-founder Nieves Barragan Mohacho – stunned London with its scintillating small plates, Spanish-style enthusiasm for counter dining, and “no reservations” policy. Thirteen years later, there are four Barrafina bars serving enduringly good food, including signature jamon croquetas, oozing tortillas and a squid ink arroz negro. The Soho spot has long held a Michelin star.
N1, W1, WC2N, (Drury Lane yet to announce reopening date), barrafina.co.uk
Sabor
The afternoons in hazy Spanish dreams are those spent out in the heat, slowly succumbing to sun and sangria. For this summer, Sabor — the name means “flavour” and boy, is there bags of it —has gone alfresco. Another from Nieves Barragan Mohacho, here the menu comes split between smaller tapas plates at the buzzy Counter and feasting dishes served upstairs in Asador. Go for milk-fed lamb sweetbreads and crisp quail with chicory and romesco, or pile a table high with octopus and oysters and let Heddon Street evaporate away.
35-37 Heddon Street, W1B 4BR, saborrestaurants.co.uk
Pizarro
José Pizarro was born in Extremadura, where long, winding streets unfurl to reveal boltholes in the wall. Perhaps it’s no surprise he made such a mark on Bermondsey Street, home to two of his restaurants. The first is the sprightly tapas and sherry bar José — drop in and it feels like stumbling on a local favourite — while the second is Pizarro, a spot to linger in until late, taking in the breadth of his culinary repertoire: as well as pica plates of boquerones in vinegar and top-quality jamon Iberico, diners can indulge in full dishes of cauliflower rice with idiazabal cheese and lemon alioli, and Castilian sucking lamb leg.
194 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3TQ, josepizarro.com
Parrillan
Spanish meals are best enjoyed soaking up the Iberian sun – London’s rays may be little more intermittent, but the jolly, noisy Parrillan is the perfect spot for channelling beach barbecue vibes when they do appear. This al fresco restaurant sets its diners up with a personal “parrillan” barbecue at their table, allowing them to cook their own red prawns, lamb kidneys and Fisona beef sirloin.
Coal Drops Yard, Stable Street, N1C 4AB, parrillan.co.uk
Lurra
It’s all about the beef at this Basque grill. At the steak-focused spot across the road from acclaimed sibling Donostia, cuts are proudly served from well loved Galician Blond cattle, which are grass fed and live until they’re at least 12 years old (a good decade longer than most British cows get). Happy cow, happy diner: a good life translates into rich, flavourful beef, dark in colour and served with a thick trim of moreish fat intact. Snacks and sides – including bone marrow sourdough and Feo de Tudela tomato salad – compliment the main event.
9 Seymour Place, W1H 5BA, lurra.co.uk
Trangallan
Rightly a big noise in N16. It is somewhere seemingly dedicated to simplicity – a plain black frontage, a chalked menu, bare walls brightened by stacks of red and yellow Ortiz sardine cans – where hyper-seasonal Spanish food is prepared from beautifully fresh ingredients.Everything is laid bare, allowed to shine as is, and the results are often spectacular. It helps that the place is rather beautiful, especially with the recent addition of a market table, where crates of peppers and peaches jostle for attention.
61 Newington Green, N16 9PX, trangallan.com
Ember Yard
Why eat just Spanish, when you can eat Italian too? Ember Yard embraces the best of both sides of the Mediterranean on its menus, but with a deeper bow to Iberian ideas. Its sibling restaurants – Salt Yard, Dehesa and Opera Tavern – do similarly, but Ember Yard hits the mark with a buzzy, dining room (pleasingly shadowy and very Soho), as well as a newly revamped bar in its basement. Top orders include fried courgette flowers stuffed with monte enebro cheese and blossom honey alongside membrillo glazed pork ribs with hazelnuts and chilli jam. Finish off with Basque cheesecake – Instagram’s current obsession – with raspberry sorbet.
60 Berwick Street, W1F 8SU, saltyardgroup.co.uk
Arros QD
From most angles, a Fitzrovian restaurant – from the smart glass frontage to the guarantee of a stinging bill – Arros distinguishes itself as one of London’s only places for the “Spanish Sunday roast” of paella. It is not humble here; at the table, great clanging pans arrive, the rice with a crust, swimming with cuttle fish and stalked by tiger prawns. Those who came when the restaurant first opened to middling reviews will be pleasantly surprised; it has settled in and found its place. It is a dark and elegant spot, a far cry from the colourful rough and tumble that marks so many Spanish favourites, but the food is first rate. No surprise: owner Quique Dacosta has four Michelin stars to his name.
64 Eastcastle Street, W1W 8NQ, arrosqd.com
Lobos
In both Borough Market and Soho, Lobos is one of those faintly perfect spots; loud and lively and with everything just about fairly priced (though take care; tempting dishes at tempting prices can add up in the most expensive way). Like many on this list, it won’t suit vegetarians; Lobos’s first love is prime cuts of Iberico pork, their speciality the soft, flavourful meat found between the shoulder and the loin. But good too are old favourites padron peppers and grilled octopus tentacles, shyly curled from the heat. They’ve lots of sherry; indulge, and feel that little closer to the seashore.
SE1, W1, lobostapas.co.uk
Copita
No surprise that this spot should be so good for wine and sherry, given the name translates as “glass”. Besides the drinks, it is a place of colourful plates, of noise and joy and people standing at their tables. It is all very Soho, from the bare balls to the fuzzy orange of the hanging lights, but it is somehow homely, too, probably because everyone is always having such a good time. A bustling spot, where beef onglet comes fragranced with rosemary onions and chimichurri and glazed king prawns bubble with bisque foam, lying on particularly pleasing peas. Somewhere to fall for and come back to over and again.
27 D'Arblay Street, W1F 8EP, copita.co.uk
