Barrafina

Barrafina is a collection of authentic Spanish Tapas bars in Central London

Barrafina | Modern, Spanish Tapas Bars in Covent Garden and Soho

Barrafina is an authentic Spanish tapas bar owned and operated by restaurateurs Sam & Eddie Hart.

There are three Barrafinas in London; the original site is on Soho’s Dean Street, the other two are on Adelaide Street and Drury Lane in Covent Garden.

Each restaurant has an open kitchen, a beautiful marble-topped bar where guests can sit and watch the chefs at work and stylish red leather stools.

The a la carte menus comprise authentic regional dishes from around Spain and there is also a daily changing specials menu unique to each restaurant.

We take bookings for groups of 8 to 32 in our private dining space at Adelaide Street and 8 to 28 people at Drury Lane.

http://www.barrafina.co.uk

Barrafina - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

“The wait can sometimes be twice the time spent at the counter”, but no-one seems to mind at the Hart Bros kick-ass small group of Barcelona-inspired tapas haunts in Soho (now relocated to the ground floor of Quo Vadis) and Covent Garden.

(So far, the February 2017 departure of founding group exec head chef, Nieves Barragán Mohacho, to found Sabor, has had zero effect on ratings – the new incumbent is Angel Zapata Martin.)

Barrafina, London, WC2, restaurant review - Telegraph

This new branch, in Adelaide Street, is under the direction of chef Nieves Barragán and is the kind of simple, stunning space that makes your own kitchen look like a medieval hovel.

These days there are more restaurants with open kitchens than you could shake a ladle at; but it’s rare to feel so fully in the thick of things as you do at Barrafina.

The chefs work as if wired in series to a single brain – one dollops sauce on a plate, another flips a mackerel onto it, a third scatters parsley over the top.

Fast and furious: you watch the food being prepared at Barrafina (RII SCHROER) Our first bite of food is pan con tomate, a simple dish that can often be disappointingly bland, especially if the tomatoes aren’t flavoursome.

I could eat it all day, but we’ve already been presented with our next dish – a whole, tender squid from the specials board, striped with faint golden scorch marks from the grill, served on a vinegary salad made with puntarelle (a kind of chicory).

Barrafina - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

This is the latest venture from the Hispanophile Hart brothers, whose first venture, Fitzrovia's modern tapas bar Fino, has rightly met with high acclaim.

Daddy Hart owns and runs a number of ventures, including pukka country house hotel, Hambleton Hall.)

Their new opening takes for its inspiration a well-known Barcelona tapas joint, Cal Pep.

The initial salvo of dishes - a platter of delicate cold meats, a flavoursome and crunchy tomato bruschetta and an extremely well dressed green salad - impressed.

Clams and squid - both a la plancha - were also good, as were chorizo-based dishes.

Barrafina - London Restaurant Reviews | Hardens

“The wait can sometimes be twice the time spent at the counter”, but no-one seems to mind at the Hart Bros kick-ass small group of Barcelona-inspired tapas haunts in Soho (now relocated to the ground floor of Quo Vadis) and Covent Garden.

(So far, the February 2017 departure of founding group exec head chef, Nieves Barragán Mohacho, to found Sabor, has had zero effect on ratings – the new incumbent is Angel Zapata Martin.)

Barrafina Dean Street: Nothing is new but the address | London ...

They are probably baffled by the fact that Soho’s Barrafina is referred to across the web as Barrafina Frith Street, yet clearly sits one over on Dean Street, all close and cuddly with its owners’ sister site Quo Vadis.

This summer the lovely owners of the original Frith Street site decided there was more money to be made by developing the space (presumably into flats) than there was from keeping it as a restaurant.

We had to wait around an hour and a half on our visit, but all bar ten minutes of this was spent propping up the counter which traces the circumference of the restaurant, with drinks in hand and dishes arriving in quick succession.

From a long list of winning dishes — and no duds — the condensed list of highlights include explosively gooey ham croquetas; heavily-loaded pan con tomate drenched in an exceptional, peppery olive oil; lightly spiced morcilla with sweet roasted red peppers and quail eggs; crispy battered anchovies (so much better than sprats); and an exemplary slab of wibbly-wobbly tortilla.

The kind of service that involves a chat across the bar, eagle eyes which ensure your glass never empties, and staff full of personality and personal recommendations complete the utterly convivial experience.

Fay Maschler's five-star review of Barrafina Adelaide Street | London ...

The two Barrafinas are the work of brothers Sam and Eddie Hart — also owners of Fino and Quo Vadis — who were inspired by the tapas bar Cal Pep in Barcelona.

Sam Hart had said to me that he supposed the menu at the Covent Garden Barrafina (they call it Covent Garden, it isn’t really) was going to be pretty much like the Soho original, but the grip, energy and inspiration of Nieves means that almost 80 per cent of the list differs.

It is a joy to observe but the greater pleasure is being on the receiving end of dishes such as milk-fed lamb’s brain — the sort of lovable softness inside a frangible coating that we imagine our own nervous system to be — and then braised ox tongue with crushed potatoes.

If the Guild of Restaurant Critics allows, I can also point you towards dishes such as wonderful arroz de marisco (seafood rice), classic tortilla, bosomy deep-fried stuffed courgette flowers and white asparagus with a sauce the Spanish may call Maria Rosa, which we enjoyed on the evening we didn’t pay.

Fay Maschler's latest restaurant reviews Fay Maschler's latest restaurant reviews 1/11 Percy Founders, W1 ★★ 2/11 Shikumen, E1 ★★★★ Fay Maschler says the lunchtime dim sum was in a way the most impressive dish at this rather stylish restaurant attached to the Dorsett Hotel Read Fay's review of Shikumen 3/11 The Culpeper Kitchen, E1 ★★★★ 4/11 Bo Drake, W1 ★★★ 5/11 Blixen, E1 ★★★ Blixen aims to satisfy all, says Fay Maschler, from the morning coffee drinker to the late-night bar settlers Read Fay's review of Blixen 6/11 Chai Wu at Harrods, SW1 ★★ 7/11 The Tommy Tucker, SW6 ★★★ 8/11 Portland, W1 ★★★ Fay Maschler can't wait to go back to Kitty Fisher's, the new wood-fired project from Young British Foodie Chef of the Year 2014 Tomos Parry and former Pitt Cue Co sous-chef Chris Leach Read Fay's review of Portland 9/11 Kitty Fisher's, W1 ★★★★ Fay Maschler can't wait to go back to Kitty Fisher's, the new wood-fired project from Young British Foodie Chef of the Year 2014 Tomos Parry and former Pitt Cue Co sous-chef Chris Leach Read Fay's review of Kitty Fisher's 10/11 Som Saa, E8 ★★★★ Andy Oliver has devised dishes inspired by northern and north-eastern Thailand that shock and awe, says Fay Maschler Read Fay's review of Som Saa 11/11 Lyle's, E1 Not a fan of set price tasting menus, Fay Maschler vows to next visit Lyle's, the new Shoreditch restaurant from James Lowe, at lunchtime so she can pick and choose and gambol through the wine list Read Fay's review of Lyle's

Barrafina, London, WC2, restaurant review - Telegraph

This new branch, in Adelaide Street, is under the direction of chef Nieves Barragán and is the kind of simple, stunning space that makes your own kitchen look like a medieval hovel.

These days there are more restaurants with open kitchens than you could shake a ladle at; but it’s rare to feel so fully in the thick of things as you do at Barrafina.

The chefs work as if wired in series to a single brain – one dollops sauce on a plate, another flips a mackerel onto it, a third scatters parsley over the top.

Fast and furious: you watch the food being prepared at Barrafina (RII SCHROER) Our first bite of food is pan con tomate, a simple dish that can often be disappointingly bland, especially if the tomatoes aren’t flavoursome.

I could eat it all day, but we’ve already been presented with our next dish – a whole, tender squid from the specials board, striped with faint golden scorch marks from the grill, served on a vinegary salad made with puntarelle (a kind of chicory).

Barrafina, London WC2 – restaurant review | Life and style | The ...

We've been perched on our bar stools at the new Barrafina for hours (the owners say it's in Covent Garden, but it's more like Charing Cross).

It's a tapas bar, there are no reservations, but that's another of the many beauties of this place: you come in fancying a smattering of expertly cut Ibérico ham and seven courses later you're looking at a sizable bill and ortiguillas (sea anemones) or deep-fried lamb's brain.

Well, it's delicious, in the way that only something crumbed and fried, topped with a pinenut-studded tapenade and marooned in a punchy, vivid tomato sauce can be.

I've eaten lambs' brains raw, sliced wafer-thin in a little oil, lemon juice and salt, so the unique, meaty-pannacotta quality shone through.

Perhaps that German word could be Whatever: if you see me in brilliant Barrafina, give me a wide berth.

Barrafina | Restaurants in Soho, London

The Soho original for flawlessly executed tapas - part restaurant, part theatre, and with a no-reservations policy that means you're almost certain to queue.

Please note, Barrafina has now closed.

If proof is needed that tapas is fashionable, the queues at Barrafina are it.

The place is part restaurant, part theatre, in which diners play a part.

Barrafina’s menu is studded with Mallorcan and Catalan tapas dishes, such as juicy, crisp-skinned grilled chicken thighs served with exemplary romesco sauce, and coca mallorquina (Mallorca’s answer to pizza), piled high with spinach and studded with pine nuts and raisins.