Review: Barrafina, Charing Cross

One more blog in my ongoing series: “so are they still any good?” This time we’re at Barrafina, which we got into easily by the simple expedient of getting there before 6pm. Mind you, we only just made it; fifteen minutes later there was a queue.

So, the queue is still there, but are they still any good?

Hell yeah. As with Jose (which I love, but the internets ate my review – no, really!) the dishes tend to simplicity but the produce and attention to detail tend to absolute perfection. It’s just a brilliant demonstration of what’s great about Spanish food, in London.

The menu is unabashedly Spanish, so definitely engage the staff or your Google search. We chose ortiguillas, which are little bundles of tentacles from snakeshead anemones, breadcrumbed and deep fried. Each mouthful was a powerful iodine punch of the seashore, to be dipped in a friendly aioli.

Of course we had to try their tortilla. Here it is of the golden-and-oozing-interior variety, a sublime texture and about as indulgent as potatoes and eggs get.

Stuffed courgette flower was merely excellent. Escalivada was a simple dish of slow roasted red peppers and aubergine, dusted with paprika and served with aioli. Beautifully textures, soft but not mush. Star of the show was rather ridiculously four milk-fed lamb kidneys. And that’s it. They had been char-grilled to perfection and served on a little trivet above a smoking charcoal. The smoky barbecue scent, carbonised edges and sturdy iron-y pink meat was just gorgeous. Yeah. I’ve run my brain over my adjective list and that’s exactly right. Gorgeous.

Gorgeous puds too, although my one (slight) disappointment: I ordered creme catalan and for some inexplicable reason they’ve wrapped blobs of it in filo pastry and deep-fried them. The result was tasty, but not the tasty I had wanted.

Regardless, we waddled out very happy. You’re probably on £30 each for food, and the drinks list is excellent and fair priced. It’s not a place to linger at a relaxed pace; bar seating and the atmosphere is functional rather than warm. Nevertheless, we will most certainly be back.