Discovering Spain On The Streets Of London

Tapas, meats, cheeses, sherry, Rioja, Tempranillo, Xavi, Iniesta, Torres, Nadal, the flamenco, the fandango, afternoon siestas, Almodóvar, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Gaudi, Picasso, Kahlo, Dali, heat, and passion; think of Spain and there are a number of wonderful champions that innately spring to mind.

Following The Wine Tipster’s recent trip to Spain to discover a number of fine wines, which he kindly shared on our blog I thought it would be wholly apposite to share a few thoughts about Spanish cuisine, Spanish wine, Spanish music and Spanish football, yet all contained within the geographic boundaries of the M25; or, to put it another way, a brief look at some of the best Spanish bars and restaurants I’m currently enjoying in London.

Spanish Bars

Camino in King’s Cross is a voluminous, modern, industrial space filled with colour and Latin-tinged music. This is a lovely spot for reflecting on your working day whilst sharing a jug of sangria. The patronage at Camino is often reassuringly Spanish speaking, which may have something to do with the 100% sustainable menu of Spanish tapas, covering all corners of Spain, even the Canary Islands (such as the salted potatoes with spicy sauce).

Plus, come the start of the Euro 2012 Football Championship, this will be THE best bar in London to watch Spain win this summer. Many Spanish football fans will make a new home of the lively Victorian courtyard (pictured above), on the opposite side of which is Camino’s tiny sister and erstwhile winner of the Time Out Best Bar of the Year title, Bar Pepito, an Andalusian bodega offering celebratory sherry flights.

If, like me, you are a nightowl hell bent on staying one step ahead of the dawn, in true Spanish style, I advise you to also check out the basement bar in Fitzrovia known simply as Bradley’s Spanish Bar (pictured below) where you should listen to a few tunes on the jukebox before taking your bottle of Spanish beer out on the street, as is customary, when dusk begins to settle.

To burn away the last remnants of the midnight oil, finish your evening in the West End bar, Salvador & Amanda, just off Leicester Square. I once took a date here and had a fun-filled night of Spanish beers, dancing, and flirting (before she decided I wasn’t the man for her; boo!). This is one of the best late night drinking dens in London, and a favoured hang out for bar and restaurant workers in the West End, plus a few stars from the local West End theatres. Don’t just take my word for it, see for yourself.

Tapas London

Spanish tapas is social. It is meant to be shared, talked over, and enjoyed together. Soon after successfully launching his casual, sociable sherry and tapas bar, Jose Tapas & Sherry Bar in Bermondsey, celebrity chef José Pizarro decided to utilise his surname for his second venture, Pizarro (pictured below left), but in a much more formal, modern setting just down the road. Aside claims as London’s first Cava bar, this restaurant has a superb communal table in front of the bar, so it’s no use being shy.

The seasonal Spanish cuisine comes in larger formats than most tapas but still has sharing at its very core. Praise has already been heaped on the cheeses, the jamon Iberico and the salt cod bacalao, but also keep an eye out for the quail. You’ll thank me afterwards. As is the trend these days, there is a no booking policy, but waiting allows plenty of time for making new friends at the bar.

The Opera Tavern (pictured below right), as the name might suggest, is situated in an erstwhile pub in the West End’s Theatreland district. It is a Spanish/Italian charcoal grill restaurant cut from same cloth as Fitzrovia’s Salt Yard and Soho’s Dehesa. Take a seat at the bar on the ground floor where’s there’s only enough room for brass lanterns and a cloud of chatter, order the sweet pull-apart ox-cheek with pickled walnuts, thyme, and roast parsnips, and enjoy the downtime until your show starts at the Drury Lane Theatre across the road.

The minimalist Jamon Jamon in Soho is also a pre-theatre destination. Although not exactly cheap if you have a sizable hunger, you can find a top notch house rioja that will stop the bill from running away from you. Booking is advisable if you intend visiting during the 7-9pm sweet spot, and be aware that special offers only apply to a small set menu so the choice may not be as varied as you’d hope; meaning, you might not get to sample the mixed grill meat or, from the tapas options, the cod with aioli and garlic, or patatas roquefort.

Brand Spanish New

Going back to this essence of sharing, there have been a healthy number of new openings in recent months across London that show encouraging signs for large scale community interaction.

Although I have not yet visited myself, I’ve heard enough glowing comments (in particular about the black rice squid paella) concerning the new Spanish tapas bar & restaurant on Acre Lane in south west London, Boqueria, which is named after Barcelona’s famous El Mercat de San Josep de la Boqueria street market, synonymous with food and wine.

Following the good fortune of Fitzrovia’s Barrica, its bosses have now set up shop in Soho too with Copita (pictured below) which is very much on trend in that it is centrally located, possesses a rough n’ ready interior, a no bookings policy (there it is again), and a menu that is as brief as it is laced with quality. The wine and sherry pairings are decent, and the tender, mini venison with Jerusalem artichoke, spinach and ceps is a must.

One of our journalists, Laura Collins, recently returned from a holiday in Spain, sad that she had left so much behind. Upon her return I sent her straight back out onto the streets of London to check out the new Iberica in Canary Wharf. She came with this comment: “It was like a neater, cleaner version of the places I frequented during my holiday and it seemed to rid me of any Spanish withdrawal symptoms.”

There’s another one for your To-Do list. As are the two imminent openings scheduled for this month: Donostia in Portman Village, where the former head chef of Barrafina will be serving Basque country tapas and pintxos alongside a wine list that boasts Basque specialities like the sparkling, dry txakoli; plus, Vinoteca’s new wine bar on Soho’s Beak Street where, true to form, there will be 300 wines to choose from, 25 of which will be by the glass, including the 2009 Penedes ‘Electio’, Parés Baltà organic white wine.

Spanish With A View

Two great Spanish restaurants, both is Soho, that I’m happy to share with you purely because they both have roof terraces and I know how delicious a piece of rooftop real estate can be during the spring and summer months: Aqua Nueva, (pictured below) high above Regent Street, is outstanding and one of the best restaurants in London I’ve ever reviewed (thanks, in part, to the Extremadura style lamb, poached egg with porcini cream and black truffle starter, and the woody 2007 Tempranillo Blend Rioja Reserva); and El Cantara, a Spanish-Moroccan hybrid with a cosy roof terrace for canoodling couples, and Albondigas that are anything but ordinary meatballs.

Further reading

If you’d like to discover more great Spanish restaurants in London, click here. Likewise, we’ve also complied a Top 10 of the Best Spanish bars in London, which you can view by clicking here.

Christian Rose-Day is Deputy Editor of  Fluid London, an independent guide to eating and drinking in London. He has been known to get it wrong very occasionally so please contact him if you’d like to enlighten him about Spanish bars and restaurants in London.

 Images courtesy of Flickr users Tehbus, Ewan-M and Odoardo Mendoza.