Cigala

This is a horrible, horrible restaurant. The waiters are cold, surly and inattentive. The food was terrible and overpriced. And the manager of the restaurant was incredibly rude to me and my friends. Please trust me and avoid this restaurant at all costs.
Comment on this reader review

1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Sunday, October 23, 2011

Cigalas ever bustling atmosphere, charming staff and delicious menu continue to provide a truly wonderful local restaurant. From a glass of wine and a tapas to a 3 course celebration, they never disappoint. highly recommended.
Comment on this reader review

richard scott bacon
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, October 08, 2011

The food was OK, but the service was awful. I can't stress this enough - it is not just bad, but amazingly so. If you are interested in how not to run a restaurant, this is the place to go. Ignore the food, just wander in and start taking notes. The manager must have known as she didn't bat an eyelid when we told her to take off the service charge.
Comment on this reader review

Iain
4 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Saturday, April 16, 2011

What a terrible shame. I had hoped that a couple of disappointing meals I had at Cigala over the summer might have been a rather extended blip. Seemingly not. Had an absolutely woeful lunch there last Friday. I had the set menu. Braised pig cheek and bean starter: what could go wrong? Well, they must have a special device in the kitchen which sucks the flavour out of the most promising and generous dishes, because this tasted of almost nothing.

Belly pork for main (pork overload I know, but I was hung over and in need of the gentle comfort that only pig can offer) was similarly tasteless. It had very obviously been pre-cooked, refrigerated, then banged under the grill to try and bring the crackling back to life. I have never, NEVER left a scrap of pork belly on my plate in my life, yet left almost half of this, despite being ravenous. In addition to the epic taste-deficit, it was also dry, stringy, fibrous - the antithesis of how pork belly ought to be. So disappointing.

Perhaps you will say: serves me right far having the set lunch? Well at £18 I reckon there was no excuse for this utterly underwhelming effort.

Over the past year Cigala has gone from one of my favourite restaurant's in London to one I will be reluctant to return to, except for drinks and nibbles. Fortunately their wine list is as good as ever, and I find the serving staff charming, though I haven't seen the gorgeous raven haired manageress there for a good few months - and they are happy for you to chew on a plate of padron peppers with a bottle of wine as long as they aren't packed to the rafters.

I would love them to sort out their kitchen so I can go back to adoring this place.
Comment on this reader review

Consignatory
5 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Monday, October 18, 2010

Last night I was quite excited to go to a Spanish restaurant I had not tried, being Spanish I take a lot of pride on Spanish good quality produce and I was ready for a good time. The place was extremely loud and the service not very efficient (we never got tap water) but that was not the problem. We got a bottle of dry white wine (£27) and decided for 7 tapas: When the tapas started arriving my meal became a let down straight away, the price-amount on the plate was just a rip-off, a tapa of octopus made me think I was about to eat Paul ( he did predict Spain to win the world cup!), 5 miniscule pieces of octopus on small potatoes. Spanish tortilla or potato omelette had no potato in it, and there is a saying with pizza that applies to Spanish tortilla, but in this case, there is such a thing as bad sex. Anyhow, cuttlefish 1/4 size, a prawn tortilla completely burned with no prawns to be seen or tasted, every tapa was a disappointment apart from the pimientos and scrambled egg with chorizo which I am surprised they managed to cook properly. Spanish tapas are not difficult to cook or complicated, they are not dishes to sell like if they were rich and complex French cuisine. It came to 80 pounds with 9 pounds service charge...The head behind cigala must think we are all going there just once...
Comment on this reader review

Charles of London
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, July 13, 2010

This place has slipped a bit in the kitchen. The service, atmosphere and wine list continue to be excellent. The food, however, is not quite what it was. The last time I went the Spanish omelette was just awful - really insipid and tasteless: boiled, not fried, potatoes and it looked and tasted like it had been made with egg whites only (the yolks spared for something else maybe?). We shared a couple of 2-person paellas - one chicken, one seafood - between 6 of us (we'd ordered 8 or so tapas also). These were well made and flavoured but again I felt the prime ingredients had been stinted on.

I still like this place very much and hope the dip in form is temporary.
Comment on this reader review

Consignatory
7 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Friday, June 25, 2010

authentic spanish food with excellent service and a very good wine list . tapas is always well executed and there are some interesting regional dishes .

not that expensive and a really very nice atmosphere . deserves its long term popularity .
Comment on this reader review

shane - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I before E....except...this doesn't apply here...but anyhow...our local...I guess it is..we can walk to it...still trying to find some comfort in Bloomsbury...one would think it's easy..almost pillowlesque.....BLOOMSBURY....ok...the restaurant...it was ok...ham...very very dry....chicken liver...quite good...grilled sardines...ok...red cabbage and pear salad...a missed chance...lacked seasoning....but was almost there...salt fitters...again...not amazing...lamb with tomato sauce...was ok...the afters...a rather good chilled rice pudding and an average almond tart with van cream...will we return.?..yes...the service was very good...it's local...it's independent...so another visit ? yes...we enjoyed a great evening!
Comment on this reader review

- View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, October 16, 2009

This place is ok but no more than that. The positives were a good atmosphere and efficient, cheery service. Sadly the food was really underwhelming, and very overpriced, and we left feeling disappointed. Has the feel of a restaurant trading on past glories. For much better Spanish food in the area I would go to the Norfolk Arms on Leigh Street.
Comment on this reader review

Cathy
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Friday, July 31, 2009

Love it. I go to Cigala for late lunches often (nowhere else does a decent lunch in Holborn/ Bloomsbury after 2.30pm. How rubbish is that?). It ROCKS.

The food is always interesting. The staff are impecable. The wine list is fantastic. And the waiting staff will recommend bottles which are spot on - and often towards the bottom and mid end. Try their Valdubon Crianza 2004 (Ribera del Duero). Holy Christmas what a bottle. Grilled grey mullet? Yes you can.

What a place. Go. Repeat. Go.

(Be warned: The waitress with fabulous body art is so charming you may collapse in a heap of love. The food will revive you, have no doubt.)
Comment on this reader review

Consignatory
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, May 07, 2009