El Faro

the meat here is really incredible, it what makes this place worth the detour. The entrecote is far superior to any argentenian in london and the suckling pig is crisp outside and tasty and tender inside. With patatas bravas its hard to beat. The wine list is comprehsive and value for money. The coffee is the only thing i though was lacking but its still 9/10 for me. Well woth a visit.
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james ahern
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 17, 2010

i had heard about this restaurant offering modern spanish food . The experience was not very pleasant, however the food was ok. Nothing special, but ok.

The service on the other hand was terrible. When you visit a restaurant which is empty and the waiter and waitress in the room are rude, forgetful, unattentive, and you receive no explanation about any of the dishes you are being served,.....

My advise to the owner is, ask yourself why no more clients come to your place, change your waiting staff or teach them a lesson or two about how to smile, be attentive, etc.

The innovative tapas are some hit or miss, but we appreciate the effort .
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DIVINO AND THE NEGRA
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 3
Monday, November 30, 2009

I have never posted a review on here before, but having just had my 3rd excellent meal at El Faro, felt I had to let other people know what a great restaurant this is.

I live in the Docklands, so the location of this restaurant is actually a bonus for me. It's only about a 10 minute walk from Canary Wharf. It's also a very pleasant place to sit in Summer, with outside tables overlooking the water.

The food has been consistently excellent - well beyond any other Spanish restaurants I have eaten in London. Last time I went I had a delicious pork terrine (tapas plate) which melted in your mouth and was full of flavour. The patatas bravas are excellent too. And there is plenty of choice whether you want a blow out meal, or just a snack. The size of the tapas plates is generous (average around £5/6) - 2 of us shared 3 plates for lunch last week which was plenty, and worked out to be very economical.

All in all, I thoroughly recommend giving this place a try.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 12, 2009

Superb food. I went with my girlfriend a few weeks back and had a good range of food - superb ham and cheese board to start, great calamari.

I had the suckling pig and apple for main which was incredible - Fell off the bone, crispy skin n all. Apples set it of perfectly.

Wine was amaing and great service too. Not the best location, but recommend this if you like real spanish food with the highest quality ingredients.
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Kev Luckhurst
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, April 02, 2009

Myself and my boyfriend love Spanish food and I was taken by my boyfriend last night as it was my birthday.

We had a really good time, food and wine were fantastic. I could not believe the size of the "chuleton" (Rib Steak) it might have weighted 1 kg. Even though it was meant to be shared we could not possibly finish it.

I certainly recommend it to anyone who is willing to pay a little extra for a superb meal
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Rachel - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 19, 2009

i really like this place, the food the atmosphere, the service. Not easy to locate but a real hidden gem in the concrete canary wharf jungle.
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paul mcguire
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, October 10, 2008

Worried slightly by the previous review (below), we were a bit apprehensive about going to El Faro, but decided to as all the other reviews were so positive. We need not have worried!

The food was very good, some of the best Spanish cuisine we've had, and the service attentive and welcoming.

For starters we had sizzling prawns, Spanish omelette, chorizo and salad - all of which were delicious. Mains were paella valenciana, lamb and cod - again all very tasty and no complaints, washed down with a very flavoursome of the house red.

We will definitely return!
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Jeremy Shaw
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Sunday, September 07, 2008

Recommendation, if you like the food here then enjoy it, if you dont then dont complain as you will be met by the rudest manager who needs to join a course in manners and customer relations. Let me explain..

I was in El Faro yesterday, the restaurant looked very good and the staff were quite polite. For starters we had the squid and raviloli which was excellent. We ordered the sea food paella for mains and alas thats where everything went wrong. The food looked amazing but the rice was under cooked, 3 of us dining and we all could not eat more than spoonfull. We called the waitress and told her about it, the head waitress comes out about 5 mins later and claims that, that is how they cook paella and said if we dont like it then we can order something else. Her attitude left a bitter taste in our mouths and we decided to just get the bill. We were amazed when we were charged £29/- for a paella we didnt eat at all, we didnt even eat one of the sea food. The manager charges out when we protest about the bill and in 7 years in London I have NEVER encountered a more rude person in my life. He said that he was going to charge us for the paella and if we wanted we could parcel the paella that was left over. His explanation was that it was cooked perfectly as it had been cooked for 35 minutes and thats how they make it here.I have never eaten a paella where the rice is that under cooked. There was no need to be rude about it, I mean where are your manners? Who is the customer? If he doesnt like the food then be polite and offer an alternative. Unfortunately for us we do like restaurants with good food but the service matters equally. I will def NEVER be heading back there again. We ended up paying £52/- for 2 starters, 2 cokes and 1 glass of wine that we consumed. It was a sad ending to an evening that started perfectly.
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Sridhar Raju
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Friday, September 05, 2008

This is real Spanish food and real Spanish recipes. Eating there makes me feel at home for a while.

Iberian ham cut by the hand, croquetas, huevos estrellados...absolutely fantastic.

Wide range of Spanish wine as well. We went there to celebrate my birthday but I can say I won't wait another year to dinner at El Faro again.
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Marta Luis Corral
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, August 08, 2008

My boyfriend and I had a fantastic meal at el faro last week. I always worry about service having been a waitress myself which has made me rather critical. However, the service wqas perfect, both friendly and well timed allowing us to relax and enjoy our evening whitout feeling ignored.

My boyfriend has the churizo which was delicious and I had the meatballs, for the main course I had a warm salad with patatas bravas and he had the lamb. Both were fantastic, well flavoured and perfectly cooked. Really loved the potatoes in particular which were really spicy.

I think dessert really finished us both off but the selection of little sample deserts I had was fantastic, I was so full I could barely walk home but it really was worth it.
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J. Clutten
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Sunday, April 27, 2008