El Faro

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

What a find! We chanced upon this restaurant in February and thought it was so good that I changed my birthday reservations at a different restaurant to go here instead. I have recommended it to everyone I know- they should consider opening another branch in the city where decent spanish restaurants are in short supply.
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vikki
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

My boyfriend is obsessed with Spain and all things Spanish, so we thought we'd give El Faro a try since it's not too far from either of our flats.

We arrived fairly early, were greeted courteously, sat easily and that was the benchmark for a fabulous evening. The surroundings were tasteful and intimate, the food and wine were gorgeous and the service was extremely good - discrete and quick.

We opted for a Catalan red wine (can't remember what it was called, but the aroma and taste were fantatic), sizzling king prawns with chilli (a little light on the chilli, but gorgeous), the spanish meatballs with mushrooms and tortilla for starters, with seafood paella as the main course. Everything arrived efficiently and with good presentation, the prawns were sizzling on the table and the paella dish was so hot the dish remained hot when we went back for second helpings! Neither of us had room for pudding, so a coffee was had instead.

Overall a fabulous evening and a very good restaurant - we'll definitely be going back!
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Naomi
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, March 20, 2008

We came here on Valentine's evening, which perhaps isn't the best time to visit a restaurant for the first time - nevertheless, El Faro treated us well.

There were many starters that we wanted to try, and nothing on the mains list that particularly stood out, so we just got a selection of starters to share.

The Jamon de Jabugo was delicious. The fat was melt-in-the-mouth and so tasty. The ham was sliced to perfect thinness. The tuna tartare marinated in Fino sherry and sesame seeds with rocket was definitely the highlight of the meal. Generously portioned, super-fresh tuna.

The squid was very tender with a lovely accompanying sauce, and the galician octopus came surrounded with a gorgeous, fruity olive oil. Sadly we didn't encounter any hot padron peppers, but they were well cooked - no grease, and well seasoned.

The last two dishes were king prawns in a sizzling dish with plenty of garlic, and confit pork belly cubes with rosemary. The prawns were great - cooked perfectly with a good garlicky hit. The pork cubes were the only dud note of the evening - dry, not enough of the sauce. They could have done with being cooked a touch longer.

The serivice was good - although I was declined when I asked to change table (we were right in the middle of the restaurant) so when you book in advance, ask for a window table.

All these dishes, 2 glasses of cava, 1 bottle of rioja, and a coffee came to just under £100. Unfortunately we were too stuffed for dessert. Definitely recommended, we will return to try the mains.
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Beff - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 18, 2008

I went to this restaurant on Valentines day. I like the fact that they do normal menu as well as valentine's set menu as there are so many restaurants only do set menu for double price just because of it is valentine's day.

Staff were very friendly. Selection of cured meat was so fresh and tasty. Olive was the best I had ever!

Prawn and Blue cheese coroquett were the best! I love this restaurant and I will def go back!!
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Saya
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 15, 2008

currently my favourite casual restaurant in london. I particularly like the crispy suckling pig, the red tuna tartar and the jabugo ham is to die for. Worth the walk even on a cold winters evening.
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richard smith
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, December 17, 2007

If you are the kind of person who likes eating really good food and drinking delicious wine, you must try to the Restaurant EL Faro. I have been living in London and I have been trying many Restaurants because is one of my hobbies, a nice dinner with a nice glass of wine.

As we know in London you can find nice Italian, Argentine, Thailand’s ...etc restaurants, but I am Spanish and until I knew El Faro, I had not eaten good Spanish food and wine.

When you entry in this Restaurant is like being at home, friendly and kindly people, nice music and a beautiful environment where you can be eating looking at the one of the nicest views in Docklands, the illuminated Thames River plenty of illuminated boats and high buildings which characterize to the Docklands zone.

If you are Spanish, there you can find a piece of our kitchen, whatever you taste you will like it , sure, but If you are not Spanish, but you like eating well I recommend you some dishes like homemade crockets, cider sausage, pork dices and every thing that the manager can recommend you as starters. For the main courses you can try the tender “chuleton de buey” if you like eating good meat or Secreto which I love, and for fish you can order the really fresh Cod or Tuna, accompanied with a fantastic and delicious cooked Fois. All main courses go with an original, creative and suited garnish. For finishing your tasty and good meal you can order whatever dessert that you want because all of them are tenderly cooked, but one of my favourite is the chocolate cake with hot melted chocolate .

I am not a specialized chef or any food criticism and besides, my English is not really good, but I love eating good food accompanied with a delicious glass of wine with efficient and friendly service. Now, always when I go to London with somebody I go to El Faro to spend a nice dinner or lunch, because there I am sure I won’t be disappointed and I can surprise them with a really good food in London.
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Maria Jose Castiblanques Campos
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I get the feeling that most tapas bars in london fall short of authenticity partly thanks to our own laziness but if you're looking for the real deal el faro is it. Everything about our evening here was spot on. The plate of ham although quite pricey was the best cured meat ive ever eaten and my wifes chorizo was also delightful. We opted to go for the standard starter-main meal which meant that i might have missed out on trying the famed suckling pig pork belly confit which was also on the starter/tapas list were it not for the extremely helpful waitress who brought us a small taster version of the dish to try. An all too rare example of thoughtful service which guaranteed a return visit. Our mains (Cod with white beans for me, baby lambs leg for the lady) were equally enjoyable, accompanied by a top value £20 bottle of red which was recommended by the staff. The wine list is pretty extensive but again we simply said what we liked and disliked and were directed to the Care 2005. it the wrong side of london from where we live but i can't wait to return.
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roym - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, September 25, 2007