Barrafina

I go there regularily and its fabulous, food, service, everything!
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vina
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, October 30, 2009

Overpriced and with small portions of food. I will never go again.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 11, 2009

An update (see below). I visited Thursday lunch 17th September

I missed the pimento peppers...they seem to go very quickly.

Still a bit overpriced but still good. Last time I was there I bumped into Suggs (the time before the bloke form Top Gear) Nowt in the way of celebrity this time but, good food and a great start to the long weekend eating in London and generally making a nuisance of myself.

I still like the place. Go, if you get a chance but CHECK THE WEBSITE ... no reservations. I see so many people disappointed when I am there.
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Kevin McG - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Totally overpriced. e.g. £4.50 for a warm bottle of beer. Staff think they are better than the customers. I'll never be back again.
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Dr Samuel H Migariaf
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I used to regularly eat tapas at a restaurant in Vauxhall until one occasion when I bit into a croquette which was frozen in the middle. It put me off tapas food for a long time. Fortunately my aversion to tapas has been reversed following my visit to Barrafina last night!

I arrived at 6pm and managed to secure two seats. The bar was already quite busy and most of the seats had been taken. I had to wait to 30 mins for my boyfriend to turn up but the staff were happy for me to sit down and drink.

When the BF arrived we ordered seven different tapas dishes. OMFG! The food was amazing! ! So much better than any other tapas I have tried in London. Also, the staff were really friendly and really quick in attending to us if we wanted more drinks or food.

I can highly recommend the following dishes: ham croquettas, cold meat platter, lamb cutlets (cooked rare - perfect!), ham/spinach tortilla and the suckling pig (from the specials).

We spent £40 each and this included our drinks. The suckling pig dish from the specials menu was dearer than other items (£15 I think) but it was a massive portion. We were stuffed by the time we left. Will definitely go back.
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Ewok
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Hi, to start with, I am spanish and normally avoid Spanish restaurants because I know I always get dissapointed. My husband convinced me and I reluctantly accepted.

The first thing I remember is that it reminded me of a Spanish traditional Bar, so that was a plus. Then after looking at the menu, I thought it was promising. I asked one of the waitresses if the pan con tomate was traditional or anglosized. She asked one of the Spanish chefs and confirmed it was traditional.....NOT really. The tapas followed and frankly although tasty they were very average.

I may go back if I feel in desperate need of a "spanish fix" but will not travel to Soho just to go there.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Friday, May 29, 2009

Food: average and clearly hyped by the media. Brindisa is ten times better. This venue is the product of a great marketing campaign.

Worst place in town for customer service. Staff treat clients with arrogance and have zero interest in serving them well. If you sit at the tables outside, you will get polluted by the cars and scooters and have a very unpleasant meal.
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joseph
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Friday, May 01, 2009

I went here last summer and enjoyed every minute. It is expensive and it does get busy but it is lovely food. I would recommend to ONLY get the daily specials. We were there early for lunch and within half an hour of being there, the place was full. So get there early! Or queue and don't whine!

We had some lovely Spanish white wine and ate bread with oil whilst we waited for our tomato salad, stuffed courgette flowers and red mullet with nuts. They were all lovely. Especially the red mullet. It all came to about £50 for 2.

Service was friendly and efficient.

We did enjoy looking at the chefs until they pulled a lobster apart whilst still alive...
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HC - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Went there as a party of 4 for lunch in early December. The male staff member (manager?) organised a corner for us at the bar, so we weren't all sitting in a row. He was charming and helpful. All the food we tried was spectacularly good, especially the spanish black pudding (morcilla?), prawns and chorizo. There appear to be specials every day - a really good variety of dishes, clearly a lot of thought goes into the menus.

The service, apart from the aformentioned chap, was a bit terse, however, and we were told in no uncertain terms that the kitchen was closing when we asked to order a couple of extras. I don't mind the kitchen closing (although it wouldn't happen in a Spanish tapas bar!) but we were made to feel a bit like naughty children for asking, which wasn't great.

It's not cheap, but for ingredients this good, in this location, I guess pricing is fair.
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RS
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I totally agree with Mark (below). This is my new favourite haunt. I was there on Monday 15th December for lunch. I even bumped into the guy from Top Gear who was upstairs for a meeting and was having a sly smoke outside.

The food here is great if a little expensive but a real experience. The tuna tartare is brilliant and I love the pimento peppers. We used to play a great game where a friend would visit their website which had a web-cam (now sadly broken) then text us with what we had to eat by reading the on-line menu. As the food is prepared in front of the diner there is a little sense of theatre. Always a full belly and a smile when I was leaving.
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Kevin McG
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Friday, December 19, 2008