Salt Yard

Food was good ..However little effort was made to ensure we had a great time.. quite annoying when you order a bottle of wine and are told by the waitress to wait to be moved to the bar by her and then rudely told by an arrogant Manager to move to the side because the bar is full and the table is booked later. Bad organisation and arrogance always leaves a bad taste in your mouth.. makes you want to forget the whole experience.
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john lewis
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Monday, September 13, 2010

Came on a weekday evening and sat at the bar. Place was packed and buzzing with conversation. Was served by friendly waitress. Enjoyed an excellent glass of Italian wine that was on the specials board. The food was really delicious. I ordered the courgette flowers, grilled chorizo and a wonderful mackerel tartare which was surprisingly good and the equal of dishes in far fancier eateries.

Good place for a casual bite although it's very cramped and noisy.
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- View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Sunday, July 25, 2010

I used to eat at Salt Yard - or The Yard as I like to call it - all the time, but hadn't had the chance to go in a while. So it was very nice to return last week and find things just as good as I remembered them. And that is very very good indeed. It's just a brilliant spot all round. Seriously good food (I'm obsessed with the croquetas), great wine and a lovely unpretentious feel which is buzzy at the same time. Can't recommend it highly enough.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, June 01, 2010

I had a wonderful time at Salt Yard last week, having heard great things about it but never having gone before. My friends have all raved about it being their favourite tapas restaurant in London, so I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype.

It totally lived up to it, and exceeded my expectations in the food stakes. The stuffed courgette flowers were simply outstanding, as were the morthia (sp?) croquettes which were unusual and superbly tasty.

The atmosphere was buzzy and the service was really efficient and friendly, and the waitress gave great advice on the wine (which sadly i can't remeber to recommned but it was the perfect compliment to the food on a hot day).

All in all a superb meal and can't wait to go back - am already planning to return next week. Thoroughly recommend it - amazing food, great service and wonderful atmos.
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Ben
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Sorely disappointed with this restaurant.

First off - venue.... dingy basement decked out noodle-bar style.

Next up: charcuterie... 12 desultory slices of very average indeterminate "Spanish" pork (supermarket quality at best, and not Waitrose at that...!). £8.75

Pate or Rillete the menu said. Rillette we chose, very poor pate brought in its place with "crostini" - in this case a few slices of cold baguette crisped up a bit. £4ish...So for nigh on £13 we had a small amount of very low quality meat and some rather flavourless pate. The waitress seemed not to know what was in it but suggested it may well be chicken. I'll take her word for it. That, incidentally, is £3 more than the incomparably fantastic charcuterie in The Bull and Last - comprising such treats as duck prosciutto, rillettes, breaded pigs head, remoulade, terrine and sundry other treats - all of a much, much higher quality than the rubbish served up here.

Asking for some bread we were brought four slices of thick, doughy lightly toasted slodge accompanied by some poor quality olive oil. Again, I can buy better in Tesco.

Four mini "jamon" croquettes were okay, just about, but cost £5 ish.

Things then improved with the one decent quality dish of the night - courgette flowers stuffed with goats cheese and covered in a light batter. Very, very good indeed - but at £7 for two stalks of veg, so they should be.

Pork belly was average, white beans accompaniment bland. Cooked chorizo was tasty but tiny and vastly overpriced.

Service was lacksadaisical and from the "couldnt care less" school of waiting. Two glasses of wine ordered mid-meal arrived after we had finished.

At this point, 40 minutes after sitting down, it seemed wise to cut my losses and get the bill, which i did. For two glasses of average wine (well priced at £3.75 tho) and the above it came £53 and I left absolutely ravenous. It cannot be stressed how small the portions are - I know they are "tapas", but at approx £7 a dish I would expect rather more!

I would anticipate that the final spend here for two with a couple of glasses of decent wine would be approx £120 and that is simply way too much for the venue, the service and the below average quality of the food. In fact, £120 is what I recently paid for dinner at St John in Farringdon - an altogether different proposition and a very fine restaurant indeed!

It is also FIVE times more expensive than a recent lunch I had in a farm cafe where the pork really is of good quality and sourced from friendly farms - a claim made by The Salt Yard, but not one in evidence here given the poor quality of the raw ingredients. There is no mention made anywhere on the menu of where their meat comes from, other than a vague claim it is from "small farms in Wales and the home counties". Some of the meat in Tesco is from small farms in these places too - not that I'm suggesting their meat is from a supermarket - just that their very vague claims for provenance mean absolutely nothing unless backed up with specifics and, more importantly, good quality meat.

I left so hungry that I had a bowl of muesli when I got home and that, I'm afraid, says it all.

AVOID!!!!
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Matteo
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, May 13, 2010

Loved Dehesa so decided to try its sister restaurant recently. Couldn't fault anything - from the food to the extremely helpful staff, it was wonderful. That said, it's not the sort of place I'd do go for a full-on 'fancy' dinner, but it's perfect for relaxed mid-week tapas and drinks.

Charcuterie arrived first - really good manchego with quince, some good ham, toasted bread with deliciously garlicky aioli. Then the fried stuff, which can often go wrong but not here. Salt cod fritters, tasty patata bravas and jamon croquetas - crispy on the outside and wickedly creamy within. Wine was great, though I forget what we chose, and my Cava cocktail was lovely.

It's probably a little dark and noisy for some people, but I'll definitely be back on one of those evenings where you just want small plates done well.
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-K- - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, November 16, 2009

Went on Saturday eve - could only get a seat for the early service. Food was good but not mind-blowing. The courgette flowers were superb. Don't think I'll visit again but it's an ok option.

Ordered bread got toast! Found that a bit odd.
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Drew
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Sunday, November 01, 2009

Went last night - food was amazing, service perfect. Stuffed courgette flowers especially good.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, October 15, 2009

We visited Salt Yard on a Saturday evening and left raving about it. The service was fantastic, the atmosphere lively yet relaxing and the food really was wonderful. Of particular note were the tuna carpaccio and baby broad beans and the wood pigeon with morcilla. The prices were also reasonable given the quality of the food and the level of service. I would most definately recommend a visit, particularly if you feel a bit jaded with the inauthentic and unoriginal tapas provided in many London's other tapas restaurants.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, September 06, 2009

Excellent tapas and a great atmosphere upstairs.
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londongal - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, July 21, 2009