Barrafina

Once you manage to get inside one of the most popular eateries in London. You will not be disappointed.
The food justifies the popularity, so delicious and fresh you almost feel like you are in Spain.
For me this is one of the best Spanish tapas places i have been to outside of Spain however that being said i wish they would creat more seating.

Bring comfortable shoes to wait — but it’s worth the wait! The waiting line has a bar table and hooks to put coats and purses. You can order drinks and appetizers while you wait. We waited for an hour. My recommendation is to just go ahead an order a bottle of wine because you will be at barrafina for a long time (between waiting in line and actually eating). The «line» waitress Esmeralda is delightful.
Each plate you order is better than the next. I was only disappointed in one dish.
charcuterie plate — absolutely delicious, each piece has a unique flavor
tortilla — a fun and delicious twist on tortilla espanola. They make it with cooked onions!
ham croquettes — gooey and yummy, they have real ham pieces inside to give it an extra kick
flower courgette — an absolutely must for anyone that likes goat cheese
quail — tender and delicious
tuna tartar — comes with an avocado/​lime dip that makes for a wonderful dish
patatas bravas — this is the only thing I wouldn’t order again. It’s just french fries and the sauce was sweet. I didn’t care for it.
cheese plate for dessert — mix of delightful cheeses, bread and jam to finish off a fantastic meal!
You can’t beat the service because they are standing right in front of you. It’s fun to get to know the servers and the people making the food while you eat. This place is an intimate atmosphere with fantastic food.
My recommendation is to save up for the meal so you can order whatever you want, guilt-​free without consideration for pricing. It will cost you but it’s worth it!

We had a great time. Long line but you can order drinks and apps while waiting to get a seat at the counter.

Great atmosphere. Open kitchen, busy and fun looking style.
What I had were: OX tongue, tortilla, ham croquetas, and courgette flower.
OX tongue is the most impressive dish, not a little over or under cook. Crisp on the outside and so tender inside.
Ham croquetas and tortilla are also on point.
Personally, I don’t really enjoy the courgette flower. It is a little too much sweet for me.
Overall, a great experience here. Interesting restaurant with fresh flavored food. Also, it is definitely affordable.

Here’s what I ate:
Pan con tomate — really good.
Croquetas: fairly good.
Jamon — delicious!
I’ve not been to may Spanish restaurants before but I think I’ll become a fan of this one!

Absolutely LOVE the food here. Difficult to get a seat, so arrive as early as possible!

I am originally from Panamá where some of our food is inspired by tapas of España. It was nice to experience variations considered «original.»
This has quickly become my favorite restaurant in London. They do not take reservations, but I assure you it’s worth the wait (the shortest wait I’ve endured is 10 minutes, with the longest being 1 hour). Luckily their queueing system enables you to enjoy some drinks & snacks while you wait, if you desire.
If you enjoy white wine, I recommend their Albariño. It’s so, so good.
I’ve had many different dishes here, and so far my favorites have included the cecina (wind dried beef), seared octopus (I don’t usually eat octopus but it’s SO good here), chorizo ibérico, pan con tomate, cutterfish, and the flower. Note that their «tortillas» are the fluffy, Spanish egg-​based tortillas, and not the flat Latin-​American tortillas.
BAD POINTS — I really, really did not like seeing how two of the male chefs were rude to the gentleman who came to quickly sweep their floors mid-​shift. It was weird & incredibly disrespectful to the man.
I will update my review as I revisit and enjoy more dishes I can recommend.
¡Salud!

This place is excellent! The food is delicious and I would definitely recommend this place. I got:
* Pan con tomate– like a bruschetta on toast. simple, fresh, delicious
* Pluma iberico-​roasted pork on a bed of potatoes. I know this has been reviewed well elsewhere, but for me, it was somewhat under salted. The potatoes were spot on though and they served it a little pink, which made it really tender.
* Courgette flower– this is an underappreciated dish. I watched the kitchen plate and make dishes for an hour (open kitchen concept) and I didn’t see many of these ordered but I think it is an overlooked dish because it was fantastic and actually one of my favorites. Lightly fried, stuffed with cheese, and with a slight drizzle of honey for a touch of sweetness. This was excellent.
* Tuna tartar– delicious tuna tartar, served with an avocado sauce that takes it from solid to great.
My total bill without drinks was £40, so a bit on the pricier side for 4 dishes, but it was a satisfying meal.

Great Michelin star restaurant with lots of options across the board and very friendly and knowledgeable staff.
Iberian pork Ribs were my favorite
Courgette Flower deep fried with cheese inside was great.
Lobster and prawns were amazing
Suckling pig was good but not my preference or favorite
Godeval white wine was smooth and great. I don’t like white wine but I was good with this one.

I don’t even know where to begin… I guess at the beginning… My wife and I were in the area after seeing a play and she mentioned that there was a tapas restaurant nearby that doesn’t take reservations… it also closed within the next hour, but we figured we’d give it a try. We got in the door at 10:15 and there were a few people in front of us. The place is extremely small so we had to wait for other parties to leave before we could be sat. Of course, there were people just sitting there, gazing into each other’s eyes instead of paying their bill and leaving, but humans are like that sometimes so we just gave them death stares until they finally left.
Fortunately, the wait was only about 15 mins long and we ordered a ton of food. We both had red wines, but I can’t remember the names. I believe hers was a rioja that she thoroughly enjoyed. We ordered quite quickly and the food started rolling out.
The pan con tomate was among the best I’ve ever had… even after having visited Spain in the past. The gambas al ajillo were perfectly cooked and were absolutely delicious. The chicken thighs w/​romesco sauce were well seasoned and moist. Chorizo w/​potatoes and watercress was hands down the best chorizo dish I’ve had in a long time. Tuna tartar was fresh and the avocado sauce was superb! We also had an order of the chips w/​brava sauce and my picky eater of a wife said she’d forego ketchup for the rest of her life if she could substitute it for Barrafina’s brava sauce. We were absolutely stuffed after our meal, but ended it with a nice glass of sherry and a Glenfiddich.
If you are lucky enough to get a seat here you will NOT be disappointed! The food is fabulous, the staff are considerate, kind, and welcoming, and the wines are delicious. I honestly wish I could give them more stars because the food was THAT GOOD!

It took me a while to get a table there (it was either full or closed) but if you’re persistent enough, you’ll get there: that is if you go outside lunch/​dinner hours and only have a party of 2. The seating plan is not good for more people (but you can try they other restaurant on Adelaide Street for bigger parties).
What I like about Barrafina is that is was simple, no über fancy tapas with lots of different ingredients; just nice, good quality products.
My preferred dish was the pluma iberica, a pork dish where the pork is barely cooked (they did asked if we like it pink) but it was so tender and juicy we first thought it was lamb.
I also really liked the Manzanilla, a white sherry that goes really well with the food.
The menu is simple and organized by sections (vegetarian, meat, seafood) so it’s easy to choose (the most painful thing for me is a long menu with too many choices). They also display the fish of the day on a fresh counter, I got really tempted by the red mullet.
Service was really friendly and they even offered us sherry for the desert.

London food reminds me a bit of Los Angeles. You can’t just go into any shop and get an amazing meal. Rather, you have to find them and if you find Barrafina in your searches, you need to go. This is a place I will continually go to anytime I find myself in London. In fact, I went in November of 2015 and then March of 2016.
Seating is tough here as there is only what seemed like 15 bar seats and a standing room area if you want to order some appetizers and drinks. The place gets crowded pretty quickly. Arriving at 6 – 7 PM on a Saturday yielded a 1hr+ wait. Arriving 10 minutes before opening on a Friday yielded a long line, but just enough to get a seat. So plan accordingly if you want to eat here.
The food was as follows:
Jamon and Spinach Tortilla — This is totally not what I was expecting when I hear «Tortilla.» It is more of an egg pancake with ham and spinach. Very tasty overall though!
Octopus with Capers — This is one of those dishes where all the ingredients mix so well. The capers, salt, and olive oil make a great combination. Our group ordered this twice because we liked it so much.
Chorizo (cold meats) — Tasty, but probably would not order again. It is your typical charcuterie fare.
Ham Croquetas — It is what you’d expect from a ham croquette. Delicious.
Chicken Thigh with Romesco Sauce — Another dish which has interesting textures and tastes all around. The sauce is a bit tangy and there are nuts on the thigh, so it creates this crunchy texture. This was another dish that was so good that the group got a second order.
Beetroot Salad — Not even a fan of beets, but liked this dish a lot. The sweetness of the beets was countered by the saltiness of the blue cheese. Good combo.
Milk Fed Lamb — Tasty, but would pass the next time around. Not a ton of meat on this one and quite pricey.
Some vegetable dish — Not sure if this was a special and I don’t have any names to throw out so you can order it, but they do veggies right here. You shouldn’t be displeased with any you order.
Service here is stellar. The people are extremely nice and helpful.
I’ll be back again and again… and again.

Ugh, well that was a waste of time and money. I get the sense that people feel like they HAVE to rate this place well because (a) it used to be London’s most highly-​rated restaurant, (b) all their friends have raved about it for MONTHS, © it’s in-​demand and they don’t take reservations, so they waited an hour or more for a seat, and (d) if the didn’t really like something, the foodies will judge them for the fact that they just don’t «get it».
Ok, bitterness aside (like the after-​taste of that horrific single £19 Carabinero prawn), the place frankly just wasn’t that great. All that hype, and the food was just «ok». No foodgasm, no big-​eyed «WOW» on any of the dishes I tasted, and yes, the occasional «if it takes a foodie to enjoy this food, I do NOT want to be a foodie» feeling.
Time for some redeeming qualities here. The prawn and piquillo pepper dish was decent. Again nothing crazy special, but generally good. The sauce was worthy of being sopped up with bread, and the bread itself was really nice. The Tortilla (I had the prawn & piquillo one) was really quite nice: it was the best dish that I tasted, in fact. It had a nice runny centre without sporting a dishevelled interior, and the outer coating had just the right amount of texture to please both buyer and tongue.
The counter seating is nice, though don’t expect the service to be greater for it. Yes, you can SEE the wait staff, but catching one is another story. There was just one lady who seemed at all interested in answering questions or taking orders from patrons. The other two guys running around acted like this Spanish-​cum-​British place was purely French five-​star!
You do get the feeling here that you are in for an exciting food journey, and that is worth a little, but I think it’s mostly from the other patrons expecting great things. And leaving without being fully satisfied, having paid nearly £50, this place left something serious to be desired.
With a touch of hunger still nagging my belly in the end, and without much cash left to fill it, I finished off this journey into gastroland with a quick visit to Wasabi — 4 pieces of spicy salmon for £3.60, and the reason why, in my book, there is no reason to rank Barrafina any higher than you would rank Wasabi.

delicious tapas good service
my fav tapas place in soho
its first come first serve so usually you find yourself waiting in the queue its worth it tho
5 stars for the food its just delicious ;)

Where do I even begin? I’ve never had tapas this good outside of Spain itself, and coming from NYC (one of the culinary capitals of the world) that is saying something. My friend who had previously been in London a few months ago insisted we visit this restaurant and now I know why.
After one failed attempt (we came at 3 and that’s when they close), we tried again on Sunday afternoon at around 2PM. This place is pretty small — there are only 20 or so seats around the bar, so they have a queuing system in place where you literally queue until you get to the front and can sit down. No reservations and you can’t put your names down and come back later. They make you work for your food here. No big though since we were determined plus it moved fairly quickly and we were seated within 30 minutes.
We ordered the following (our eyes were probably bigger than our stomachs):
— pan con tomate (simple but SO SO good)
— cold meat platter (who doesnt like cured meats)
— classic tortilla (this is prob the only thing I was lukewarm on)
— tuna tartar (delicious, and had a great avo sauce to go with it)
— octopus with capers (super tender)
— grilled quail (very well seasoned)
— scallop (this was on the specials board which you need to specifically ask for)
— sea bass (also a specials board)
— baby gem salad (you need some veggies right??)
— chocolate tart (self explanatory)
— santiago tart (I would skip this, it’s a kind of fruit tart)
Anyways, I was bursting after this and realized the jeans I had just bought at Topshop were probably going to go to waste because they would no longer fit but it was SO worth it. I will absolutely come back when I’m next in town.

The place is renown for its queues, as it doesn’t accept reservations. In anticipation I aimed to arrive just before they opened at 11:45 and found that there was already a queue. The restaurant is small and seating is around a central bar. I would estimate only 20 seats in total. Luckily I was early enough to get into the first wave of diners.
Unfortunately the restaurant had suffered a power cut earlier on in the morning and were behind in the kitchen prep. Because of this they refused to open the doors until the were ready and kept us waiting a further 20 minutes. Not sure that was the right call, as we could’ve all been in at the bar sitting down having a drink rather than standing outside.
However, the food is something special. Two dishes stood out. One being a special of the day; razor clams with a light zesty dressing and the Iberica black pudding quail eggs. This places does specialise in seafood dishes, so make sure you get something on their daily special board.
Overall, great food, friendly service, buy maybe a touch too expensive for what it is. Especially as it all adds up very quickly. (Visit — 31/​07/​2015)

Clams.
Clams, clams, clams!
I love the clams here and come here all the time just for the clams. My god, the clams.
The rest of the food is nice too, don’t get me wrong. This is a place with life. You can come for nice Spanish food and drink cava and have a good night. Yes, there can be a crazy queue and yes it can be a little crazy inside, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come and have a great time. It’s a simple menu but a tasty one.
Book ahead, you’ll need it. The queue is out the door.
And get the damn clams!

We arrived at 2.50pm and as the kitchen was to close in 10 minutes we were politely told to be quick about ordering. There was a great selection of tapas style dishes to choose from, making this a tricky decision.
We went for…
Manzilla olives, which were elevated to a whole new level by being marinated in lemon. They were some of the best I have ever tasted.
Chips with cracked salt and a side of aioli which were good to nibble on but I wouldn’t necessarily order again, especially considering there are so many other great things on the menu.
The rabbit shoulder was also a good choice, it was coated in crispy breadcrumbs and fried. The meat on the inside was tender and the outside was crispy, well seasoned and delicious.
Now for the finale, the chorizo on a bed of new potatoes. This was all kinds of awesome. The meat was fresh and unprocessed. The potatoes balanced the dish, so the chorizo didn’t ever feel overly empowering. I would order this 10 times over and I am not usually a chorizo type of person. To be honest I felt a little resentful that I had to share this dish.
The overall experience was a good one. The food is simple yet cooked to a high standard. All the customers are sat at the bar and can see their food being cooked in front of them. Our waiter was lovely. He made just the right amount of conversation and was attentive to when we wanted to order more drinks. The place was lively and had a great feel to it.
I think we never appreciated how lucky we were to not have to wait for seats, iv heard people have queued for up to 1.5 hour! It’s well worth it though.

Barafina is a love-​hate relationship. The food is absolutely fantastic and they adopt their menu to seasonal foods. From a food perspective, there is really nothing to not LOVE about their food. Everything is delicious, and my Wow moment is definitely the carabinero shrimp (even at 15 pounds /​pop).
The only issue is the wait, and their lack of capacity.
1. The wait is really long. I’ve been to Barafina 4 times — only 1 time had no wait, but otherwise anywhere between 1– 2 hours…
2. You can only go if you have less than 4 people. They will accommodate up to 4, but will not allow any larger groups (even if seats are available).
So the final question is — is it worth it?
I think the answer is yes. I always go there to check out if there is a «reasonable» wait. If not, i’ll go to one of the «also very good spots» next door. Frith Street has so many choices, so there is never a disappointment heading that way.

Let’s disclose this up front: This looks like a very popular restaurant and you should expect to wait for a seat. This was highlighted for us going there on a Friday night. We were there from 6:30pm and waited an hour for seats at the bar. But, it was really no problem. We could still order drinks and even some items from the menu, to help pass the time while standing in line.
We ordered the Pimientos de Padron — charred green chillis with salt flakes — we had this one while we were waiting for our seats. The salt made it, in my opinion. A nice snack to have with a beer.
I love the format. You sit up at the bar which runs the length of the restaurant and all the activity is happening in front of you. There are no tables taking up space. You order dishes and share them with your dining companions. Don’t worry if you have underestimated: you can always order extra dishes.
One of the servers runs through the specials with you, explaining what they all are. We got two of these: Carabinero — a huge dark red prawn, which my wife had for herself. They say the head is the tastiest part. I snapped up the suckling pig, as soon as I learnt it was the last one. This was good, but I think I am more of a fan of pork cooked other ways. It was quite a lot of pork for one person, in the context of everything else we had ordered, but I managed it.
We had a couple of dishes from the permanent menu. The octopus with capers is one of the more popular dishes in the restaurant: I remember seeing it everywhere. Good taste and I loved the freshness of the octopus. The classic tortilla is like a rosti. The egg was a bit runny when it came out, which I think is how it is supposed to be, but we needed it to be more cooked. They had no issue with doing this for us. This was filling and a good comfort food.
We rounded off the meal with two desserts: the crema catalana — like a crème caramel but a cinnamon flavour, and the santiago tart, almond flavour with marmalade. These were fine but the savoury dishes which preceded them were better.

Nadie daría un duro por la posibilidad de tener una comida española de relativa calidad en Londres, aquí os dejo este comentario para demostrar que estábamos la mayoría equivocados.
Este pequeño local se encuentra en el corazón de Soho, barrio que siempre está de moda precisamente por permanecer impasible a las modas…
El sitio es pequeñito, haciendo honor a su nombre puedes sentarte en su barra y dejarte llevar por el menú que te propongan.
La comida no es abundante pero la calidad es bastante decente, teniendo en cuenta que los españoles somos más exigentes que nadie en cuanto sacamos el pie de nuestra querida patria.
Los camareros son simpáticos y TIENEN CRUZCAMPO Y ALHAMBRA, para los cerveceros melancólicos motivo de sobra para peregrinar hasta este restaurante.
No es barato, no lo es. No esperéis la mejor comida española de vuestra vida, tampoco lo será…pero si lo que tenéis es morriña y os apetece desquitaros esta es una solución muy muy válida.
Como podréis imaginar es el sitio perfecto para ir con gente no española, ellos sí sabrán apreciar lo diferente del Menú y quedaran encantados con vuestras sabias explicaciones.
Besos y abrazos

Excelente lugar la cocina es exquisita

Encore des tapaaaas !!
Hier soir, les avis précédents nous on mis en appétit quand mon ami et moi y avons jeté un oeil, avant d’aller du côté de Soho manger les fameuses tapas du Barrafina. C’est un ami tout droit rentré de New York qui nous a proposé de tester ce bar à tapas espagnol, conquit par celles de la Boqueria à Manhattan.
Quelle bonne idée ! Nous nous sommes vraiment régalé ! Jamais je n’avais mangé de tapas aussi élaborées et savoureuses. On a commencé par la fameuse Ham Croquetas, si fondante à l’intérieur et croquante à l’extérieur, accompagnée par un verre de vin, en attendant de pouvoir prendre place au bar, installé devant la cuisine. Nous avons tout de même dût attendre une bonne heure avant de pouvoir nous assoir… et la file d’attente n’a jamais désemplit, au contraire…
Une fois assit sur l’un des 20 – 25 tabourets (oui, oui, il n’y a vraiment pas beaucoup de places, d’où l’attente), nous avons pu apprécier le «show». Presque toutes les tapas sont cuisinées devant les clients; celles qui passent à la friteuse, celles qui sont sautées à la plancha etc. Alors on a envie de tout commander, de tout goûter… D’autant plus que certains ingrédients ultra-​frais sont sur les plans de travail, comme les magnifiques fruits de mer, à la vue de tous dans leur bol de glacé.
Tous les plats que nous avons commandé m’ont enchantée. J’ai adoré la pencas et l’octopus with capers. La première est une espèce de croquette fourrée à la mozarella et au jambon, le deuxième des morceaux de poulpes qui avaient un petit goût de fumé succulent… Les tortillas sont également à tomber par terre. De plus, le staff est vraiment agréable, souriant, et sont heureux d’expliquer plus en détail un plat, un ingrédient, un type de cuisson…
Une très belle et bonne expérience donc, il né faut juste pas être pressé, ou de nature impatiente. Je n’ai pas mis ⁵⁄₅ car je trouve ça un peu dommage de devoir attendre si longtemps mais si la cuisine est vraiment extra.

Es gibt zwei Dinge die man wissen sollte, bevor man sich entscheidet, das Barrafina zu besuchen. Das erste wäre, dass das Barrafina keine Reservierungen annimmt sondern seine Plätze nach einem egalitären First come, first serve Prinzip vergibt. Der Nachteil daran ist, dass man im schlimmsten Fall auch mal 1,5 Stunden auf einen Platz warten muss, der Vorteil allerdings, dass man auch bei einem Spontanbesuch einen Platz bekommt und der Laden durch eine Reservierungsmöglichkeit wahrscheinlich auf Wochen ausgebucht wäre. Während der Wartezeit wird man sehr nett mit diversen Getränken, u.A. exzellenten Weinen, sowie einer reduzierten Tapas-​Auswahl versorgt, so dass die Wartezeit in angenehmer Begleitung schnell verstreicht. Außerdem hat man so die Möglichkeit, die wechselnde Tageskarte schon mal in ausgearbeiteter Form (sprich: auf dem Teller) zu begutachten. Das zweite, was man wissen sollte, was so aber wohl fast überall in London gilt: Hochwertiges Essen von überdurchschnittlicher Qualität hat seinen Preis. Wen diese beiden Punkte nicht stören, der wird im Barrafina mit erlesenen Köstlichkeiten aus der spanischen sowie internationalen Küche überwältigt werden und einen sehr reizvollen Abend in einem lebendigen, aber trotzdem nicht anstrengenden Umfeld erleben. Klare Sache, von mir gibt es für diese tolle Tapas-​Bar 5 Sterne und eine defintive Empfehlung für London-​Reisende!

Barrafina ist immer voll und das zu Recht. Besonders lecker finde ich ihre Tapas mit Meeresfürchte (Marinierte & gegrillte Tiger Prawns sind exzellent). Die meisten Kellner sind sehr freundlich und baraten die Kunden sehr nett, die sich über spanische Küche nicht gut auskennen. Sie haben auch sehr interssante Weinliste. Im Laden ist es sehr lebendig und hektisch aber die Lokale strahlt auf keinen Fall schnell essen und schnell gehen Atmosphäre aus.
Etwas heikel ist die Wein-​Auswahl. Wenn Du pünktlich um 12 Uhr zu Lunch da bist (Das ist kluger, weil Barrafina keine Reservierung annimmt und GANZ schnell voll wird) und ein Glas Wein bestellst, erwischst Du wahrscheinlich Wein aus der offenen Flasche von gestern aber manche Weißweine schmecken natürlich viel besser wenn die Flasche frisch geöffnet wurde