As will be obvious if you’ve read my previous posts on Barrafina Adeliade Street and Barrafina Drury Lane, I love Barrafina. And now I’ve finally dined at the Dean Street restaurant in Soho, which was the only Barrafina I hadn’t been to. As a refresher, Barrafina is a Michelin starred Spanish tapas restaurant with only bar seating around an open kitchen, where the chefs and waiters jovially interact with each other and the customers.
Last Friday, Shiima and I were in Soho and spontaneously decided to go to Barrafina Dean Street simply for the courgette flower. The wait was an hour and a half! No way we were going to wait that long. But that brief moment in the restaurant absolutely whet my appetite, and I decided to go for a solo excursion soon as.
I arrived at 5:30 PM, but I still had to wait for about half of The Telegraph’s Total Football podcast for a spot. But even while waiting, the service is superb. Quite a few of the people in the queue had a lot to eat and drink while waiting. I remained patient.
Soon as I was sat, one of the extremely cheerful and helpful waiters handed me a plank with the specials. He took his time to describe in detail every special and few more dishes on the regular menu. Unlike my previous visits to Barrafina, I hadn’t decided what to order before getting to the restaurant. So I just decided on impulse.
What I ordered
I ordered Octopus with Caper and Gambas al Ajillo from seafood; Chicken Thigh with Romesco Sauce from meat; Baby Gem Salad with Anchovies and Smoked Pancetta from vegetables; and Croquetas De Sepia and Pork Belly & Mojo Rojo from specials.
Review of the food
Simply put, every dish was amazing. It always is at Barrafina. I’d write a little bit about a few dishes, but otherwise just enjoy the mouth-watering pictures.
Seafood
The octopus with capers was really lovely. Especially the capers, which I don’t think I’d ever eaten before. The octopus had a really nice kick to it as well.
Meat
The boneless chicken thighs were perfectly cooked, but the best part of the dish is the almond based rich Romesco sauce.
Vegetables
I wasn’t a fan of the baby gem salad, maybe because I’m not a fan of salad in general lol. But the anchovies were a revelation.
Specials
The croquetas de sepia – cuttlefish croquetas – are exactly the same as the cuttlefish croquetas at Drury Lane.
The Pork Belly with Mojo Rojo was delicious with a good amount of crispy skin on top of succulent pork belly. I’d have liked the Mojo Rojo to the spicier, but it was tasty and went well with the pork belly and potatoes.
More food!
I was still hungry, so before ordering dessert, I ordered the perennially delicious Courgette Flower. It didn’t disappoint, although it was a tad sweeter than others.
Dessert
After consultation with my waiter, I ordered the chocolate Tart and the crème fraiche ice cream. It was lovely, especially because the tart was warm and rich. More dark chocolate than milk chocolate, but it still had a good amount of sweetness. I honestly don’t know how crème fraiche tastes, so I couldn’t identify any particular taste in the ice cream, just iced creamy deliciousness.
Verdict
Like Drury Lane and Adelaide Street, I absolutely loved my dinner at Barrafina Dean Street. The food is incredible and the service is honestly just as incredible. It’s also moderately priced. I recommend for foodies, casual dates, and small-sized groups (3 to 4). And you have to be ready to wait, unless you arrive just after it opens – for dinner, 5PM Monday to Saturday and 5:30PM on Sunday.
Cuisine: Spanish Tapas
Dress Code: Casual
Star Dish: Octopus with Capers
Price: £20 each (excluding alcoholic drinks)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Barrafina Dean Street
http://www.barrafina.co.uk/restaurants/dean-street
Dean Street, 26-27 Dean Street, W1D 3LL
Barrafina doesn’t take reservations
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