Finding an Oyster in Leicester Square

I met this lawyer, we went out to dinner, I had the lobster bisque, we went back to my place, yada yada yada, I never heard from him again 

Elaine Benes (Seinfeld episode “The Yada Yada”) 

When I talk about an Oyster is not about the tube but the J Sheekey Oyster Bar. Sophisticated seafood and oyster bar in opened in 2008 in Leicester Square. Upscale, modern, Jazz atmosphere, and good service. 

The bar

We got some fresh selection of oysters including fines de Claire, tempura, and Jersey rock. All really fresh and nice, but the tempura is the way to go, it was incredible. 

Tempura Oysters

Later we got a sweet corn soup with a lobster roll and also the crab bisque. I would avoid the sweet corn soup, it was nice but the roll was disrespectful, almost no lobster in it, and the size of an amuse bouche. On the other side, the crab bisque was really intense and nice with deep flavours. 

Bass Ceviche

Keeping up we got a superb bass ceviche, nice spicy punch from the jalapeño really lovely creamy touch of the avocado, and nice crispy plantain crisps. Finally the sautéed octopus, it was the best of the night, fresh, great flavours, and a twist of paprika. 

Tapas portions, overall nice and fresh seafood well executed. During July they will be celebrating the lobster festival with some additional lobster based dishes on the menu.

J Sheekey

T: 020 7240 2565

Seafood

Approx Damage: £45pp

Area: Leicester Square

Borough: City of Westminster

Twitter: CapriceHoldings

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Tapas Time in Marble Arch

Don't you see what Whatley is after? Total joke telling immunity. He's already got the two big religions covered, if he ever gets Polish citizenship there'll be no stopping him

Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld episode “The Yada Yada”)

Donostia is a Basque cuisine restaurant situated in Seymour St. The place was opened by Nemanja Borjanovic and Melody Adams, and the kitchen is under control of Head Chef Damian Suroweic (Salt Yard, Barrafina, and Fino). A quiet small venue with a long eating bar and some tables beside.

The place

Tapas and Pintxos menu so we got some bits and pieces. The croquetas de jamon were amazing, perfect execution, crispy coating, soft and tasty filling. Chorizo with piquillo pepper a classic combination. The Wagyu Burger was nice, the meat was juicy and great flavour, nice caramelised onions, just missing a sauce to blend and elevate the dish. The jamon de bellota was superb, great quality as good as in Spain. One of the best I have tried in London

Croquetas

Cured ham time

Nice food, good service, a bit pricy for the size of the tapas, but overall a nice option in Marylebone

Donostia

T: 020 3620 1845

Basque Cuisine

Approx Damage: £34pp

Area: Marylebone

Borough: City of Westminster

Twitter: DonostiaW1

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Spanish Paella at Parsons

Ok, fine. It's going to be very interesting, very interesting if they don't show up tonight. You know my mother made all this Paella

George Costanza (Seinfeld episode “The Raincoats”)

The other day I went out with a friend an he recommended one local restaurant between Putney and Parsons Green. Tendido Cuatro a Spanish place from Cambio de Tercio group. The place specializes in Paellas and Tapas, the gourmet paellas are made with bomba rice imported from Calasparra from the region of Murcia.

Paella Time

We got a tortilla, the spicy chorizo, and a chorizo and quail paella. The spice chorizo was simple but tasty, the tortilla was sadly bit bland, but the paella was really nice, good seasoning, nice size, and good traditional flavours.

I try to avoid Spanish restaurants in London to be honest, but Tendido Cuatro serves nice traditional flavours, the tortilla was a miss but the paella was definitely a hit, wouldn’t mind to come back and try another of their paellas.

Tendido Cuatro

T: 020 7371 5147

Spanish Restaurant

Approx Damage: £33pp

Area: Parsons Green

Borough: Hammersmith & Fullham

Twitter: CambiodTercio

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Burger Wars Episode LXXIX: Another Salt Yard Tapas Place [BurgeReview]

It didn't do me any good either! That benefit was the worst show I ever did. Some of those heckles were really uncalled for, Avast ye matey! What the hell does that mean? 20 degrees off the starboard side the Spanish Galleon! There's no comeback for that!

Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld episode “The Puffy Shirt”)

Ember Yard is the new restaurant from Salt Yard Group. Another tapas place based on charcoal cooking, two levels, and open kitchen on the ground floor, tapas, charcuterie, a set menu, and cocktails. We got a couple tapas and their slider, I will have to recommend the smoked chorizo skewers with saffron aioli, it was spectacular, and also the courgette flower stuffed with goat’s cheese was amazing.

The place

The slider a smoked Basque beef patty with Idiazabal and chorizo ketchup.

Slider Time

The verdict, nice slider, good flavour, the chorizo sauce is excellent

The damage, 6.25 quid for the slider

The conclusion, good flavours, nice location, and good menu. The slider is nice, the chorizo sauce is key, it was great they didn’t copy the Opera Tavern one, however the later is a bit better. I will give a 7 to the Ember Yard slider. Don't leave without trying the Bloody Gazpacho.

Ember Yard

T: 020 7439 8057

Spanish Cuisine

Approx Damage: £38pp

Area: Soho

Borough: City of Westminster

Twitter: EmberYard

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A Casa Named Brindisa in South Ken

I've given up. So, now we're going to a 
bunch of Spanish restaurants. I figure that'll cover us either way 

Elaine Benes (Seinfeld episode “The Wizard”) 

We had some nice sunny Sundays in London over the previous month. So in one of them we decided to go for al fresco tapas in South Kensington. The place in question Casa Brindisa. Really busy on Sunday afternoon, but worth the wait as the outside tables in the pedestrianised Exhibition Rd are the perfect spot to enjoy some sunshine, a nice cold beer, and good Spanish food. 

Cutlery

The lamps at the bar

Tinto de Verano time

We had to wait for our table at the bar for let’s say two beers. While waiting I saw some patatas that were for a table outside stay on the counter at least 30min before reaching the punters, alarm bells as the place was quite busy and the service could be compromised, but in our case the service was spot on and the food and drinks were prompt. 

Enjoying the sun in an orange atmosphere

We started with the watermelon gazpacho with crispy ham, it was huge I was expecting a small cup but not! We got a huge bowl. Quite good, fresh, different, nice the contrast sweetness of the watermelon with the saltiness of the crispy ham. 

Gazpacho

Then we got the Iberico selection. You can’t go tapas without having Iberico. The selection included cebo, ham, salchichon, loin, and chorizo. All nice but the chorizo was the star. 

Iberico time

Moving on, some patatas bravas were necessary, we asked for the two sauces (brava sauce and aioli). The chips were perfectly cooked, both sauces quite nice and even better mixing both. 

Patatas Bravas

Next some croquetas de charcuteria. Really great, full of flavour, perfectly execution, crispy outside and soft inside 

Croquetas

We weren’t full yet so we got the Butifarra con mongetes, not as good as I was expected, definitely the weakest dish of the afternoon. 

Butifarra

Finally, Padron peppers, classic approach, simple, really nice, great flavours. 

Padron peppers

Good food, perfect spot. Do not miss if you’re in South Kensington with a Spanish Cuisine withdrawal.

Casa Brindisa

T: 020 7590 0008

Spanish Cuisine

Approx Damage: £38pp

Area: South Kensington

Borough: Kensington & Chelsea

Twitter: Brindisa

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Here we go again Madrid - Episode VI: De Vinos y Tapas

It has been a while since my last visit to Madrid. So thanks to my company I could return on a business trip and I have the chance to go to a wine and tapas guided tour by Gourmet Madrid. One of the best tours I have had where a native Madrileño shows you the best places to have the typical Spanish treats and a bit of history behind these places. 

Madrid city centre

Our first stop was for jamon y queso. Jamon Iberico de Bellota yes! The place Casa Gonzales, vinos, quesos y fiambres. The place is open since 1936 and specialise in wine, ham and cheese. The history behind the place is that they didn’t have alcohol license so they were a speakeasy until they finally got their license. The highlight was a wine from Murcia (Do Yecla) Hecula really nice. The Iberico was spot on as usual, and the cheese Afuega’l Pitu from Asturia took my attention. 

Gonzalez Vamos!

Quesos

Iberico

Hercula

Casa Gonzalez

T: +34 914 29 56 18

Spanish Cuisine

Madrid

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Second stop was El Lacon. The place is as old as 1911. Amazing décor with paintings on tiles by Manolo Jean around 1960s. The tapas to order are baby squid and beans, don’t get me wrong but Spaniards have a way to slaughter the innocents such as suckling pigs, baby squids, etc. The squid was excellent, crispy and extremely nice. Also don’t leave without trying shark, it’s marinated in lime, cumin, and then battered, really good and it didn’t taste fishy! With all this great food we got a great wine Mestizaje a blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Shiraz. 

El Lacon

The place

Shark

Squid and beans

The group

Meson El Lacon

T: +34 914 29 60 42

Spanish Cuisine

Madrid

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Third stop La Trucha, the specialty here is the tortilla that it’s made to order and to die for, I will fight anyone trying to take the last bite of that amazing tortilla. According to our guide tempura comes from Spanish monks that went to Japan and fried seasonal (Temporada) vegetables, and the word temporada evolved to tempura in Japan. Also on top of the tortilla you have to try the eggplant tempura with honey it's just amazing. The wine we tried was a Tempranillo Condado de Oriza, I will apologise but at this time the alcohol levels were too high, anyway the wine was excellent as the previous ones. A final note here, the staff was extremely helpful and friendly, imagine a group of 12 noisy and almost drunk English speakers is not an easy mob. 

La Trucha

Tempranillo

Eggplant

La Trucha
T: +34 914 29 58 33
Andalusian Restaurant / Spanish Cuisine
Madrid

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Final stop was in Los Galayos. The place is in a corner of Plaza Mayor. A bar similar to a pub as soon as you get crowded with locals watching the champions league. We went downstairs towards a wine cellar to come back up to a more quiet dining room and bar. The place opened in 1894 and was frequented by writers, poets, and apparently even The Beatles. The tapa here was a tuna and spinach gratin quite nice. Wine wise we got a grape from Madrid (DO) Malvar. We ended the night having shots of Patxaran an anise and endrinas (red berries) drink. 

Shots time

Cellar

Tuna

Los Galayos
T: +34 913 65 62 22
Spanish Cuisine
Madrid
Twitter: losgalayos

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Great night of tapas. Just remember avoid places with pictures on the menu, and also if they have the word tapas in the name, those are not good signs. I’m sure you wouldn’t go in Istanbul to a place called King of Kebab. 

All these Spanish adventure reminds me the Seinfeld episode “The Puffy Shirt” 

Kramer: Well, I was excited because Jerry was putting on the puffy shirt

George: My whole life is ruined because of the puffy shirt

Jerry: It didn't do me any good either! That benefit was the worst show I ever did. Some of those heckles were really uncalled for Avast ye matey! What the hell does that mean? 20 degrees off the starboard side the Spanish Galleon! There's no comeback for that