Address: 54 Frith Street, London W1D 4SL
Website: Visit restaurant website
Telephone: +44 20 7813 8016
Slick Spanish tapas bar in Soho. Thanks to its no-bookings policy, there’s often a queue for seats.
This restaurant has been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand
Latest reviews of Barrafina
Hugh Wright, TwelvePointFivePercent
18 January 2013
Dishes are served in a perfectly-judged order decided by the kitchen. (We) kicked off with springy little clams bathed in butter, lemon juice and parsley, a liquor we greedily mopped up with excellent bread, and pillowy salt cod fritters with properly punchy al-i-oli. Next came a whole mackerel, simply grilled a la plancha, the skin moreishly crisp…
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Time Out Editors, Time Out
18 October 2012
Ham croquetas were superbly creamy, while morcilla with fried quail’s eggs and roasted piquillo peppers was sumptuously suave. The pleasure continued with tortilla stuffed with deliciously meaty prawns and peppers…
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Rich Major, The Grumbling Gourmet
22 September 2012
Listen to the specials as they reel them off the tiny chalk board. Most are fish, different depending on the day. We started with lightly yielding razor clams doused in garlic and parsley off the board, fresh from the ice, to the grill to the plate in front of us, still alive as they hit the searing heat…
Read full review »
Cara Waters, Gourmet Chick
18 August 2009
My love affair with Barrafina continues. The tapas here are as good as you can get in London and the extensive list of specials means that there are always new dishes to try along with the old favourites…
Read full review »What the Critics say
Time Out Editors, Time Out
18 October 2012
Ham croquetas were superbly creamy, while morcilla with fried quail’s eggs and roasted piquillo peppers was sumptuously suave. The pleasure continued with tortilla stuffed with deliciously meaty prawns and peppers…
Read full review »
Mark Bolland, Evening Standard
4 February 2008
Perhaps this is a perfect place to bring someone you’re not sure about. There would be no awkward silences (it’s too loud), and you could order a couple of small dishes and then go if the chemistry wasn’t right. It would also be the ideal place to come on your own to be fed and entertained…
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Giles Coren, The Times
23 June 2007
It serves unquestionably the best tapas in London, and as such is quite indispensable. So it is like a bus. If you want to get where it’s going during the rush hour, then you’ll have to queue. Alternatively, you show up off peak and probably get a seat…
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Terry Durack, The Independent
11 February 2007
All stainless steel, marble and mirrors, it is a stage set full of life and movement. In front of me, a fast-moving waiter called Fabien pours cava and darts back and forth, as white-hatted chef Nieves Barragan flits about, turning prawns and sardines on the plancha…
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Tessa Boase, The Telegraph
27 January 2007
Of course the true test is tortilla and it is frankly astonishing to witness one cooked from scratch in a little pan instead of a leathery slice of something kept in the fridge. Like a molten chocolate pudding, the Barrafina tortilla is defiantly liquid at its core…
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Richard & Peter, Harden's
24 January 2007
Smart West End places where it’s “all about the food” are all too rare. So it’s hard not to warm to this Barcelona-inspired newcomer…
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Fay Maschler, Evening Standard
17 January 2007
There is a tapas bar in Barcelona called Cal Pep which everyone but me seems to have been to and loved. Cal Pep was apparently the inspiration for…
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What the Bloggers say
Hugh Wright, TwelvePointFivePercent
18 January 2013
Dishes are served in a perfectly-judged order decided by the kitchen. (We) kicked off with springy little clams bathed in butter, lemon juice and parsley, a liquor we greedily mopped up with excellent bread, and pillowy salt cod fritters with properly punchy al-i-oli. Next came a whole mackerel, simply grilled a la plancha, the skin moreishly crisp…
Read full review »
Rich Major, The Grumbling Gourmet
22 September 2012
Listen to the specials as they reel them off the tiny chalk board. Most are fish, different depending on the day. We started with lightly yielding razor clams doused in garlic and parsley off the board, fresh from the ice, to the grill to the plate in front of us, still alive as they hit the searing heat…
Read full review »
Cara Waters, Gourmet Chick
18 August 2009
My love affair with Barrafina continues. The tapas here are as good as you can get in London and the extensive list of specials means that there are always new dishes to try along with the old favourites…
Read full review »
Chris Pople, Cheese and Biscuits
14 September 2007
Next, a couple of roast quail were tasty and succulent but with quite a layer of fat and again overseasoned. The accompanying aioli was delicious however, and we kept it back to dip our pimientos in…
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Andy Hayler, andyhayler.com
15 June 2007
Best was a single scallop, sweet and very nicely timed, served with a few salad leaves with balsamic dressing. Also excellent was a prawn and pepper tortilla (omelette) which had terrific texture…
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