Boqueria — Restaurant in London

Very disappointing from the beginning to the end. We arrived very early for our booking and we were kindly offered to wait at the counter. Unfortunately, it took a while for us to get noticed and get served the first 2 sangria (just made with wine, lemonade and a slice of orange: is that real sangria???) Then we got to our table, nice one in a nice corner, even though the main room is quite packed, but the feeling is nice and warm. Our waitress arrived quite quickly and she took the food order so fast that she didnt even realized we wanted some drinks too and i had to ask for it, ir better, to see the drink menu at least. I had tuna tartare and my wife had artichokes. Both the starters were absolutely amazing, outstanding as i never ate such a good tartare and what a nice artichokes! Unfortubately though, the starters didnt arrive at the same time so that we had to eat in different moments, which is not nice at all!! On top of it, our dri ks didn't arrive until we were half way through our starters and after asking for them. No one asked for water, i had to ask them to bring some. We order paella as our main as the reviews were super good. Well, so didappointing!! The fish/seafood on top was incredibly nice, but the paella itself was very salty. We are very salty people, so if we say that it was salty... well it must be not edible for others i guess! I pointed it out to a waitress and i let her take the paella to kitchen to the chef to taste it, but they said that it was normally done and probably also with not enough salt! Incredible! They anyway offered to prepare another one, but shall i wait another at least 30 minutes?? So we ate it as it was 30 pounds and we drank some beer to bear with the salt. So unpleasant! Last but not least, we asked for the bill. Obviously the waitress forgot and i had to reminder her again after more than 10 minutes that i was waiting for it and she was doing nothing apart from standing! I asked for a manager and i explained everything i just wrote here. The answer was: thanks for your feedback, can we offer a digestive next time you come back? So now, after your service was incredibly poor and the main course was really bad, do you really think ill come back for a free digestive?? I told her ''no thanks, but we wont come back'' We were at least expecting some sort of discount after a disaster like that, but nothing. I just paid the whole bill and went away, even if i could have said something more about paying the service and the bad food. I just prefered to go away.

Management team, you really need to focus on your customer service. You were able to ruin a very important night for us, thanks a lot for this. For sure i will NOT recommend your...

I arrived early on a Saturday and had the chance to have the place to myself for a little while. Around 14.00 it suddenly filled up, a mix of English and Spanish, a sparkling atmosphere. At the entrance, the bar also offers a large wooden counter. At the back is a wider space with smaller tables which are shifted together as people together or friends spontaneously join in - yes, it is that kind of place, lively and vibrant. The menus are printed on paper sets and left on the table: it is always so nice to leaf again through it, return to the description of your dish (or like me simply dream about dessert!). Try the olives too - marinated in gorgeous, silky, fruity oil and thyme, so very fragrant. The main dish follows the same spirit – quality products, delicacy, mmmh-effect as soon as the fork touches the tastebuds but modern twist, worthy of the top-end restaurants. For this interpretation, the suckling pig has kept all its tenderness, a touch of parsnip, crunchy on top. Under is a bed of homemade sweet potato crisps and on the side is the tangiest, zestiest lemon sorbet you have ever tasted with sweet apple sauce around. Divine. The menu also offers a great selection for vegetarians: aubergine canneloni with goat cheese and mushrooms… sautéed artichokes with garlic, parsley and chili… Creamed spinach with melted cheese, raisins and pine nuts… Yes, I know, my mouth is watering too. On the dessert side, Santiago almond tart, caramelised creamy custard, three chocolate tart, lemon sorbet with cava… But a look at the cheesecake and you just cannot resist it. A wonderful creaminess, yet not too heavy, a thin layer of biscuit and the fresh fruit coulis is to die for. Verdict? Ideal to wow a date! And without breaking the bank - the starter was £4.90, the main £8.50, dessert £3.50 and portions are rich in taste and perfectly thought. You will not be able to eat more than. No, you just will have to come back...

Look at the size of that Paella! This was meant to be a portion for 3 people but I reckon those enormous Langoustines could satisfy all of Brixton by themselves. We joined a group of friends at Boqueria to celebrate a birthday in the best way possible; namely consuming our bodyweight in delicious Tapas. We clinked our Margaritas in honour of the birthday girl and readied ourselves for a feast.

Salty Padron peppers and beautifully piquant patatas bravas as standard, followed by Calamari a la Romana that harmoniously married crispy with tender. Dipped in the homemade garlic aioli, they were as authentic as any we’d had in Catalonia. Pulpo al la gallega came as wafer thin slices of juicy Octopus, lounging on a bed of paprika seasoned potatoes. The salt Cod with garlic, olive oil and parsley sauce was out of this World. Appetites were sated but there was still a frantic clash of forks as we battled our friends for the last tasty morsels. The aforementioned Paella de pescado y marisco delivered a scrumptious blend of seafood and saffron that was too good not to finish.

Just when we thought we could eat no more, out came a plate of crispy fried churros, complete with a rich chocolate dipping sauce and a birthday candle to mark the affair. Each of us claimed national ownership of the concept of deep fried dough coated in sugar. One thing we did agree on is that we’d had a fantastic Spanish meal and will definitely be heading back to...