Tapas Brindisa Battersea — Restaurant in London

A key characteristic of tapas is that they are served as a snack or as an appetizer. They are almost never sweet and are served in small portions. In Spain, tapas are generally eaten standing up! Eating places are informal, offering a pleasant and enjoyable chat with friends, family, or colleagues.

In Spain, tapas isn't anything special; it's a part of everyday life. When you look at regional popularity, Andalusia wins hands down. It's undeniable. This also has to do with the fact that it originated here. Incidentally, the word tapas isn't standard everywhere. You'll also encounter the words poteo and pinchos/pintxos in Spain. Pinchos are small snacks on a skewer. For example, a baguette with something tasty on top, like anchovies, combined with an olive.

Brindisa is not a traditional tapas bar. It is a restaurant where they serve you overprized, greezy bites. I choose two different tapas: Pan de Pincel and Croquetas de Jamon.

Let's focus first on the Pan de Pincel. It is Catalan coca bread with papada (a piece of jowl, the fatty part of the pig's neck, marinated in a paprika and garlic marinade, then dried and lightly smoked), oregano, Aberquina olive oil and garlic. The bread was soaked in olive oil and took away the delicate taste of the pork on top, which was a mediocre sized slice. It cost me 7 pounds. Three pieced of bread with tiny pieces of papada, soaking in olive oil (I know, the bread should be covered with oil). What had to be covered up? I didn't taste oregano or other herbs or spices...

The three Croquetas de Jamon, ham croquettes, were greezy too. No defined flavours, a bleak ball shaped croquette (in Dutch: bitterbal) with not even a culinary ragout, but more of a ham sauce. Did I mention it was greezy from the deep fryer's oil? As a Dutchman, we are used to eat the best 'kroketten' and 'bitterballen', in different flavours, from veal to shrimps, oyster mushrooms to salmon. This was disappointing at most.

Brindisa made a joke of tapas. How can I judge the tapas, with only two selected? I saw, smelled and tasted the tapas from the table next to me. The patatas bravas didn't look appealing. They looked ultra dry and the other tapas didn't look very appealing either.

Tapas Brindisa Battersea is situated next to the Battersea Power Plant. Both are equally an official tourist...

Quite disappointed. I made the effort today, as I haven’t been eating out much lately due to personal/financial circumstances. The host was lovely and accommodate me in the counter faraway from the door. The bartender wouldn’t take my order, so I waited until somebody else was available. The waitress was lovely but when I mentioned that I was having tap water because I wasn’t drinking she told me about the non-alcoholic options and showed me the menu, but non were amusing and as she kind of insisted I went for a Estrella 0.0 adding that I was not a fan of it. Then I ordered the Octopus, as I love octopus! and the Gambas al Ajillo, but without chilli because I mentioned that I can’t handle spicy/hot food. After asking me about allergies I said none but I cannot eat coriander and nothing spicy/no hot food. Drinks arrived, and first the octopus, which had this red sauce that was spicy for me and I didn’t enjoy it, but I was starving and by the time the waitress came back to check my meal I was almost finishing the last of two pieces of octopus (£24) and I mentioned to her that it was quite hot for me. She offered to replace it but at that point I felt bad, so I said “no, it’s Ok I’m just finishing the potatoes”, which I removed the peel to eat them. The King Prawns arrived (Peeled, no head, no tail, 5 of them) and they had this burned flavour that wasn’t appetising… it gave me the impression that it was from the plate. Anyway, the other 4 pieces were OK. After taking my plate someone else asked me if I wanted something else/dessert, I said no and asked him to bring me the bill when he was ready… but never came back. I wish this food chain was more consistent: King Cross was excellent Soho was average and Battersea was poor I left feeling like I wasted hard earned...

Yesterday, Thursday 13th, I visited with my wife the amazing Battersea Power Station Shopping Centre and, of course, we took advantage and had dinner there. Where to go? That was a difficult decision as there are a lot of options but, as my wife is Spanish, we decided to try Brindisa, a Spanish tapas bar where we have never been before. The restaurant is just opposite the river and has several tables outside where it must be beautiful to enjoy a drink there, but yesterday the weather was not so good and we decided to eat inside. From outside, Brindisa doesn't look too big, but as soon as you put your feet in, you discover a very big space full of tables. The ambient light is also great, allowing you to perfectly see but keeping your intimacy at your table. About customer service, I must say that it has been amazing from the very entry. The receptionist and waiters were extremely courteous and nice. As we understand a lot about Spanish food, we did not need any advice with the menu which is based in tapas, however, portions are quite generous and abundant. I chose its Chorizo Alejandro (a grilled chorizo on a toast and red peppers), the famous Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes in cubes with its special sauce) and Huevos rotos (broken fried eggs with fried potatoes) while my wife chose the octopus with a typical sauce called mojo and and prawns. For dessert, as we ate too much, we shared a cheesecake slice. Price? I cannot say it is a cheap place, but due to its quality, service and kind of food, I must say it is fair. We paid £101.00 including VAT and 13.5% service. It is maybe not a place for going every weekend, but I definitely recommend it for special occasions and if you like real...