tapas – Page 4 – Scandelights

Dinner at Copita, Soho

Published on August 9, 2013August 10, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

I met my friends Laura and Jess at Copita in Soho the other night for a belated birthday dinner. Sadly Jess was unwell and only had bread while Laura and I shared a selection of dishes.

Copita is a sister restauran to Barrica and although they both serve tapas style small plates, the vibe in the two restaurants are quite different. Copita is more buzzing and feels like a wine bar with very nice snacks where as Barrica has some proper tables and serves more traditional tapas, making it feel more like a restaurant.

I like both, however and food wise they are quite different to compare as their menus differ a lot.

The scallops (above) with broad beans and a creamy sauce were probably my favourite dish of the evening. Very pretty too, but just lovely in taste.

Almost as nice were the mushroom croquetas with oozing mushroom bechamel in the middle and a nice and crisp shell keeping it in place.

The aubergine with harissa and mint was nice, but not extraordinary.

The octopus with paella style rice I really enjoyed but it was pretty sparse with the fish.

Gnocchi with saffron, butternut squash and almonds was a nice and fresh dish, although I wanted another dimension with different textures. The almond slivers didn’t quite to the trick, maybe some crisp breadcrumbs or chopped hazelnuts would have worked butter. Otherwise great in flavour!

The duck breast with beetroots, apple and raisins was probably my least favourite, but only because I have a fobia for raisins in food so I couldn’t fully enjoy it. The meat was lovely and rich in flavour though and super moist and the thin apple slices worked well with it.

Drink wise I was really tempted by a proper G&T with Hendrick’s gin, but we decided on wine instead and had a caraffe of what they called super fresh, which we thought was quite funny. It was indeed a fresh wine and it worked well with the different dishes.

Copita, 26-27 d’Arblay Street, London W1F 8EP

Dinner at Barrica, Fitzrovia

Published on July 28, 2013July 28, 2013 by HannaLeave a comment

Last Saturday I joined Laura and her visiting cousin, Julia, for a tapas dinner at Barrica on Goodge Street, a place neither of us had visited before. We got there for 9pm and the place was positively buzzing. A good sign.

With bread and olives on the table after only a few minutes we decided on quite a wide spread of tapas. First up was some nice cured ham; Jamon Cebo, which was delicious.

I can never resist pimientos de padron, either in the supermarket or in restaurants, so we had a plate. I like the bitterness and the salt and to have them in between other plates.

Patatas bravas with aioli is another classis and these were very nice. Delightfully crisp on the outside, flavourful bravas sauce and strong garlic flavour in the aioli.

These little bechamel croquettes with lightly smoked cheese and summer truffle were absolutely wonderful and one of my favourites.

The morcilla was also delicious with plenty of umami flavour and depth. I’m not fond of black pudding and similar but love both the flavour and texture of morcilla.

This little neat duck breast toast was really scrumptious with a sweet little layer of onions (?) underneath the duck.

The clams with fennel and artichokes were bursting with flavour and very juice and nice. Also a nice contrast to the meats.

Laura and Julia also shared this lovely piece of salmon with lettuce and beans which I passed on. I am quite tired of salmon in general (after having grown up in Sweden) and prefer it cured or smoked rather than cooked. And I was also to full. But it still looks great and the girls enjoyed it.

I really liked this place. It feels authentic in proper and the food is great. The atmosphere is lovely too and the only thing I wasn’t fond of was the uncomfortable stools, so book a table with proper chairs if you can.

Other than that I loved it. And you’ll love the prices too. Seriously good value for money.

Barrica Tapas Bar, 62 Goodge Street, London W1T 4NE, 020 7436 9448

A Swedish hen do

Published on June 20, 2012 by Hanna4 Comments

A few weekends ago now it was my best friend Emma’s hen do back in Malmö, Sweden and although it is slightly off-topic (there was food involved) I want to show you what we got up to.

My dear father helped kidnap Emma from her flat and drove her to the park where we had gathered to meet her and to have some breakfast in the sunshine. We had bubbly, nice bread, eggs, smoked salmon, cheese, fresh fruit, juices and other bits and it was a great start to the day. Emma also got to wear a tinsel wig and a special Sweden T-shirt because she used to play football.

Our first activity was to compete in different teams for two hours with different challanged at a place called Utmaningarnas Hus (The House of Challenges) and it was good fun. And not just because my team won.

After the challenges we drove to the beach and had coffee and mother’s cakes as well as fresh Swedish strawberries. Such a nice break!

After that we tried our luck at pole-dancing, but it was really hard. At least I thought so, so I just watched the others instead.

We then got ready at a few different places around town and met up at the bride’s flat, where her husband-to-be had set up a nice long table for us.

We then gathered around said long table for a champagne tasting that my blogging colleague Anders Öhman did. It was great fun and we learned a lot! Also a good start to the evening.

After trying all the lovely bubbly we had food catered from a tapas restaurant called La Roche. I let them decide the menu, and they did a great job. Everyone ate with a healthy appetite and it was a great spread.

We had charkuteries and cheese, olives and large capers, marinated prawns, tender chicken scewers with homemade chutney, strong aioli, tortilla, stuffed small red peppers and wonderful lamb chops. White chocolate pannacotta with raspberries for pudding.

The evening continues with music and chats and it was a great day for us, but hopefully even better for our hen Emma.

Salt Yard

Published on November 10, 2011November 9, 2011 by HannaLeave a comment

The London food scene is ever changing and expanding, but last week I decided to visit a restaurant that has been around longer than I have lived in London. Salt Yard opened in 2005 already, and is still going strong. The restaurant has one several awards, is mentioned in the Michelin guide and Time Out and it was definitely about time I paid the tapas restaurant a visit.

Last week I had dinner here with my fellow Swede Kristin. We like to meet up and chat over some nice food and wine. I have been to the Salt Yard Group’s newest edition, Opera Tavern a few times and I really like it, so I wanted to try the original thing as well.

Compared to Opera Tavern Salt Yard offers more traditional tapas like jamon croquetas and goat’s cheese stuffed courgette flowers with honey, where as Opera Tavern is mostly known for their scrumptious pork mini burgers with foie gras. There was nothing as exciting on Salt Yard’s menu to excite us, but we still had a lovely meal.

Some dishes were better balanced than others, and we both really enjoyed the gorgeous Jerusalem artichoke purée with buttered girolle and poached egg. Divine.

Also the traditional tapas dishes, we had both the croquetas and stuffed courgette flowers, were well prepared and delicious.

Deepfried squid with chorizo and broad beans was a great combination and cod cheeks with beans, bacon and carrots was equally palatable.

We also had some cheese; a truffle pecorino, which was rather disappointing actually. But all in all it was a great meal. Together with a bottle of £35 Gavi our bill ended on £~85 which feels reasonable (including service charge).

Ambiance wise I think I prefer the more spacious Opera Tavern, but they have done what they can to open up the dining room at Salt Yard with white chairs. Also more space around the bar upstairs would be good, but the reason to go here is actually the food, although I see it as less adventurous than Opera Tavern, and that is a shame. There are enough dishes on the menu for the kitchen to change it up a little.

Please note: the photos are blurry because I used my iPhone camera that doesn’t work well in the dark.

Opera Tavern

Published on July 4, 2011 by Hanna5 Comments

Thanks to a great tip from Hanna aka Swedish Meatball Eats London, I ate a fabulous dinner at this establishment in the West End on Thursday, together with my Swedish friends Malin and Martin who were visiting.

The dinner was a quick affair because we had tickets to We Will Rock You an hour and a half later, but they are used to this in theatre land.

If I had not heard about this place, I would never have walked in, as both the name and exterior suggests it is a tourist trap. Inside however, it is nice in an understated way, the service is efficient and friendly and the food is amazing.

The menu offers tapas, both charkuterie, cheeses and the usual suspects like croquetas and calamari, but also a few more interesting dishes like the favourite miniburger with pork and foie gras.

We started off with some olives, bread, thinly sliced chorizo, prosciutto and a creamy goat’s cheese. All wonderful produce, and at room temperature to maximize the flavour.

After this we had scallops with pea purée and crispy parma ham; the fab burger mentioned above with a brioche type bun, caramelized red onions and a lovely mayo and the most succulent meat as well as juicy chargrilled chicken with chorizo. Nothing disappointed!

We finished off the session with more bread and aioli, chilli salami and gorgonzola. The meat was again very thinly sliced and nice and spicy. The gorgonzola was slightly cold, but came with amazing caramelized walnuts and rosemary flatbread.

We had all this and a bottle of wine between the three of us, and the bill only came to around £70 including service charge. Great value for money and a lovely hidden gem, so far at least – this a place that is up and coming. Book now because they will be full up soon…