Barrafina (Soho)

Exciting, foodie-adventurous tapas enterprise overseeen by brothers Sam and Eddie Hart, started in 2007 in Soho, four years after they made their Spanish mark with the now-defunct, excellent Fitzrovian restaurant Fino. Diners sit at a marble-topped bar overlooking the urgent and entertaining food preparation, with the classic tortilla a pull for many. Queueing is inevitable as reservations are not on the menu here. Barrafina debuted at 54 Frith St, but in late 2016 the original Soho outlet moved one street over, to Dean St. The brothers operate two Covent Garden branches of Barrafina, at 43 Drury Lane and 10 Adelaide St, and, as of April 2019, one at Coal Drops Yard in Kings Cross. Prices are not cheap, but the food is very good. The Harts also own the more swish Quo Vadis just next door.