Review: Barrafina Frith Street

Snap Decisions

Cecina de León, or air dried beef at Barrafina

I'm spending a few days near London before flying to Bangladesh for the winter, and so I'm taking the chance to catch up with friends in different parts of the city. I stopped at Barrafina last night with a friend - completely unplanned and more as the first stop of many during the night as we met up with various other friends. As such, we didn't have a full meal but I wanted to write a quick review nonetheless. Barrafina had always been on my recommended list for good tapas, but until recently I flew to Spain so often I never really made the effort to visit. 

The interior is small, brightly lit and seats no more than a couple dozen people on stools around a bar/kitchen while people queue near the wall behind them. There are another three or four tables outside, with overhead heating for the winter. I hadn't realised the nature of the venue before walking in, and it was close to Christmas so the queue was long. We were quoted an hour waiting time, but were offered drinks and nibbles to pass the time. Normally I would have left due to both the length of the queue and the seating arrangements, but while we stood around thinking about alternatives we were told they had a table free outside. Living in Scotland makes London feel quite summery (even in December!), and we though why not since we weren't going to be there for more than an hour.

Review: ABaC Restaurant

Upgrading to Two Stars

The ABaC terrace

It seems my trips to fancy restaurants are destined to be opportunistic rather than pre-planned. One of my best friends, who is normally in Boston for law school, happens to be spending the summer in the Hague. We see each other about once a year, in various countries as our circumstances dictate. Last year we met up in London, so this year it made sense to meet elsewhere in Europe. We settled on Barcelona but booking affordable flights meant me flying into the city half a day earlier than her. This is what paved the way for a very interesting and enjoyable lunch at ABaC, a two Michelin starred restaurant serving experimental Spanish, Catalan and European cuisine with international influences.