Barrafina is my favourite tapas bar. I didn’t appreciate it
that much when I first visited – it was good and enjoyable but I just thought
there would be some other nicer tapas bars. And this fact proves that I was
ignorant! After I tried more tapas bars then I realise how much I miss
Barrafina - is not just good but amazing. It has become a place I always look
forward to going back to when I visit London.
Barrafina是我最喜歡的西班牙tapas餐廳。第一次拜訪時，我並沒有深深愛上它，我天真的以為我一定會找到更多更棒的tapas餐廳。但事實證明我錯了，每次我到其他的tapas餐廳，我心裡腦裡嘴裡想的都是Barrafina。現在他正式成為我去倫敦時期待一去再去的餐廳。
Beside the food, Dr. T and I also like the feeling of the
restaurant. The bar is always
bustling (in a good way). Seats are all around the kitchen counter; you can
see how chefs prepare your food. There are around six people working in a tiny
kitchen space but they never bump into each other – they know what they are
doing, they know where they are going, they know which customer needs this and which
customer needs that - they flow smoothly when they move around. Before your
dishes come, you can see the main chef decorates the dishes carefully with
their amazing sauces. They just look so pretty and delicious. Your expectation
of the food rises and when you put the food in your mouth, it doesn’t
disappoint you – it tastes as delicious as it looks.
Barrafina的食物美味不說，Dr. T和我也都非常喜歡那的氣氛。餐廳總是鬧哄哄的。所有的座位都在廚房的吧台。食客們可以欣賞廚師如何準備他們的食物。一個小小的廚房擠進了五六位廚師和服務生，但他們從來不會撞到彼此。他們清楚的很他們在幹嘛，他們要往哪裡去，這位個人要這個而那位客人要那個。他們行雲流水的穿梭在小小的廚房裡。菜上桌前，食客們可以清楚地看到主廚如何細心的裝飾餐點，淋上美味的醬汁。看著看著對食物的期待也不知不覺地提高，但食物的味道絕對不會讓人失望。吃起來和看起來一樣美味。
We started with ‘Sardines a la Plancha’. The skin of the sardines
was very crispy but not dry. With a bit of lemon juice, they tasted not oily
but fresh. Six sardines were gone in a flash.
第一道菜我們點了 ‘Sardines a la Plancha’. 沙丁魚非常的香脆卻不乾硬。撒上一點檸檬汁更是提味而不油膩。六支沙丁魚一眨眼的時間全進了我們的肚子裡祭五臟廟去了。
Afterwards we had ‘Classic Tortilla’. The surface of
tortilla was beautifully browned and I could smell the scent of nicely burnt
egg when it came to the table. The tortilla was soft, moist but potato inside
was a bit crunchy which made the texture interesting.
接著我們點了 ‘Classic Tortilla’。Tortilla的表面煎的金黃且散發着蛋香味。口感濕軟而帶點嚼起來仍然脆脆的馬鈴薯。
Then followed with my favourite super size king prawn. It
was on the special menu of the day. I am in love with the smell and taste of
grilled prawns. The meat was fresh, firm but tenderly chewy. It’s taste with
Barrafina’s special garlic olive
oil sauce (one of my favourites of Barrafina) made me feel I was the happiest
woman in the world!
第三道是我最愛的明蝦，這是當日的特別菜單之一。我非常喜愛烤蝦所散發出來的香味，是其他煮法都不會有的味道。蝦肉非常的鮮甜有嚼勁。配上Barrafina特製的大蒜橄欖油醬汁，真是讓我覺得我是全世界最幸福的人！
‘Chorizo, Potato and Watercress’ is dish that I always miss.
After I had Barrafina’s chorizo, whenever I have chorizo, I wish I was at
Barrafina. The chorizo tasted super rich and salty which went very well with
the tender potatoes. I don’t know what the chef has done to the potatoes, but they were
just more tender than any others I’ve tried. And they were seasoned so
deliciously with (I will call it) magical Barrafina sauce.
'Chorizo, Potato and Watercress'是讓我魂牽夢縈的一道菜。在我吃過Barrafina的chorizo之後，每每當我吃chorizo，我都希望我是在Barrafina。他們的chorizo味道非常濃郁，配上香軟綿密的馬鈴薯剛剛好。我不知道Barrafina的廚師對他們的馬鈴薯下了什麼工夫，但他們吃起來就是特別的綿密細緻。此外，加上Barrafina的神奇調味法，馬鈴薯不再只是一層不變的味道。
I know I am sounding over-the-top…to balance it a bit – not
everything was that amazing. For last dish, we had another special dish of the
day – lamb shoulder. Again, the sauce was tasty (Baraffina just never mess up
their sauce) and the meat was super tender, however, half of the lamb shoulder
was fat – Dr. T and I just couldn’t put it in our mouths. On the good side, the
main chief noticed that we didn’t like it and took it out from our bill for us.
我知道我讓Barrafina聽起來神化了，但其實他們也會有不太神的時候。我們的最後一道菜是羊肩。一樣的，醬汁十分美味（他們從不在調味上出錯）而肉質非常柔軟。但一半的羊肩都是肥肉，Dr. T和我實在放不入口。但主廚注意到我們不喜歡這道菜，所以就不算這道菜的錢了。
I highly recommend Barrafina. Just they don’t take
reservations and they are always super busy. So be prepared you might have to
wait for a while for seats.
我強烈推薦Barrafina。但提醒你，他們不接受預約且時常高朋滿座，所以要做好漫長等待的心理準備。
My scores for Barrafina:
Food – 8.5
Atmosphere – 8
Service – 8.5
Value – 8
Dr. T’s scores for Barrafina:
Food – 9
Atmosphere – 9
Service – 9
Value – 7
Other reviews on Barrafina:
