Andalucia
On 17 December 2007 D and I had lunch in this restaurant near Piccadilly Circus in London. That morning, I had a business in the Japanese Consulate nearby, and after that, we were looking for a place where we could eat something interesting and light (meaning neither franchise joint nor fastfood place) for an affordable price. Being attracted by a lunch deal of two tapas for £4.75 (and three for £6.95) we decided to try this one.
When we entred at around 2 o'clock, there were no one eating and we were met by only one waitress. Eating area, rather narrow and small, is in down stairs, and the kitchen evidently is on the ground floor. The waitress was communicating with the chef upstairs, but we did not see him/her. To be only diners in a restaurant where we have never been before, we felt rather anxious.
There are classic 15 tapas dishes to choose from. There were also choices of 6 main dishes for the prices ranging from £4.15 and £6.95.
Telling the truth, I was not expecting a great deal of nice food for this price, but fortunately we were not disappointed. In the photo above is a dish called Pisto Manchego, which is a kind of ratatouille.
To the right is Albondigas, meat balls in spicy tomato sauce. Both dishes were lukewarm. I prefered them to be piping hot, but they tasted better than OK.
This is chorizo al vino, Spanish spicy sausages cooked in red wine. Very oily, but what else should we expect from chorizo (it was not my choice!). With very deep flavour, there was no doubt it was real Spanish chorizo.
Boquerones en vinagre are anchovies marinated in vinegar: I have never tried Spanish version before, but they were pretty much the same as the ones I eat in Italy or in Greece. I have a deep love for anchovies and these made me happy. The olives were fine, too.
At the beginning, we did not want to have bread, as we had a table for dinner in 4 hours, but D could not resist ordering one bread basket, for, being a good Mediterranean, he liked the food very much and felt it like a mistake not to have it with bread. In the basket were about 5 thick slices of soft-ish baguette type bread, served with a small bowl of olive oil with a leaf of rosemary in it.
We felt satisfied with the meal and ordered also two cups of espresso (£1.95 for one) to finish off. D had also a glass of coke, while I had tap water. The total bill game to about £18.50, including 12.5% service charge (automatic service charge of 10-12.5% seems to be common now in London, although not so in the mid-England where we live).
Although I ended up in paying more than I expected, for the food of this level with coffees in the very central London, I thought it wasn't bad value. If you look for cheaper lunch, you can find many other places. But, if you want a quick, but decent lunch in this area, this is a good place to try.
Andalucia Tapas Restaurant
4 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DL
(near Piccadilly Square)
tel/fax 020 7930 9950
