Barrafina in Camden

We've been regulars at Barrafina, usually visiting their branch in Adelaide Street so this was our very first visit to the Coaldrops Yard outlet - on a very cold day in December. Barrafina is pretty expensive but you can be assured of tremendous quality - and we were not disappointed. We sat at the counter so the service was very intimate - and very friendly. I think several of the staff members were Spanish, which adds to the authenticity of the experience. We ordered the croquetas (house special of the day), gambas rojas, aubergine with chestnut. We're not big fans of sole but we though we'd try this nevertheless and it was great. If there was one disappointment it was the tapa de entrecot - but perhaps we were full by now. The best dishes were the hispi cabbage and the wild mushrooms with a fried egg - the latter in particular was just awesome.

Great place to have dinner. Very abundant and accurate dishes in their preparation. It's nice to be sitting on the counter in front of the various cooks preparing the dishes. Very kind and considerate staff. A special thanks to Mr. Vasillis who was really kind and helpful in everything. Place recommended fair prices.

So disappointed. Expensive and probably the worst tapas I've had in a long while. I'm Spanish and was expecting something more. The calamari sandwich which was £15, literally had 4 squid rings no larger than 3cm and some bread! Some weird sauce going on and not much else. One had samphire on the top, the other didn't! The calamari was cold and tough. The black rice although delicious was so tiny for the price. I see people have posted photos of theirs and I'm pleased they got a few large pieces of squid on it, we got a tiny piece. They had run out of chipirones, but it seems they were also low on calamari!! over £100 for no alcoholic drinks and tiny portions meant we left hungry. The pan con tomate was 2 small slices of thick bread with tomatoes. Nothing to write home about that's for sure. Won't be visiting again. A top restaurant like this should not run out of food by 5.30pm following their lunch time service.

The food was excellent and even though it was expensive it would’ve been worth it if we hadn’t felt so unwelcome (from the first moment - rudely being told to ‘shut the door’ on entry) One of our party was running late (it was the day of Storm Darragh, widespread disruption on the rail network etc.) and before, during and after his arrival we were treated as though we had deliberately turned up a week late, demanding free food and wine. We were constantly updated about when we’d need to return our tablet (and sometimes one of the more senior staff would come give us a disappointed look). In the end it was a relief to leave.

Even though only our second visit, this is absolutely our favourite of the (small) Barrafina chain. They only have 3 tables (for 2), all the other seating is on high stools (with no backs) overlooking the chefs preparing dishes. Our food was excellent, all sharing dishes: Mojana, Iberian ham, prawn and piquillo tortilla and big fat juicy king prawns - sensational. The service was just as good as the food, Raluca was delightful, genuinely friendly, ensuring that we had everything we needed and expertly answering questions as well as offering us a complimentary sorbet to cleanse the palate. We love it here and look forward to a return visit. Highly recommended, so drop in and stoke it up!

Escuché recomendaciones y me dijeron que debía probarlo y lo probé con amigos Éramos 4 y estábamos sentados en el mostrador. Todos pensamos que era soso y realmente no tiene un sabor especial con atractivo El servicio estaba bien, ya que estábamos sentados en el mostrador Para lo que es nos pareció caro No volveríamos

Todos tuvimos un tiempo absolutamente fantástico en nuestro reciente viaje a Barrafina! La distribución del restaurante le da una vista impresionante de la cocina, y la comida en sí estaba muy bien presentada y un placer absoluto para comer. Un agradecimiento especial a nuestra camarera, Alex, que nos ayudó a navegar por el menú y sugirió algunos maridajes excelentes. Muchas gracias a todo el equipo; esperamos volver pronto!

Entorno muy agradable, el personal era muy acogedor y Alex era muy atento. No salgo mucho pero me aseguraré de volver. Muy encantador.

Llamado para el almuerzo y fue mostrado a nuestra mesa por la camarera atenta Alex , disfrutó de la comida y el ambiente, sin duda volveremos cuando próxima en Londres

Tuvimos una cena tan agradable aquí - la comida era genial. Nuestro encantador servidor Alex era tan servicial y eficiente, que era muy servicial, nos aseguraremos de volver

Lovely food and great service. In particular, our waitress Alex was very friendly and accommodating. Will be returning soon!

A lovely evening, the food was great (authentically Spanish) and our waitress (I think she was called Alex?) was just wonderful, super attentive and welcoming with an impressively Spanish accent despite apparently being from the North. The location in Coal Drops Yard is also very interesting and well worth a visit just for that. Will be coming again.

This is a smart tapas restaurant where diners like to be seen. The food certainly is very good and our Spanish friends tell us this is the best Spanish restaurant in London. Many of the tables have high stools so make sure you book a table with normal chairs if wanted. Staff are helpful but being told, before you have even sat down, that you have the table for 90 minutes is not acceptable. We had a mixture of wine, sherry and 5 small plates all of which we shared and were delicious. It was a light early evening supper for us but the bill came to £140. A full meal with cocktails could easily be over £100/head.

Delicious Tapas - well worth visiting and it would be even better if they served beer in pint glasses rather than thimbles

worst meal out for a long time expensive, tiny portions, poor product chef ruined mohama by xs olive oil, tomato salad a joke, tortilla with runny egg yoke tasteless, AVOID

The tortilla mostly runny eggs with few potatoes; my (Spanish bred) mum looked mystified - and such a tiny portion for 14 quid. To be fair she did ask if she would be ok with rnny eggs and mym mum said yes - not expecting it to be literally uncooked egg. I got 6 over cooked gambas swimming in oil for TWENTY SIX quid which I suspect had been sitting on the counter for quite some time. A small glass of white wine = £13. Service very poor - we sat shivering in the cold and waited well over half an hour for the main dishes to arrive - for some mystifying reason the tortilla arrived with olives and almonds while the rest took aeons to arrive. The service is taken automatically which means with my great British embarassement at making a fuss I paid it despite thinking “the service stinks!” Very lovely smiling waitress but it seems the lights were on but no-one was in - asked for sparkiling water got still, asked for bread it never arrived. Was it the grey hair of my mum that made us not worth the trouble? This whole terrible experience cost us just shy of 100 pounds. Please do not bother. I wish we’d bought some M and S sarnies, a bottle of chilled white and crisps and eaten them in the quite lovely garden nearby with all the other sensible people who have already realised these places are a rip off.

Superb tapas, with rich and vibrant flavours, excellent presentation. There's not a huge selection of dishes, portions are mostly small, and most of the seating is at the bar (but I considered that a feature as you could watch the chefs at work). But the quality is superb!

Lovely interiors and views. Food was way overpriced for very small portions. £30 for a tiny piece of sea bass in a not very nice sauce that was supposedly a bisque. Croquettas were very nice but again a very small portion and very expensive. Nearly £10 for Patatas Bravas!! Shocking. Tomato salad again small and underwhelming. We complained about the sea bass and the waiter agreed it was not ok and took it off the bill. We don’t mind paying for decent food but this was nowhere near good enough. Would definitely not go back. Embarrassed to have taken my Spanish mother in law for dinner!

Really disappointing - odd/ quite rude attitude from staff, and tiny expensive portions of not very good food. We ordered cava and were given the smallest servings I've ever seen, one glass was flat. Olives were mushy, croquetas were poor, gambas overcooked and the sauce was bitter. Have had much better tapas in London for much better prices.

Relatively expensive so I expected a better quality of service and food The food was OK but some dishes had to be sent back as they were cold We were told that the kitchen was too busy with the orders ?? and so some dishes were very slow to come. I understand the nature of Tapas but when we ordered the second course of food we ended up with plates of patatas bravas on the table for 15 minutes before any of the fish and meat dishes arrived When we ordered a second bottle of wine ,this was served into our glasses still containing the first wine- I couldn’t work out if the waiter was lazy,arrogant or poorly trained! There didn’t seem an easy way not to pay service charge which was included in the bill-an irritation that is not exclusive to this restaurant

Suk our waiter was excellent. As it was our anniversary he gave us a complimentary glass of Cava and wished happy anniversary. The food was superb. The tempura monkfish and lemon sole was absolutely beautiful. We did not sit at the bar but choose to sit at one of the tables. Was not disappointed Suk was very professional and help with tasting of sherry and wine.

While entering, the waitress squeezed us at the counter and I thought, weird, considering there are so many seats at the window table. Dinner was standard, small plates overpriced. And then almost at the end of the evening my friend and I noticed 2 mice going in and out from holes under the window. I screamed, the personnel turned and looked at me but ignored my expression and one of them laughs probably being well aware of the hygienic problem! NEVER AGAIN

Had an impromptu visit last night and had a lovely time. Great buzzing atmosphere. We sat at the bar and our server was very attentive and knowledgeable. The food was really good, the specials in particular were amazing. I’d say that it was a little bit pricey, especially when compared to other great tapas in the area. My only real piece of negative feedback is the cheese board - there was hardly any cheese, and bread, and then when the server brought it out (knowing there’s not enough bread - 1 piece!) he said would you like a bit more bread, which we then got charged £3 for. I saw this happen to others in there along with their disappointed faces. So my feedback is do something to improve the cheeseboard and make it comparable in quality to everything else you served.

Recommended by friend and what a delight. We sat up at the bar and both staff and food were excellent. The atmosphere was buzzy and did not feel rushed at all, all very relaxed. When visiting London again would definitely pay Barrafina another visit. Thank you!

The dishes were amazingly delicious as a 'chain' store. The price for food and wine are reasonable. My parents enjoyed every dishes that we ordered. The atmosphere of seeing the old side of London with the modern twist is a good experience.

5/10 overall Pan con tomate 6/10 Patatas bravas 2/10 Chorizo bun 5/10 Skate 7/10 Red prawns 3/10 Tortilla 7/10 Chicken 7/10 Service friendly and relaxed. Buzzing location. Way overpriced. £165 for two people.

Really tasty! I didn’t expect to be cooking my own food, but the experience was nonetheless enjoyable. Waiter seemed a bit fed up so I wouldn’t rate the service highly. But the food and setting was great.

Really good food. Visited on the lunchtime of friday 24th November. have been thinking about my Skate Wing all week. Best meal of our weekend in London. The lads next to us had lots of dishes and have to say every single one looked delicious, especially the John Dory and the steak. Our server, young woman with very short reddish/black hair and piercings, was excellent and very attentive. Guided us well. So glad we visited and can't wait to go again.

Just come back from Dining at Barrafina Coal drops yard. Unfortunately it did not reach the high expectations we had. Server didn’t seem too interested in us at all, when we asked questions, the response was a shake Of the head and no enthusiasm whatsoever which was a real let down. Food was fine, nothing to write home about which is a real shame as we were very much looking forward to the Barrafina experience. We were told you only served wine but then the server proceeded to bring us out a drinks list With many other Options. Service charge added already which we paid and in hindsight, regretted that, as service was very poor indeed. Would we return ? I'd like to say yes, but probably not. What a shame Food: 3/5 | Service: 1/5

First time visiting Coals Drop Yard to check out the new development. I booked into Barrafina and I was not disappointed (it was also my birthday weekender too!) Friendly staff greeted us at the door and it was so nice for her to put us in the middle of the counter so we can watch the cooking! Lovely cooked tapas with great flavours (squid and rice - yum!) and the the monkfish was delicious! Excellent wine to go with our meal too. Again, fantastic service from the waitress and staff. Great atmosphere and decor. Being a small person the bar stools were comfy and loads of room for bags/coats. They kindly gave me a yummy (large!) slice of cheese cake with a candle to celebrate! Super service and highly recommend. Will definitely go again!

Excellent experience, couldn’t fault it . Food was the exceptional. Visited 1pm on a Wednesday but was nicely busy with a good atmosphere. Staff friendly and attentive I found despite being very busy. Definitely would return

Bad service and on verge of rude .Fish came undercooked and we asked for it to be cooked until opaque.Waitress was not pleased. Overpriced for a couple of tapas and not very pleasant staff. Won't be back.

An amazing meal (the specials change as they run out, so the menu is certainly not set in stone). Friendly staff, perfect potion size, great beer and just fascinating to sit at the bar and watch the kitchen in action. A definite return is on the cards...

Very expensive for what we had, small plates with big plate prices. Food came at odd times, soup came last. Food very very salty. The couple next to us asked for their service charge to be removed, it was but the staff were not very happy about it.

Service perfect outdoors amazing The grilling the seafood was the best I’ve had this place is a must do . The lobster on the grill made me cry I was so happy. The whole mackerel chopped up mmmmmmm. The prawns where real not farmed. The potatoe sliced up even on the grill yum .