Restaurant Fino Review - Spanish Tapas

On Saturday night, my wife and I had a reservation at Restaurant Fino, supposedly the best Spanish Restaurant in London. It's just off Charlotte Street, with the entrance actually in Rathbone Street. We trained it up to town and arrived about 20 minutes early for out 9pm booking.

We went downstairs to the restaurant and shown immediately to our table, which was tucked away in a little corner. The atmosphere was buzzy, lots of hustle and bustle without being too loud. We read the menu with interest and decided on the following mix of Tapas dishes.

Potato and Chorizo Chips
Spanish Cold Meat Platter (Chorizo, Iberico Lomo etc)
Bread & Olive Oil
Queen Scallops
Chipirones (Baby Squid)
Stuffed Courgette Flowers
Tortilla

We also ordered a bottle of 2001 Urbina, Crianza which was lovely. All in all, the food was great and we polished off the evening with a glass of 1971 Don Pedro Ximenez, Gran Reserva and an Amaretto for my wife (on ice of course).

A great evening out and a restaurant that I would certainly recommend!

The Fat Duck - Bray, Berkshire

The Fat Duck is situated in the very lovely village of Bray and is run by world renowned chef, Heston Blumenthal. It was voted the Worlds Best Restaurant in 2003, only to be knocked of it's perch by the famous El Bulli in Spain. However it's consistently been voted the worlds number two restaurant for the last few years. It is one of three restaurants in the UK to hold three Michelin stars.

I was visiting The Fat Duck with business colleagues of mine and the trip was arranged by myself. I had no problem booking, probably because we were going for lunch and I made a particular point of asking the restaurant whether or not there was a 'kicking out time' as what we were looking for was a 'lazy lunch' spread throughout the afternoon with a few bottles of wine, some good food and great company. We were told in no uncertain terms that if we opted for the tasting menu, it would take us approximately 4 hours.....our table was booked for 2pm.

I arrived at the restaurant just before 2pm, and walked through the door into a small corridor leading down to a table - I wasn't greeted by anybody and proceeded down towards what I thought was a member of staff sitting at the table....it wasn't, it was a guest!!! I then wandered through the first part of the restaurant where I discovered my guests sitting down at our table, sampling some rather fine Champagne. It was at this point, that one of the staff members actually noticed that I had entered the restaurant. I thought this was a bit odd for supposedly one of the best restaurants in the world.

Once in and seated, the food was...well, it was bonkers! It really was amazing and what I would describe as a once in a lifetime experience. I've never experienced anything even close to it.

The Waterside Inn - Bray, Berkshire

The Waterside Inn is also situated in the village of Bray, on the banks of the River Thames and is run by the famous chef Michel Roux. It is also one of only three restuarants in the UK to hold three Michelin stars. The Waterside Inn is also a 'restaurant with rooms' as they put it, offering visitors the choice of 9-10 rooms for those wishing to stay in Bray.

Hakkasan - London

Hakkasan is run by Alan Yau, the man behind Wagamamma and is situated in Hanway Place, Marylebone. One of our customers first mentioned the idea of Hakkasan to me, he suggested we take a trip down there when they were next in the UK so we duly obliged, not really knowing what to expect.

The first thing that hits you upon entering Hakkasan is how dark it is, it's underground and is very dimly lit but very cool and sophisticated. From the funky decor to the lady opening the door to the toilets, it's a little different to most restaurants I've been to. It's also apparently a big hit with celebrities, probably because they can eat there without being noticed...I mean, it really is dark.

The food, well the food was really good and despite banging my head on the light above the table we had a really great time. One thing that did put me off though was the pressure to eat up and move on that the staff give you. I prefer a more relaxed affair but right from the outset, the staff made it perfectly clear that they needed the table back at a particular time. However we were eaten up and done in good time and moved on to cocktails at the bar which was fun.

Conclusion: A really funky place to eat, with a great atmosphere and very good quality food. I'd certainly go back and eat there but probably wouldn't be in too much of a hurry.

Mallory Court - Leamington Spa

Mallory Court Hotel is a beautiful country house hotel set in 10 acres of gardens, just outside Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Their oak panelled restaurant is run by Simon Haigh and holds one Michelin star.

We booked a table for two as surprise for my wifes birthday as we had stayed and eaten there around 15 years ago and loved it. This time around, was just as special with amazing food and excellent service.