Iberica is a cut above the average

The venue straddles a slightly odd site on a corner and across two floors: downstairs there is a tapas bar with a deli at one end, and on a mezzanine upstairs a newly opened restaurant, Caleya Ibérica, under Michelin-starred chef Nacho Manzano. If you go to the restaurant proper expecting tapas, even upmarket ones, you could get a shock: this is serious, innovative modern Spanish cuisine with an Atlantic twist (both Manzano and Javier Fernandez are from the north-coast Asturias region, while Marcos Fernandez Pardo is from Galicia).

Thus an amuse bouche of a huge, perfectly cooked scallop was topped with shavings of ham while a caramelised onion tart was richly flavoured with blue Cabrales cheese from the Asturias.

Marcos struggled to explain which part of cod callos de bacalao was; whichever part of the fish’s stomach, it had a unique texture and delicate flavour after being slow stewed. Braised beef cheeks came with a more traditional and hugely rich red wine sauce. To follow that, a granita of red berries was refreshing; an alternative of caramelised sunflower seed sponge with dark chocolate soup was a little intense.

Sommelier Adrian Comesaña (another Galician) has assembled a revelatory Spanish wine list, one of the best in London. I enjoyed the obscure but elegant and powerful Taberner 2006 from near Cádiz, a region pretty much unheard of for red wine even inside Spain, and an unusual and very good (white) malvasia from Toro.

Yet while the upstairs restaurant is cool and calm, it’s slightly odd to hear the buzz of the tapas bar over the balcony (while we were there, a group launched into a spirited Spanish rendition of Happy Birthday to You). And while it’s noisier — especially at the deli end, where you may find yourself next to the cheese room or the charcuterie counter — I somehow prefer the tapas bar.

Chef Santiago Guerrero’s food is simpler than that of the restaurant, but these are tapas of an excellence to rival those at Fino, Dehesa or Brindisa. The ham croquettes, a beloved tapas classic, are some of the most delicious I’ve had; octopus with paprika and potatoes (pulpo a la gallega, a Galician staple) was succulent and cooked to perfect tenderness. Squid, whitebait and prawns were all wonderfully fresh. And there are a number of more unusual options too: seared rabbit with sherry and white beans was particularly flavourful.

The charcuterie, however, is for me the main event, as it is in a nation whose love of ham is such that in Madrid "está jamón" colloquially describes a girl (or a guy) as hot. You can watch Ibérico ham being cut while they explain the difference between Extremadura, Guijuelo and Huelva hams to you (I prefer the more intense Huelva). There is also a wide range of unusual and reasonably priced salamis and sausages.
I remember hitch-hiking around the Asturias and Galicia in the mid-1980s, marvelling at the seafood tapas and wondering why such eating seemed so distant in the UK.

Ibérica is a good example of how Spain has come to us since then. Está jamón!

Iberica
Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PS