Tonight:
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Andrew Neather's rating
Seriously strange tapas at Pix Pintxos
By
Andrew Neather
24 Sep 2009
As a bar experience, Barcelona’s El Xampanyet is close to heaven: a tiny, noisy, blue-and-white-tiled bar where I gorged
myself on endless refills of cava, accompanied by small dishes — pinchos — of tuna, chorizo and red pepper stuffed with goat’s cheese. I could have stayed all night, were it not for the fact that there was an endless range of competitors’ tapas to sample too. You can graze for hours, and indeed have to, since few Spanish restaurants open for dinner before 9pm and a more normal eating time is 10.30pm. Tapas thus enjoyed are surely one of Spain’s greatest gifts to the world.
They are the inspiration for Pix Pintxos. Primarily a bar, with pumping background music, Pix is neverthless laid out more like a restaurant: you drink at a table, your drinks brought to you by one of the Notting-Hill-beautiful waitresses or floppy-haired waiters.
The main attraction, though, at one end of a long bar, is the array of different pintxos (for some reason, even though its inspiration is Catalan, Pix prefers the Basque spelling of pinchos). Most consist of various morsels on a slice of baguette, held together with a wooden skewer, with a few — such as gazpacho — in shot glasses.
You take a plate and help yourself from a range of at least a dozen different, constantly replenished plates. All are priced at £2.50; your empty skewers are counted up at the end of the meal.
There are Spanish beers, cocktails and a wine list that is OK without being inspiring. However, there is, Catalan style, a long list of cavas: the basic by-the-glass Topacio brut is reasonable although there are much grander options to tempt you
than that.
It’s a concept that deserves to succeed. But for a start, tapas grazing really requires a multiplicity of such bars, which there aren’t here, even in the painfully trendy environs of Westbourne Grove/Ledbury Road. If you use Pix as a watering hole for the odd snack before moving on for dinner, that’s fine. If you end up doing all or most of your eating here, it’s a bit much.
More important, the food just doesn’t cut it. I didn’t expect a deliberate Anglicism such as bubble-and-squeak pincho to taste remotely Iberian — actually it wasn’t bad — but this is some of the least-Spanish-tasting Spanish-inspired food that I’ve had in some time.
Tortilla, for example, is the most basic of tapas, invariably available as an accompaniment to a caña in even the grottiest, tiniest dive in Spain. It never tastes like this version (served with morcilla): large slices of potato and nowhere near enough olive oil. Likewise the tomatoes in several dishes — no Spaniard would bother eating tomatoes that tasted this watery, and if they couldn’t source better ones, they would just make something else.
Other offerings are OK: morcilla and quail’s egg, cheese-stuffed peppers, although I never did identify the starchy chunk of something or other with the seared tuna — undercooked potato? Some, though, are just weird: asparagus, foie gras and white chocolate, for example, or pork belly, apple and potato — not just odd mixes, but without any clear, bold flavours shining through. And others like smoked salmon and cream cheese? Well, if a neighbour served them up at a drinks party, you’d snarf them down quickly enough, but if you’re paying?
If I lived around the corner from Pix, I don’t doubt I’d enjoy popping in occasionally. Then again, if I was rich enough to live around here, I could afford to cab it over to Iberica or Barrafina to get a real taste of Spain’s snacking glory.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (9)
Pintxos are not from Barcelona... that in essence is wrong... and they are not tapas.... Pintxo are a basque tradition, specially in San Sebastian & Bilbao , homeland of the best and most elaborate ones, where competitions between bars are held yearly...
At Pix they don’t get the concept too well...and find quite surprising, the lack of Txakoli wine... for a Pintxos place.
Very average palce for a person that already knows the real deal.
- Kathy, London, UK, 17/01/2012 11:40
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I had a fantastic night at Pix, i came to London last Thursday and went to Pix for an early dinner with my partner. A few friends from Germany told me about this great place in Notting Hill - so i had to try it. first it was a bit strange for us to help ourself to the food but as the night went on and it got very busy it was more fun to get up from time to time and put something new on our plates. the waiters were very nice to me and my parter, a very young team but very helpful. i will come again on my next visit to london
- Michael, Hamburg Germany, 26/07/2010 20:45
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I visted pix on saturday night for the first time and immediatley fell in love with the place. The restaurant itself looks amazing and the staff are so friendly it makes for a really enjoyable evening. We paid £25 per head for the table and as many pieces of tapas you could eat. This worked out fantastically for us as the food was amazing and just kept coming and coming, probably ate a bit too much!! They also had a DJ who played music from all the decades i can remember so a big thumbs up to all at PIX, i wish you great sucess.
- Frances, Notting Hill, 24/03/2010 12:22
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There’s nothing nicer than when you get persuaded to do something that you’re not keen about and it turns out to be just fantastic. My brother and his wife wanted to go to a new(ish) bar in Westbourne Grove that does a sort of tapas called pintxos. I wasn’t keen at first, I’d seen an iffy review in the Standard from Andrew Neather and I wanted to go to the Argentinian steak place in Battersea that made the semis in Gordon Ramsay’s neighbourhood restaurant competition.
Anyway, I got overruled and 6 of us headed over to Westbourne Grove for a quite fabulous evening. The place is beautiful, the staff are beautiful (although quite why Mr Neather sneers at this, I don’t know) and the food is just magnificent. I don’t have huge experience of Spanish cuisine, so I don’t have little bars in Barcelona to compare it with, but I was a half-decent chef for 15 years so I know what the output of a well-run kitchen looks like; and this is it.
We were made to feel very welcome by a front-of-house team that has the glow that comes from knowing that you’re good at something and getting a kick from doing it. Our waitress, Harriet, was as warm and efficient as she is undoubtedly lovely and her knowledge of the wine list, cocktail menu and the pintxos on offer was all we needed to navigate our way through a memorable evening.
Living in Kent, with 3 small kids, dining in London is an expensive business and we can't afford to get it wrong...last night we went to Pix and we got it right.
- Jonny Maxton, Ashford, Kent, 16/01/2010 10:59
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A very strange place indeed. I work nearby at a design agency and we always try to support local businesses. As one of our colleagues was leaving we asked earlier in the day if we can reserve an area for us to have drinks. They were helpful and gave us the standing space between the door and bar. On arrival we were greeted and given drinks menus (although no-one explained the concept of pinchos). Fifteen minutes in and the manager apologised and asked us to move to the back of the bar because we were blocking the food from being seen from the street! Perhaps they should have thought about this first before giving us the space! Without making a fuss we moved to the back. Then as more of our colleagues turned up the manager once again apologised and bizarrely exclaimed 'Guys, sorry we are not a bar. If we had known there were more of you I could have accommodated you.' Well this is strange considering we were give drinks menus and the interiors look like a gastropub. I looked around and there were only two tables of two having drinks and one table with group of people drinking, chatting and looking over a laptop. We didn't ask to stay for the entire evening but the manager kept reminding us that they would be packed within twenty minutes. With this mind we drank up and left. I'm sure this place will do well - this end of Westbourne Grove is often dead at night. However, as potential regular customers, our 'welcome' has put us off from returning.
- Jc, London W11, 13/10/2009 23:02
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I couldn't agree more with the comments.....that where made by Andrew Neather in the article 'Seriously strange'. Having just read the puplics comments I feel THEY should be called 'Seriously strange'...as when I went with my spanish partner the other evening,the place was empty and lacked any kind of atmosphere. The food was flat as the waiters' hair, and miles away from the propper Spanish cousine,we had tasted before.It seemed to us they had planned just to open an attractive bar,and then at the last minute thrown in the tapas idea.But I do believe the place has promise,it has some nice touches for example the decor and the stone dogs on your arrival.All in all I wish Pix Pintxos all the luck,as a resident of the area its refreshing to see something new come to the grove.
- - Chloe Sanderson, London-Westbourne grove, 02/10/2009 12:24
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Went on Thursday, the place was full, the d.j rocks. I love it!!!
- Sarah Hills, London, 29/09/2009 12:55
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My girlfriend lives in Notting Hill, and we have been in 2 or 3 times now. For me, the place is a most welcome addition to the area, with great atmosphere.
As for the food, maybe I'm no expert - though I have eaten at many Michelin starred restaurants around the world - and I really like it.
Specifically, the fois gras with asparagus and white chocolate (mentioned above) is delicious.
I also found the anglicisms quite funny and charming. For example the 'Pie & a Pint' pincho, which is two miniature pasties over a shot of spanish cider. Looks good, tastes great, makes me smile.
I do wonder whether Andrew Neather has missed the point with his review. I don't think they're trying to compete with El Bulli in terms of the food. The idea of a pincho bar is that all dishes are on sticks (which they are), not that all dishes should be spanish.
I for one will continue to go there on a regular basis.
- Jonathan Taylor, Maidenhead, 29/09/2009 10:46
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I read this review some seriously strange tapas recently before my visit to Pix Bar and was dreading heading there, although several friends from the area had told me it's a must. One of my favourite activities when I am in barcelona is the pintxo experience.
So with trepidation we headed down to pix bar on friday evening hoping that it couldn't be that bad? Well, thankfully for us the food was delicious! The fore mentioned asparagus, white chocolate and foie gras for me was an actual delight and although I agree the tortilla is nothing like authentic I loved the twist of celeriac and goats cheese. I noticed the tomatoes though, they definately need to address that, what I do love is the attempt to not be totally authentically spanish and the bubble and squeak is a winner. We also had several waiters and waitresses (who are all gorgeous) bring food to our table to offer us hot pintxos coming from the kitchen these were all lovely and the goats cheese stuffed peppers are fantastic.
In general the whole of the wine list may not have been inspiring but there are some wonderful little suprises in there for those who know spain well.
I have made many visits to the barcelona pintxo bars and feel that pix has been dealt a slightly harsh blow from the reviewer, they may have a few flaws that need ironing out, but the whole experience was great, probably the other groups holding up the tables or queuing out the door to get in would agree with me, I for one will certainly go back!
- Tony Jonson, london england, 28/09/2009 18:37
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