The Opera Tavern

I was fortunate enough this week to visit The Opera Taven in London's Covent Garden.  This beautiful, although small bar serves Italian and Spanish Tapas.

We started with chargrilled bread with Alioli and Padron Peppers.  Our guest, a spanish chef, then ordered us some of the Jamon Iberico de Bellota which was amazing and actually, I could have just eaten a whole plate of!

We shared a selection of fish tapas, including the Pan Seared Scallop with Jerusalem Artichoke Puree, Truffle Dressing and Morcilla de Burgos which was very tasty; the Slow Roasted Salmon and a small portion of Crispy Squid with Chilli Aioli - the Squid were very moreish, as you can see from the near empty dish.

Our next course of tapas included the Confit of Old Spot Pork Belly, Roasted and Braised Mallard and the Grilled Iberico Pressa.  These courses were all very good although the Mallard slightly tough.  Whenever I have tapas I always have to order a portion of Patatas Fritas and the Opera Taven Fritas were particularly good. 

Staff were very helpful, although a bit on the slow side.  The bar wasn't packed but there was a good buzz.  I would certainly visit Opera Tavern again and recommend to others, watch the pricing though as we ended up spending over £170 for three of us, although this did include two bottles of very good wine!! 

My rating for this restaurant is 7/10.