Salt Yard

Great tapas but it's not cheap

24 Apr 08, 12:29 Above expectations

Melissa W's review is spot on and there isn't much to add.

This place is a great little restaurant to add to your list of regulars. It has a fresh, lively and comfortable ambience with friendly, attentive staff. The food is delicious and the tapas menu mixes old favourites with some alternative dishes giving you a great opportunity to experiment safe in the knowledge that whatever you order it will excit the tastbuds and challenge you to come back for more.

My only beef with the Salt Yard is the pricing. It leverages its place in the heart of media-land by bumping up the prices by an uneccessary 20% and giving the wine list some real sting (the decent bottles start at £25).

I'll keep coming back to this place but only when budget permits.

The decision is yours

03 May 07, 15:17 Above expectations

Tapas is soul food for the terminally indecisive, and Salt Yard has some of the best you can get. Whether you go for Spanish-style service at the bar or the more leisurely table option, prepare to pace yourself (over-ordering is hard to avoid), and settle back into the modern, intimate surroundings. The menu feels like a melting pot of Europe, with Italian, Spanish and English influence, and the quality throughout is resoundingly good. The Jamón Iberico might seem expensive, but it's everything it should be: acorn-fed, generous, meltingly good. There are also some unusual sounding options to choose from, like the courgette flowers stuffed with Monte Enebro cheese and dressed with honey , perfect. And don't even think of leaving until you've tried the Gloucester Old Spot pork belly with cannelini , it might sound fatty, but the result is crisp, unctuous meat contrasting with full-flavoured beans. This is one of my favourite restaurants in London , unfortunately, I'm not the only person to have stumbled across it, so book well in advance.