Lunch / ££ / 10/10

Someone asked me recently about all the restaurants opening in Nottingham with a question about the impact on the older restaurants that don’t have the buzz of ‘new’. I made a mental note to make sure my money supports those I have loved for years and while in town on my own I decided to go back to Bar Iberico. I have been here many times and remember my initial annoyance when it opened that you couldn’t book a table – when places are new ‘no booking’ spikes my anxiety that I will be waiting for an age or be turned away. Bar Iberico have single handedly done the job of changing my opinion to this approach. I have never waited more than 10 minutes for a table there regardless of day/time of visit.

The restaurant feels like it can accomodate everything from a very formal celebration (especially downstairs), to a couple seeking a dessert or someone wanting a quick beer. I have been all of these customers over the years but this time I thought I would take advantage of their Menu Rapido (£16.95 for three dishes). The popularity of the restaurant certainly hasn’t dimmed and even at 14:45 on a Friday more than half the tables were full.

I ordered Catalan Tomato Bread, the server stopped me to warn that it wasn’t included on the Menu Rapido and I had a mental tug of war between my wallet and my stomach. My stomach won, I also ordered the Spanish tortilla, Pork belly pinchos and now I wasn’t limited to 3 dishes decided I could drop the pointless act that I wasn’t going to order Crispy Chicken. On ordering the Tortilla the server told me they serve it with a runny middle (as it is authentically served in Spain) and was I ok with that, I said ‘No problem’ and reflected these little questions help reduce any nasty surprises for the kitchen, servers and customers.

The Crispy chicken arrived first and I marvelled at how a dish could be so succesful, for so long (the restaurant once ran an April Fool on their socials saying it was being taken off the menu). It is easy to understand why, and why there are lots of ‘homages’ around the city when you taste it. The sauce manages to balance rich, heat, bitter, sweet and light, enrobing the crispy chicken pieces enough to soften the coating a little but not make it soggy. I was thinking ‘This will be the dish of the meal, everything else will pale in comparison’ and then the tortilla arrived.

I was expecting a slice of tortilla but a very generous round of egg, potato and onion arrived, topped with allioli, lemon and chives. The outside had the tell tale bubbles of something that has been cooked slowly in butter, the middle was warm, unctious, simple and made me sigh. I realised after seeing it I had over ordered and would be taking some home and the tortilla was the dish I most looked forward to eating again later – even while it was still sat in front of me. Ah well I should have stopped there, the pork belly and bread would probably fall short.

As I started the pork belly I lamented that it was too close to the sticky chicken sauce, I should have just gone for three dishes. As I had my second mouthful I realised they may share a base flavour but the chipotle and honey added more sweet and heat without the acid, the fennel piled on top of it rounded off the sweetness with fresh aniseed. All the pork on the skewer was soft, slow cooked and without flacid fat or sinew that can ruin pork belly.

The tomato bread was a mouthful of charred sourdough, vibrant tomato, really tasty oil and herbs, it missed a tiny bit of salt but at this point I am searching for fault. All 4 dishes were far better than most of the ‘best’ dishes I have eaten recently. The lunch was astoundingly good.

FAMILY – Bar Iberico is a great place to go with kids and babies, they have accomodated me before with a large bassinet and there is a disabled toilet on the same floor for nappy changes. Although there isn’t a specific kids menu the flatbreads in particular are a great option for children.