Dinner / £££ / 7.5/10

Before Bar Iberico there was Iberico World Tapas, an elder sibling in every respect. Grown up and with a definite air of sophistication. I remember when the restaurant first opened and people raved about the ‘Inside out’ chicken wings and the charcuterie. I went in the early days and loved the ambience (and ham) but never went back. As I had wanged on to The Northerner about Iberico World Tapas leading the charge for the ‘new crew’ (Escabeche, Bar Iberico etc) we decided to go on a child free night.

Like it’s younger sister the restuarant offers a express dining deal which we walked in at the end of. The restaurant was packed, every table filled and because of the low ceilings felt a touch overwhelming with the noise. It turns out that one large table was responsible for 90% of the din and as soon as they left I let out a sigh of relief. I think I am probably more sensitive to noise than most people but living every day through toddler tantrums and a constant flow of answering back from a 9 year old I would just like everyone to shut the f&*@ up once in a while.

Anyway onto the actual point of the post – the food. The Northerner couldn’t spot anything on the main section of the menu that took his fancy so decided to go big on appetisers and snacks and I took a very selfish approach of ordering whatever I wanted. We started with croquettes, a cheese and ham board, smoked almonds and tomato bread.

Observant readers may spot that the charcuterie board above has no cheese, a minor error which was resolved quickly. The cheese taking the place of the iberico ham, a damn shame. We should have inspected the menu in a bit more detail. The star of the show were the croquettes which The Northerner promptly ordered 2 more of upon finishing the first two. It was all ‘nice’ but compared to El Gato Negro (in Manchester) we were left underwhelmed. It feels harsh to say this but for the cost of the meal there should be a bit more than ‘nice’.

My two seafood dishes did not miss the spot though – the prawns were so sweet, worth all the effort to peel and eat them. The flesh had that perfect dryness/not a hint of slime and with the lemon and sauce reminded me of the amazing prawns that they used to serve at Sexy Mama Loves Cicchetti (RIP). The grilled gem lettuce with anchovies were another win for me (The Northerner was not a fan of either of these dishes) but there wasn’t enough manchego to make an impact. The pickled onions were a touch too sour but did bring some balance.

The Northerner had ordered chorizo and I had the asparagus dish and as much as he disliked the chorizo, I loved the asparagus. Even though the chorizo was cooked in the traditionl method The Northerner said it was a little too close to a black pudding texture and as I only really like chorizo fried to a crisp I abstained. The asapargus with butter milk and hazlenut pesto was my favourite dish. The nuts had so much depth of flavour they grounded quite a light dish in a forest of toasty autumn. The buttermilk added a sour acidity which tasted a lot better than it sounds. It was my first asparagus of the season so I was SOLD.

Now the restaurant was quieter we decided to share churros for pudding – as it was such a meal of two halves (The Northerner barely touching the larger dishes and me leaving most of the appetizers to him) we hoped this would be a uniting end to the experience. It was the high point; The Northerner declaring them the best he has ever had. Cooked all the way through so there was no wetness in the dough; with a thick chocolate sauce, more like melted chocolate than hot chocolate. It may not be authentic but it tastes nicer in my opinion.

At the end of the night I looked around the nearly empty restaurant and realised little has changed since I went over a decade ago, this nostalgia does tip slightly into a need for investment. The core theme is strong and unites the restaurant but it could do with a bit of care, love and money spending on it.

The elephant in the room is that Iberico World Tapa’s is too easy to compare to Bar Iberico, and despite being more expensive the food is on par (with the service in Bar Iberico being better in my opinion). So again I find myself wondering if it will be another 10 years before I return.