Dinner / £££ / 6/10

I have been meaning to come back to Vida by Lorentes for years, it seemed the perfect opportunity when our babysitter graduated to doing the toddlers bedtime and we had a gig at the arena. We book a table for 18:00 and headed straight there from the crazy bath and bedtime routine of our life.

The outside was exactly as I remembered it but at this point realised it had probably been more like 4 years since I had been. The restaurant is in a basement of a very old building and the entrance could use a bit of love. The shabbiness doesn’t fill you with confidence as you descend the stairs. When we got to the dining room though we were pleasantly surprised to see the place packed. At 18:00. On a Tuesday. Vida by Lorentes obviously makes the most of it’s proximity to the Arena but there was a lovely relaxed feeling of a neighbourhood tapas restaurant and none of the rush you expect from an early sitting. After being given menus and talked through the specials we were given time to choose. That window stretched into over 15 minutes (where tables that had been seated later than us had subsequently ordered and started getting food). This was the first time we had to get the attention of the staff and the rest of the night continued in that way. I think there were 3 people front of house that night so they were busy, but our server passed us so many times I began to think we were being ignored by the end of the meal. Perhaps it was that relaxed, unrushed feeling I liked when I walked in biting me back.

We ordered 4 tapas off the main menu and 2 specials. I had a craving for ham and cheese and so ordered the iberico and manchego. The board was generous with cheese and ham (at £25 it should be) but the bread sticks left us ordering a side of ciabatta and tomato. I am a massive ham snob as well and was a little disappointed with the thickness and cutting. I have been ruined by eating the Jamon Iberico at Rinconcello in Seville, nothing compares since. The Northerner made the good point I should just order the standard ham in the UK and limit my expectations – a good point, well made.

The 2 specials were the salmon fishcake and the iberico pork croquettes, the fishcakes were full of salmon and lightly seasoned but I would have preferred a sauce on the side as it had been put on with a heavy hand and overpowered the quite subtle flavours in the fishcake. The croquettes were a mouthful of bechamel with little of the iberico ham, I had at least 2 bits in mine but The Northerner didn’t think he had any which was disappointing.

From the main menu we went for chicken in a cream sauce with chorizo, albondigas, asparagus and broccoli with romesco sauce and a free side of patatas brava. I will always order meatballs if they are on a menu and these were a really nice size (not meat meteorites) if a little hard, the sauce was the right level of salty tomatoes and the dish came with the hidden surprise of tinned mushrooms which I have had in Spain before but makes it a none sharer with The Northerner. This worked well as the creamy chicken and chorizo wasn’t for me – it was cloyingly rich with the cream and I couldn’t tell the difference between the lumps of chicken and chorizo. He really enjoyed it though so the scales balanced well.

The ‘sides’ were the highlight of the meal, with the deep smoky romesco bringing the vegetables and chick peas to a happier place (one was under done and the other over) of harmony. Patatas bravas is normally a dish I can take or leave but at Vida by Lorentes it was standout, the potatoes aren’t too oily and retain a sweetness. They’re crisp without being chip like and the mayo and tomato balance really well, I didn’t even mind that most of the potatoes had lost a bit of crisp because of it. It was my favourite dish of the night.

Having waited a bit too long for our dishes to be taken away I used the clear down as the opportunity to order dessert, we always share churros and I had seen them on the menu earlier. They came quickly but were again a disappointment. There were 3 churros between us, it felt a little mean and when we mentioned it to the server he said they were made ‘on site’. I am not sure why that impacts the portion size, but it does explain how they managed to burn the chocolate in the microwave though.

Vida by Lorentes is a relaxed restaurant I can imagine spending hours in (before I had kids) drinking glass after glass of rioja and keeping topped up on small plates but the price and service represent the low score. The meal was nearly £120 without a tip; which should get you a bit more, delivered a bit better.