Salt Yard

Another short interlude before I conclude my impressions of NY, but aaahhh, it's such a joy to discover a great new restaurant - especially here in London, where we may have a great variety of places to go to, but often the food is over-rated and completely underdelivers, not to speak of poor value for money!
Not at Salt Yard, though. Unpretentious in its decor, this new Spanish/Italian tapas restaurant is a lively and friendly place, with the added benefit of the dining area downstairs being non-smoking. The bar upstairs was buzzing with people grabbing a quick drink and snack after work, or maybe they were just unlucky not to have reserved a table in advance - the Goodge Street location must make for a good turnaround of tables, even during the week.
The restaurant offers an extensive list of tapas, a few of the usual suspects, but mainly venturing far beyond the ham, cheese and olives. Although staying firmly within the Mediterranean flavour palette, most the dishes are a modern interpretation of our favourite Spanish food, but don't think fusion or too extravagant in style, they certainly know very well what works and what doesn't. All of the dishes we ordered were cooked to absolute perfection - melt-in-the-mouth confit pork-belly on cannellini beans with a very crispy crackling was utterly delicious, so were the sherry-marinated pork ribs and again, the meat was succulent and so tender it almost fell off the bone. The tuna carpaccio with broad beans and salsa verde also receives top marks, better quality tuna than you can expect in a lot of restaurants specialising in fish, and refreshingly light and tasty, as was the salt-cod stuffed piquillo pepper with black olive dressing.
Great to see was the large selection of imaginative vegetarian options... most of them made it to the very top of our ranking for the evening, although I have to say that the highest step on the ladder was pretty crowded anyway, the kitchen team did not allow themselves a single glitch! The highlights on the veggie side were the goats' cheese stuffed courgette flowers drizzled with honey, chargrilled wild asparagus with poached egg and pecorino shavings and a very tasty aubergine caponata with lemon-ricotta crostini.
Don't worry, though, if your dinner date is less adventurous with food, there are some safe options, too, which are brilliantly done: we tried chicken saltimbocca with Marsala sauce, tiger prawns grilled on a rosemary skewer with lemon & chilli dressing and panzanella with mozzarella, the tomatoes and basil bursting with flavour. You'll also find a good selection of hams (Spanish and Italian) and other cured meats, bruschette, padron peppers, patatas, boquerones and cheeses - but if I can give you one word of advice, go for the dishes you don't find in just any old tapas bar - this is definitely the right place to be adventurous!
Best news of all is that we shared 15 tapas, 2 bottles of wine, water and coffees and the bill came to just £37 per person (incl. tips) - that's hard to beat around here, and even more surprising given that there wasn't a single let-down with regards to the food. The only problem with the place is that, on the following day, you find yourself thinking you'll never eat again, just because whatever you choose, it is bound to be disappointing compared to what you had the night before...

Salt Yard
54 Goodge Street
W1T 4 NA
Tel: 020 7637 0657
Nearest tube: Goodge Street

Comments

[Christoph]

Great recommendation!
The best tapas (they even aren't "real" tapas) I've ever had!
We followed your sugestion to leave same space for the dessert and were overwhelmed by three different sorts of Pecorino cheese served with truffled(!) honey and the vanilla panacotta with gooseberry-squish. WOW!
Still getting a big smile on my face tinking back on this delicious dinner.

[Andy Hayler]

Spot on comments. Salt Yard is a real find, serving the best Spanish food in London. Who cares if it is cooked by an Australian? I'll be coming back here regularly.

[Manne]

I completely agree with your review. In fact, I wish I could go there again right this instant! Went there with a few friends this summer, and service was impeccable, the food was amazing and you could really tell that this restaurant is run by people with a true passion for great food! The fact that I came out of there with their recipe for mustard fruit chutney was an added bonus...

[Andy Hayler]

Spot on review. The best Spanish food in London is cooked by an Australian (Salt Yard), the best Vietnamese by a Belgian (Xich Lo) and the best Italian by an Englishman (Zafferano). One could also argue the best French food is cooked by an Australian (Shane Osborne at Pied a Terre). You have a great site here. My restaurant reviews and contact detaisl for the restauarnts I mention are at www.andyhayler.com

[Bob]

We read your recommendations about the Salt Yard and decided to give it a go. To be honest, we could not have been more disapointed - the food tasted good, but the next day, all four of us went down with stomach pains and regular trips to the toilet. Not a good ending. If you go there, have a drink and then go to another restaurant. I do wonder whether you all actually work for the restaurant, as the "WOW" factor was missed on us.

[johanna]

Bob, I am sorry that you had such a disappointing meal – I haven’t been to Salt Yard in almost TWO YEARS so I am glad you left a comment on the current state of affairs.
i wonder if it was just a one-off or if it's just gone downhill completely?

[Bob]

I seem to spend my life looking for new and exciting restaurants. Food - is the most wonderful past time anyone can have; on average we eat out three to four times a week – and when someone finds a new place to eat, we actually get excited, waiting for our taste buds to explode. There are many restaurants opening in London, so it is always worth giving them a go, some end up a dreamy delicious experience, others average but fun. Sadly it sounds from your original review that this particular restaurant has lost its way.

I do hope they read their reviews, and work on building up the quality of their menu, rather than allowing the menu to slide and end up on the “It had potential, but sadly failed” menu of restaurants.

London is a harsh place, you need to stay keen to survive.

[Phil @ Saltpigcanteen]

We work around the Goodge St area and regularly head to the Salt Yard for the confit pork belly and some saffron cheesecake. Delish! Have to say it's one of our favourites in London.