A couple of weeks ago, while waiting on the hour-and-a-half-long queue at Barrafina, I thought about how lovely it’d be to eat Barrafina’s food without having to wait ages. (It says volumes, by the way, that I still thought the food at Barrafina was worth the wait).
A few days after my re-visit to Barrafina, I saw Tamarind and Thyme’s post on her delicious meal at Fino, the older sibling of Barrafina, where you can eat your tapas *and* make a reservation for a proper table. Sounded perfect. So I called Fino to book dinner on a Friday night with two friends visiting from New York.
Without totally veering off into a full rant, when I called the restaurant, Fino’s receptionist promptly informed me that they’d need the table back in two hours. Now, it’s not that I often sit at a table for more than two hours, but I like knowing that if I wanted to order a few more drinks or linger over dessert, I could do it hassle-free. Isn’t that part of the premium you’re paying for food at a pricey restaurant? It seems many London restaurants think imposing a time limit on your dinner counts as acceptable customer service. I’m not down with that. (Yauatcha is the worst of the bunch – I think they’re down to a sprint-like 90 minutes these days).
Anyway, we showed up on time despite going first to 33 Charlotte Street and finding it’s a Zizzi (Fino’s entrance is actually around the corner on Rathbone Street, not on Charlotte Street, where one would think 33 Charlotte Street would be found).
Our server highly recommended (i.e., pushed) the special of the day, a braised leg of lamb, and made a point of checking with the kitchen to confirm it was still available before letting us order it. Ten minutes after we’d placed our order, someone else came to tell us the kitchen had run out of the braised leg of lamb. At this point, it was around 8:15 pm, so it seemed odd that the specials would be gone already. Not a huge deal, but between the reminder that I had to give back my table at a certain time and the minor hassle of having to order more food after I thought I’d gotten ordering out of the way, I wasn’t enjoying myself.
And the food wasn’t nearly as across-the-board good as it is at Barrafina. Maybe it would’ve been different if we’d called ahead and ordered cochinillo like Tamarind and Thyme did. Maybe then we wouldn’t have ordered so much tapas and found that while half the dishes were pretty good, the other half were pretty awful.
For example, being one of the legions who love Barrafina’s razor clams, I was sorry to see no razor clams on the menu at Fino. But we settled for the “clams, sherry and ham,” which clams turned out to be chewy and flavorless. Our table picked at the ham bits, which were as good as boiled bits of ham can be, but at £8.70, this dish left me feeling robbed.
Several orders of lamb cutlets and an order of rump lamb were tender and juicy. Very good, though the sauce accompanying the cutlets didn’t add much (other than a few gazillion calories).
Other winners of the evening were the the arroz negro with grilled octopus (creamy and soft baby octopus melting into the rich earthiness of black beans), crab croquetas, classic tortilla and pan con tomate (the last three almost identical to the excellent versions at Barrafina, with the crab being a higher-end version than the ham one at Barrafina).
Severe disappointments (aka insults to how hard I work for the money I spent at Fino) included the asparagus (four grilled-to-mushiness spears for £7.50), the arrocina beans (described as being cooked with morcilla, but really, I didn’t see any sausage in there, which made the dish just a soupy mess of beans for £7.80).
Overall, dining at Fino was a mixed bag. Our meal might have ended on a high note with two orders of the freshly-fried, light-as-air donuts (they’re excellent and I can’t deny that Tamarind and Thyme’s photo of her Fino donuts heavily motivated me to make a booking). But instead it ended on a sour note when we were rushed away from our table upon the arrival of the two-hour-deadline.
At £160 for four with wine, our meal cost (on a per person basis) about what we usually spend at Barrafina. That said, I’ll take the queue and barstool seating at Barrafina any day over a pre-booked, sit-down meal at Fino. You could undoubtedly have a great meal at Fino if you ordered very carefully (or were v. lucky – in which case, I’m taking you to Vegas), but I’m just too lazy to bother.
Fino, 33 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RR (entrance on Rathbone Street), 0207 813 8010; closest tube station: Goodge Street
:O I can’t believe they asked you to give up your table after 2 hours! We were there for longer than that, I’m sure, but then I booked through toptable.
Four asparagus spears seems awful mean…
Su-Lin: lol. thanks for the sympathy. Four asparagus spears is definitely mean, though it was worse that they were also un-tasty. It seems asparagus season is giving restaurants carte blanche for some extortionate pricing. The other night I was at Le Cafe Anglais and they charged £9 for six spears (though at least they were well-prepared). In any event, I should thank you for getting me to try Fino and those donuts, and the few dishes that we thought were excellent were the same ones you’d also flagged as excellent. Which means you’re very good at choosing dishes. : )
Just wanted to chime in and say that I agree with you that the two-hour time limit is really annoying. I actually probably never keep a table more than two hours (assuming service is good), but when the place keeps reminding me of the limit, I really feel pressured to eat fast and get out! Maybe Brits are inclined to linger all night…. But I think part of restaurant management should be knowing how to deal with your tables without hassling the customers!
I’ve only been there once. It was a Friday in January last year. The place was empty! No need to rush us out, that’s for sure.
NYiL – glad it’s not just me. And now that I think about it, I don’t recall restaurants in NY ever limiting my time at a table, so it does seem possible to run a successful restaurant without this particular practice.
Krista – Fino was full when we recently dined there, but I still don’t think that’s a good reason for a two-hour time limit.
The last time I went to Fino’s was about a year ago. I use to go regularly when it first opened, and I must say, I think its standards have definitely dropped.
I’m a huge fan of Barrafina, and I did read Su-Lin’s post on Fino, after which I added it to my wishlist. Now I’m not so sure. From having read both your reviews, perhaps I’ll stick to Barrafina (I like the military planning I have to do in order to avoid queuing!)
A Girl Has to Eat, interesting to hear that Fino used to be better. It’s gotten a second life thanks to the reviews that came out after its recent refurb, so I guess we’ll see how long the attention lasts. If someone I was meeting really wanted to eat at Fino, I wouldn’t say no, but I probably won’t be the one proposing it again.
Helen, I think it’s *amazing* that you’ve always avoided a queue at Barrafina. I seem to hit a (long) one every time! : ) Your planning must definitely be, as you say, military.
Thanks for reviewing Fino – I was wondering what it was now like after the refurb…..seems not much has changed since I was there last.
I definitely prefer Barrafina, and I am lucky enough to work near it, so can get there early and never have to queue (for lunch anyway). Just wish I had more money so I could go more often!
I recommend you try Iberica near Gt Portland St (Michelin starred chef Nacho Manzano’s tapas bar and restaurant) if you haven’t been there yet. I went to Caleya (the upstairs restaurant part) the other day and found it really nice (though not perfect..thought the fish dishes were a touch bland)
PK – I’ve never known a queue-free Barrafina, but I’m envious that you can get in for lunch that way. Thanks for the Iberica tip. I’d never heard of it, but Great Portland street is not far from where I live, so I’ll be sure to check it out.
AH! I found this after commenting on your 2009 restaurants post.
Hmmm… maybe it’s time to give Fino another chance? We visited the restaurant recently, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with the 50% offer. And there was razor clams on the menu as well. Heard that they change their menu dailiy though. Not convinced? haha.
[…] hour time limit. I was intrigued to visit, having read contrasting reviews from some time ago from An American in London and Tamarind and […]