Tapas: Salt Yard
54 Goodge Street
W1T 4NA
Tel: 020 7637 0657
Date of Last Visit: Tuesday, 12 December 2006
The Victims: Ripe, Monkey Gland, Ben, Howard
The Damage: £54. Each.
The Background: You may already know that I am a dork. A total dork. I enjoy nothing better than a long flight and a book of logic problems. I have a certificate somewhere that calls me "Woman of Physics." (And all I can remember is 9.83 m/s2.) So not surprisingly–well, at least not to me–I found myself out on an evening with my "Internet friends."
I was early, despite being very late, running down Tottenham Court. (Spamalot, and then a first course elsewhere which I will endeavor to write about at some point.) But I was exactly on-time, and I was seated by a very nice server who told me a little bit about the whites and suggested his favorite. I was very happy.
The Starters: The others arrived and I was impressed by the power of this crazy thing called the Internets. I was impressed by my fellow diners most of all. I’m realizing my knowledge of new spots is high, while my familiiarity with foodie personalities is very low. I have mucho to learno.
As always, I digress. I believe it was I who prompted for keeping it simple to start: meat and cheese. This was mainly because I was (and am) an incredily selfish and hungry person, and our server had noted that meat and cheese could arrive in less than five minutes. How perfect. A platter of Spain arrived. And of Italy. And of cheese (again from Spain, I believe). We could not go wrong.
The Mains: After much consternation, we agreed on a strategy. Two each. I chose what I hope were party favorites: the tortilla of the day (spinach) and the croquettas. Who does not love a croquetta? Other selections included foie gras (you know I’ve banned it in 2006), zucchini flowers, squid, stuffed peppers, lamb and peppers, and I am sure I am forgetting many many things, but you get the gist. It just kept coming. And coming. And we weren’t done yet!
The Desserts: The rice pudding was heavenly, and I made a mental note for mom to tell me what’s in hers. The chocolate cake was like pure cocoa. I was afraid I would break out in hives, in a good way. (Well, not really. Hives are not fun.) Really, everything looked and tasted very lovely. I was sad not to have a dessert wine, but I knew what the next day would bring!
Service, Toilets, etc: Well then, our server was really nice, but he seemed a bit harried every so often. It was a small space downstairs, and I suppose seated tapas means that servers run around a little more. Toilets were nothing too remarkable, so they must have been relatively clean or else I would be telling you some sort of story about their disgustingness.
The Decor: Dark and modern and functional with pretty lighting. Smallish space. I liked it.
My Verdict: I would go back, particularly on a quiet night.
Their Verdicts
Spanish Mainly, by Food and Drink
The Morning After, by Ripe London
Blogger Moot, by Jam Faced
Dec 14, 2006
From another dork, thanks for a great night…and not mentioning I was late.
Dec 15, 2006
I did have a dessert wine and next day was surprisingly tolerable.
A first course elsewhere? I’m shocked!
Feb 28, 2007
Talking about tapas, have you guys ever tasted spanish iberian ham ? It is like the caviar of meats. Here in Spain we usually have it in almost transporent short slices, as we zip litlle wine. It doesn’t get any more simple for a tapa… nor tastier… nor more expensive ! (the best kind – “iberico de bellota” for acorn-fed iberian race pigs – can get really expensive).