Cafe España

J’étais reellement en Espagne!
Zarzuella parfaite, copieuse et pas cher: 12.95£
Etablissement tenu par des espagnols qui connaissent leur métier.
— dernière visite: ²⁄₂₀₁₁ —

I am Spanish, just moved to London 4 months ago. I was feeling home sick and wanted to eat some tapas… Boy do I regret coming here. Service was horrible and the food was worse. I am a foodie and I guarantee you that the food they serve is frozen and then reheated. Yuk is all I can say.

Soho eats are a dime a dozen, but Spanish food is definitely a little harder to come across. Café Espana is a tiny spot that serves up tapas as well as some Italian pasta dishes as well.
My family and I ordered a seafood paella to share as well as several tapas dishes, all of which were decently sized. My favorite tapas was the grilled squid, just lightly drizzled with olive oil, pepper, and lemon. The grill on the squid was perfect, so the squid wasn’t too rubbery at all. The mini barbecue ribs were also cooked well, but definitely weren’t fall-​off-​the-​bone tender. The seafood paella was served in a huge skillet, topped with lemon, prawns, mussels, then mixed with clams and peas and calamari. The rice was just the right amount of moist, while maintaining the al dente texture that makes paella so hearty. The saffron seasoning was perfect, and I loved the extra char on the rice from the edge of the skillet. All in all, the paella is a definite must-​have, but the tapas can be hit or miss!

Café Espana had a sign outside offering a Sunday Roast lunch, with a shabby picture of a roast with its yorkshire pudding and so forth (I wish I had taken a photo of it!). When a Spanish restaurant boasts of its British Sunday roast before its authentic spanish food, it will lower your expectations of an authentic spanish home cooked dinner. Regardless, we still went in…
We were sat opposite the chute where the food was coming up to, and this gave us the first peek of the dishes. They were served up like a school dinner, but its all about the taste, innit? I mean if the presentation wows you, you will give it more of a chance in the tasting round. We must have been in a party mood, we ordered a bottle of rose from the limited list, and upon tasting we could not keep a straight face over the tart, edgy flavour. Eventually we did ask for a glass of lemonade so we could save the wine from waste and make spritzers — always a handy tip to remember when in this situation, this worked wonders on all inclusive style holidays with gone-​off wine.
The (free) bread was dry and reminded me of the rejected ends of a baguette at the end of a dinner party. It came with the little butter packets you get when your at the breakfast buffet in an All-​Inclusive resort, but they weren’t freezing cold so you could still spread them over the bread easily.
The Patatas Bravas was this odd mustard-​yellow colour, and sloppy texture. The potatoes themselves were overcooked and in some cases already mashed up before your teeth got to them. Tasted nothing like a Bravas I’ve had before, and not in a good way.
The Chorizo Al Vino was watery and lacked the depth of the wine. The chorizo sausage itself was fine, the Vino bit did not prove to be great at all. In its metal dish, you could really see how watery it was — maybe we should have dipped the bread in it to absorb the excess sauce. Café Espana is not even good if you want a cheap, standard Spanish meal, you should go for La Tasca, even if you are not a fan of franchise restuarants, La Tasca at least delivers the typical tapas dishes to a standard thats acceptable.
The meatballs could have had more seasoning, but the dish overall wasn’t all bad. The sauce was tasty and the meatballs were held together well enough. The garlic chicken was dry and stringy-​like, the sauce was again watery like the chorizo dish, the flavours were lacking, and a sprinkle of salt went a long way with this dish.
We thought we would skip dessert and coffee. In conclusion if you want standard Spanish, avoid Café Espana, as it may just put you off having Spanish Tapas again !

Charming little restaurant with a nice atmosphere. The staff are nice but this is all let down by the slow service and mediocre food. I really should have gone next door to Med Kitchen, which is always excellent!
Cheese and ham croquette appetizers took 30 minutes to arrive, and then it was a further 22 minutes till the main course. A Spanish restaurant should be able to make a good paella, but this was totally overcooked and seriously under seasoned. Oh dear, I doubt I’ll be giving this place a second look!

We went there as a friend had already been before. It is a small restaurant and quite nice atmosphere. The food is amazing and I was really surprised by the quality too. The paella was really amazing and everything else too.
My only concern was that they all came a bit late (we were waiting something over 50 min).
Anyways I really thought that it had really good food for reasonable prices.
A should-​go definitely if you like spanish paella.

There’s nothing to recommend about this place. The décor feels like it hasn’t been updated in decades. The rose wine we ordered was awful. And the food was like some sort of frozen Iceland meal that had been re-​heated in tacky containers. Awful.

Group of five of us came here on a Tuesday dinner time and I think we
were lucky to get the window table where we could observe the truly
amazing individuals that traverse the neighbourhood. Our selection of
tapa were Patatas Bravas (£5.90). The sauce on them was very thin and
watery and they had obviously been reheated in the microwave. Garlic
prawns (£5.95) which were ok. Meatballs in a tomato sauce, skewered
pork, chorizo in red wine, all at £4.95, chorizo omlette at £5.95 and
pimentos padrone at £4.95. Pork, omlette and pimentos were good. The
chorizo not so good as it was cold. They brought a couple of bread
baskets to the table at £2 each but then cleared the dishes before we
had chance to mop up the juices and I had to ask for them back.
One of our party decided to have Lasagne which was pretty disgusting really. Limp and lifeless and watery.
A
bottle of water cost us £2.95 and we had a bottle of house red at
£13.50 in really horrible, thick, cheap wine glasses. Total bill was £69
but they then put service charge on which I detest so got them to
remove it before leaving a tip. For central London I suppose it was good
value but the food was distinctly average and service indifferent.
However I would come again

I last went here a few years ago, so it may well have changed since, with a friend on her recommendation and was pleasantly surprised.
The food was tasty with a good choice of tapas dishes, the bottle of red we shared was nice enough and the service was nice, quick and friendly.
Situated at one end of Old Compton Street so it’s in a great Central London location.
Would happily revisit.

0 out of 5.
THE WORST SPANISH RESTAURANT IN LONDON (even worse than the ‘chains’), and actually the worst restaurant I have ever been too. And I’m not exagerating.
I came here with a group of Spanish friends from Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza and we ordered loads of dishes expecting a tapas feast. We noticed that a gay group of friends who had also ordered a load of dishes before us didn’t finish their tapas. After tasting the food, we all totally understood why that was. We just couldn’t believe how truly awful the food was. Incredibly bland, absolutely NO FLAVOUR, TASTELESS. We tried everything, a whole selection of different tapas, and everything was AWFUL. Spanish Omelette — the worst they ever tasted, Fried Squid — absolutely no flavour, also the worst they ever tasted; Patatas Bravas — a total joke, the worst they ever tasted; Albondigas — you get the picture, the worst they ever tasted, and so on. Why? Because the food didnt’ taste of anything… which is incredible in Spanish cooking.
These people need to learn how to cook Spanish food. Have they ever heard of Olive Oil!!! of Spices??? of Salt??? It’s like cooking Chinese food with no spices, no sesame oil etc. The Spanish man who runs it must have absolutely no taste buds. The cook is most definetely NOT Spanish and I know that because the tiny kitchen is opposite the vile toilet downstairs.
Of course, if you are on a NO SALT diet and you don’t mind wasting your money on tasteless food, give it a go, but just don’t even think proper Spanish food tastes like this.

Satisfying food, but overall a bit disappointing. We went there because we were craving tapas, and the reviews weren’t too bad. The restaurant is small, or what some might call intimate. When we got there, we were greeted by a waiter that was friendly, but clearly stretched thin. He wasn’t rude; he just took care of everything with brisk efficiency, and that was a bit off-​putting. After a modest wait, we were seated at a small table. A bit cramped, but not terrible.
The menu is varied and has both familiar and adventurous options, from sausage or potatoes to things like kidneys. The food itself is decent, but not as terrific as it might look on the menu. For instance, «thin sliced smoked pork» was just ham that might as well have been sandwich meat. Hence, disappointment. Be sure you know what you’re ordering. The Spanish-​speaking table next to us seemed to be having a great time though, so I would still recommend the place for a Spanish native.
pros: decent food, probably authentic
cons: small space, spotty service, Spanish ability almost required

Besides the small space everything else is great! We ordered the paella for 2 (even though we had 3 people) and couldn’t even make a dent in it. We took the rest to take home. The service was fast and the sangria was delicous and cheap (£10 for a large jug). I can’t wait to go back!

Go there and you’ll feel like you are in some small village in Spain. Tiny place with friendly staff and decent Spanish food! Good family vibe

In fairness, I should point out: I may get extra niceness due to the fact that I always come with friends who’ve been coming at least monthly for a decade.
I like this place. A decent meal, on Old Compton Street, with zero pretension, for a reasonable price.
Now, we’re not talking Michelin stars. Don’t expect that. Aside from the damp, though, you could be in Spain in 1992. Except the ingredients won’t necessarily be super fresh.
Warning: the house white is sort of abysmal. Get the red. Or go a step up.

I so wanted to love this place, as it has hints of being a low key, authentic, family run Spanish restuarant. However, it was just a bit off. The tapas was good, although the fried calamari was crying for salt and some flavor as was the tortilla espanola. But what really bugged me was the reggaeton, salsa and merengue music in the background which spoiled the idea of a Spanish restaurant and the mood of just being with friends, eating and talking. Sorry peeps, that music is for Latin American dancing and not for Spanish dining.

Great selection of tapas. Service was fantastic.
Come again

We went to Café Espana with high hopes. Several of our friends in the restaurant business said this was their favorite cheap and cheerful place to eat. Cheap, yes. Cheerful, no.
All seemed well as we approached: a que outside, and surly waiter inside (we were hoping they were so good he could afford to be surly). They had a table just for us. We ordered, and told each other it was a cute, yet quirky place.
The only thing edible was the manchego cheese served with quince paste, rudely cut into a slab and dumped onto the plate. The tomato bread was abysmal, consisting of a few chunks of pale mealy tomato and roughly cut, raw garlic. Other dishes were at best, forgettable. The worst thing on the table had to be the spinach, which was so crunchy from being unwashed and covered in grit and dirt that I almost broke a tooth.
Our bill was only 36 pounds, including a bottle of wine, but it was still NOT worth it.

Went here tonight with the friend. A small restaurant in Soho and really really simple. It could use a little work on the inside in my opinion as the seating is a little cramped and the carpet is a little bit old.
Besides that the waiters were quite friendly. Price wise it’s very reasonable and the food is alright. I didn’t try the Paella but I saw some other people eating it and it looked great. wish I coulda ordered it. The music is quite loud which I kinda liked and for such a small place it had a nice atmosphere. Can’t say i didn’t enjoy myself. Would I return? To try the Paella.yes.

Café Espana is a little tapas bar right at the end of Old Compton Street, which is always bustling with gaiety!
They serve a slightly smaller menu than some tapas places, which can have pages and pages of choices but they’ve obviously honed some of their dishes well. I love their large grilled prawns and pulpo (octopus).
Still feels quite a homely restaurant in the heart of Soho, which is nice.

Café Espana is tucked away at the entrance of Old Compton Street, a very small place and probably you have walked past without noticing it. The quality of food is above most other Spanish restaurants in London and the service is always friendly and efficient. Lots of spanish speaking clientele, which gives it an authentic feel.
The restaurant itself is fairly small and can get rather busy but they always manage to squeeze you in somehow. Having always an awesome time there, visiting this little gem now for almost 3 years and was never disappointed!

A simple little Spanish restaurant set in the heart of Soho. The feel of this place is almost as if you’re in some local restaurant in Spain, and I just feel very comfortable in this homely type place where all the staff and most of the clientele speak Spanish.
The food can generally be quite hit and miss — but all is forgiven. The prices are also very decent, and is a good place to come late afternoon for a spot of tapas and glass of house wine. Also, try sit by the window so you can observe Soho life on the outside.
Cheep and cheerful, with a warm bustling atmosphere. An absolute delight.