La Farola

This is a very busy little place full of life and joy. What a buzz and what food! Only tried the tortilla and the broccoli salad but both were DELICIOUS! I feel lately I’m really lucky with the restaurant choices! This was a lucky pick indeed! However, not so good if you want a more quiet maybe romantic place…

Theberton Street, a popular haunt of mine having visited both the delightful Mem & Laz and Sacre Coeur is also home to La Farola Café (on the corner of Upper Street).
Because of the sheer volume of eating places in the area, you could miss this little Spanish gem, but sometimes it proves worth it when you take a risk on something fairly new (it has been here two years apparently).
The interior has wall to ceiling windows, a combination of small tables and high tables, then there is the bar for eating. It can be a little cramped, but the customers are quite chilled so there are no embarrassing silences or moments.
All of your classic tapas appear on the menu, but what adds to the experience is the selection of charcuterie and cheese. The charcuteria and quesos are curated from different regions of Spain and are great for sharing.
I opted for one of the cheeses, «Picos bejes-​tresvino» which is raw cow, sheep and goat’s milk blue cheese. It came with membrillo, apple, walnut and savoury biscuits. This cheese hails from Cantabria, Northern Spain.
We also piled on some tapas with pimento padron, vieiras con morcilla — pan-​friend scallops with grilled Spanish black pudding, arroz Negro — black ink risotto with squid, parmesan and aioli, gambas al ajillo — prawns (shell on) sauteed with garlic, olive oil and hot chilli peppers, additionally croquetas de jamon — serrano ham croquets served with bravas sauce. Everything was so tasty. I was pleasantly surprised as it is not easy to find good tapas in London.
Of course we also had to have tortilla, which was with potato, onion, fresh herb omelette and serrano. I mention this last as it was the only blip on the experience. We believe it was supposed to be served hot as it was warm on the outside but cold on the inside. I also tasted as it had been around for a while. This was not great in contrast to everything else which seemed to be prepared fresh. For such an iconic dish, one should get it right.
Our waitress with the nose piercing was by far the best in the place. Unobtrusive and friendly service is two of my favourite things. There is nothing worse than an overbearing waitress trying to adapt American style in your face service (see if you can guess which one I am talking about). This was not the time and place for it.

I’ve never seen such rude service in my life. We got in at 6.30 and got told we had a table until 8pm and at 7.30 after paying the bill but still with a full glass of wine we got as good as kicked out. We weren’t allowed to finish our drinks and immediately got our bill and even when we were putting on our jackets they were telling us we couldn’t stay! I’m not planing on returning and suggest you don’t try it either.

I have to echo another Unilocaler’s review on this, for some reason I have never been excited to go into this place. It’s been open for years and I live in Angel and I’ve never been. Probably because there are some very dubious tapas places on Upper Street.
Well, that was my mistake because La Farola is a revelation.
We ordered a bunch of tapas, the patatas braves, the lamb cutlets, the empanadas, croquettes and the special prawns dish. I was sad we didn’t order the tortilla after seeing it wizz by to other diners, it looks incredible. Highlights were easily the croquettes, perfectly crunchy on the outside and melty and cheesy inside. The prawn special dish was fantastically cooked with just the perfect hit of spiciness and tiny crackles of bacon. You should definitely get the empanadas, a little indulgent with the feta cheese and pastry but served with an almost-​healthy and very refreshing guacamole base.
La Farola isn’t the cheapest, but it’s definitely worth it. I’d almost consider it high-​class tapas, not the sort you’d get in a tacky bar in Barcelona, for sure!

Disappointing breakfast choices poor quality. Our coffees were cold and the food was greasy and made with very cheap ingredients my scrambled eggs were disgusting lumps of yoke in it and under cooked we complained but got no apology. They seemed to have changed the breakfast menu with very little choice I have been here before and the food was usually very good service is not great either I am unlikely to return

J’adore ce petit restau!
On y est bien reçus, le service est parfait.
On a l’impression d’être chouchoutés dès le moment où on arrive… On né cesse de vous demander si tout va bien. Votre verre est vide, on vient s’enquérir de vos besoins…
Les cocktails portent des noms marrants et un peu provocateurs, et né sont pas mauvais du tout.
Les tapas sont juste… ouahhh!
Le steak (nouveau sur le menu) est un peu cher (dans les £10) mais à tomber par terre!!!
Les petits hamburgers… succulents…
2 à 3 tapas par personne sont suffisants.
Une perle, ce petit bar restau!

Great tapas spot!
Loved the chorizo, jamon with ciabatta, and fried vanilla ice cream.
The pork belly was really dry and I could also skip the bomba next time.
2 for 1 cocktail early evening special.
Waitress was lovely! So nice!

Came here on a weekday evening and it was surprisingly easy to walk in without a reservation! We sat right by the door with a great view for people watching, as it is on the corner overlooking Upper Street. The waitresses were all very helpful and attentive, and they recommended 3 dishes per person, which was maybe on the high end of what you need (I think 7 or 8 would have been fine). The table was also fairly small and we found it difficult to fit more than 1 plate of tapas at a time.
Standouts on the food side were the chuletas de cordero (lamb chops) and the daily special (grilled prawns with aioli). We were not all that impressed with the courgette flowers (you get two for 8 pounds) or the heritage tomato salad (there are a lot of types of tomatoes, but not much dressing/​flavor added). Other things were ordered included the guindilla peppers, chargrilled bread, salmon served with risotto, paella de marisco (seafood paella), and pork belly.

My paella came with three clams, all of which arrived closed. I ate the dish regardless and it was fine. At the end of the meal I mentioned to the server that none of the clams had opened, perhaps a problem with the clams. He took it back to the chef and returned saying, «the chef was able to open all three clams in the kitchen and he said they’re fine. The delivery was this morning and so they’re definitely fresh.»
There are so many things wrong with this situation it’s laughable. A chef who serves spoiled seafood (hey chef, if the clam doesn’t open when cooked — when the mussels did open in the same paella — that means they were dead already when you cooked it, and you don’t even know for how long. So you’re willing to serve spoiled seafood at a Spanish tapas restaurant to your guests. Classy.)
The deep fried courgette flowers in honey was delicious. But just thinking about the dishonesty and rhetorical BS from the server and manager keeps this place at one star.
If you go, don’t order the seafood unless you want to pry open dead clams.

For some reason I wasn’t excited by this place from the outside – seemed like a boring mediocre tapas place on Upper Street. Kind of bored with tapas places and mediocre restos on Upper Street. But I did go in and I need to say I was wrong. The service was attentive and we enjoyed some lovely wine and an awesome and very pretty cheese plate. No complaints at all!

What a lovely place on Upper Street. Choriso, salami, ham, pickled veg, amazing omelette & fresh mint tea. Wonderful, fresh, simple. Superbly friendly service! Quick weekday lunch made perfect!
Why the star down? Well, the place missed a bit of juice. The right hype & vibe…

We were walking to another restaurant for lunch when the décor of this tapas restaurant caught my eye. I can’t believe I almost didn’t eat here!!! Agh! I’m so glad we went in and tried it.
I have been craving Farola ever since we ate here. Can you please open one up in the US?
We were hungry when we arrived and I think our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. But I’m soooo glad we tried as many dishes as we did. They were all amazing!!! See attached pics.
The staff was extremely friendly and didn’t judge us with all the food we had on our table. Ha ha!
Try it and enjoy!

Hey, another tapas place that opened up a few months back. Except that I didn’t even notice it was a tapas café. There are so many places that have climbed onto the ‘tapas’ bandwagon for all sorts of food, often not Spanish, but sometimes aren’t that good. Happily La Farola isn’t one of them.
The café has a relaxed, rustic and casual vibe. The staff are really friendly and inviting so off to a good start.
The cocktails are pretty good too.
The menu is more classic Spanish tapas, a good thing in my book.
We enjoyed a selection of dishes with lamb, tender pork shoulder, salt cod croquettas, sprouting broccoli with garlic and a hearty tortilla. There’s a good selection of charcuterie and Jamon iberico… will have to sample next time.
Pricewise, not cheap, not too expensive but can add up if you order a lot.

In general I am inclined to be tougher on institutions which hog a prime corner property, you know, if you have the extra street frontage, you have to show that you own it, and I think La Farola holds its own. Previously a little neighbourhood Oddbins, I was quite impatient to see who had bought out the dwindling chain, fearful of another soulless coffee franchise so I am pleasantly surprised that these guys have made it.
Not to spoil the mood, but who actually knew Hungarians could run a «Spanish» place so well? I assumed they were Spanish, (*head slap* how naïve in this cosmo-​metropole!) I had just returned from a Spanish trip actually, so was in the mood to check this out one sunny morning when the outdoor seats boasted a ray-​catching opportunity. The breakfast menu was tempting enough and I was impressed with the variety on the menu. Warning –Farola is not a coffee haven– that is unless you like your cappuccino lacerated with chocolate sauce, but you get the vibe.
Nice casual interior with communal dining tables, plus the little outdoor seats for the finer weather. Will definitely be returning for the tapas too, not a bad breakfast option at all though!

Although I’m a massive food fanatic (or at least consider myself to be one), I’ve never written a review on Unilocal before. Until La Farola came along, that is.
Late this Saturday (must’ve been 10.45pm), I was amongst 3 other hungry ladies browsing Upper Street for a restaurant suitable for my visiting girls’ goodbye dinner. After walking past endless not-​too-​convincing-​nor-​authentic chains and independent restaurants, we frustratedly decided just to go into that rather cosy-​looking tapas place on the corner. Terrific choice.
Not knowing how big or small the portions would be (though dishes were on the pricier side, so we could’ve guessed they would be big), we decided to share 10 tapas between the 4 of us, and if we’d be still hungry after that we would order more. Turns out that after attacking 9 mindblowingly great dishes (seriously, we must’ve looked like we hadn’t been fed in a week), none of us were able to tackle the equally amazing 10^th tapa. I’d recommend to start off with 2 tapas per person and take it from there, depending on your appetite.
So what did we have again, let’s see. Apologies for not remembering the exact names of the dishes.
— 2 baskets of fantastically chewy chargrilled sourdough bread with olive oil to dip
— confit of duck with a barley «risotto» made with a rich stock, scattered with pine nuts, courgette brunoise, and pomegranate seeds. This dish came off the suggestions board, so don’t think it’s on the menu all the time. It was, however, one of the most deliciously addictive comfort foods I’ve ever had — although one of my friends did think it was too rich.
— pimientos: salty, amazing grilled peppers
— jamon (the cheaper one): massive portion served on a wooden board
— manchego cheese: again massive portion on a wooden board, including grapes and nuts
— chargrilled chicken in a peppery tomato-​y sauce
— grilled squid and new potatoes with loads of paprika: just. so. good
— fried squid with a lemon/​garlicky dipping sauce: completely different from the first squid dish, equally amazing
That’s it, I think. Oh and we shared 2 bottles of wine and had 4 cocktails for the price of 3, which in the end added up to £31 per person. I didn’t plan on spending that much but given the standard of the food, the atmosphere, super friendly service and amazing speed with which dishes came out of the kitchen and at that time of night, I was more than happy to pay it.
Conclusion: go there, seriously. It’s such a young restaurant (just over a month old!), and I honestly think they deserve a loyal audience. Now let’s just pray to god La Farola keeps up the amazing job it’s been doing so far and doesn’t let success lower its standards.

I had the pleasure of dining here last Saturday night and couldn’t have been happier with my experience. Their house speciality, the Pollo Al Ajillo was one of my favorite dishes. I reveled in the tender meat with a light delicious sauce over it. It is a tapas restaurant with lovely little details that create a homey and inviting ambiance. The lighting is complimentary to the wine and small plates that come trickling out of the kitchen, effortlessly as the place is meant to run smoothy. I was impressed with the service and the desert. The churros were out of this world with a chocolate sauce lightly drizzled atop of them. I also enjoyed the peppercorn filet cooked to perfection and not overpowered by the gravy. I will definitely come here again and would recommend it to anyone!

Spain has Islington in its sights. In the past few months, the neighborhood has gained two Spanish restaurants and you can walk from one to the other in a mere 60 seconds.
Last weekend, I ducked into one of my new neighbors, La Farola. Before ordering, there were elements that reminded me of a recent trip to Spain: a leg of jamon iberico on the bar, wine barrels that can be used as tables for standing diners and a reasonably priced wine list. But the food didn’t stir those memories in the same way. Pan con tomate, a simple dish of toast drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with tomatoes, did not deliver the blast of garden flavors I expected. The bread was nice, but the tomatoes were bland and left me wanting. I was excited about the prospect of freshly sliced jamon iberico, but I was disappointed by the amount of fat on every piece. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way that jamon iberico fat coats your mouth with savory goodness, but I can only handle so much. I ordered the chipirones with visions of the leggy wonders I had at El Quim in Barcelona (go there!). La Farola’s tasted like standard fried squid and barely merit a mention.
Not all of the food was devoid of flavor. The courgette flowers and padron peppers were nice dishes. And the rice pudding took the seasoning up a notch too far by including enough cinnamon power to induce a coughing fit.
It’s early days for La Farola and I’m sure the kitchen will find its feet as the weeks pass. In the meantime, I’ll be checking out Como3 to see how the other contendor is faring.

What a wonderful addition to Upper Street! Last night I was fortunate enough to stumble across this Upper Street newbie. It’s only been open for a few weeks, but I can tell that this place is going to be the hot and happening spot to dine at this year. La Farola is an upscale tapas bistro offering a fantastic selection of Spanish tapas and small plates. It has a quirky yet fashionable vibe… think New York bistro meets a posh grandma’s parlor. Their menu is varied and authentic (far better than Sangria up the road) and their wine list eclectic and reasonably priced. The first thing I thought to do was to check in here, but when I jumped on Unilocal,I noticed that it hadn’t even been flagged up yet… get in there Dickson, I thought to myself! Well what better way to start this lovely restaurant off than with a 5 star review! The food was absolutely superb and the servers were fast, efficient and very friendly. We dined on succulent Iberico pork with butternut squash and sultanas, fried green peppers and the most amazing courgette flowers stuffed with goats cheese and honey. Are you salivating yet? With my meal I enjoyed a lovely white Rioja which went down far too easily. Extra points for the gorge wine glasses and the generous pouring. After we finished, we were tempted to top off the night with another glass but as it was a week night and nearing witching hour, we called it a night and asked for the check. Much to our delight and surprise, our check arrived minutes later sandwiched in between two flaming after-​dinner shots. We were told to blow them out and down in one. We listened! A few minutes later we left with full bellies and the sweet taste of Kahlua on our palates, vowing to return to La Farola Café again soon. Sangria, watch out… La Farola is in the hood and it means business!