El Rocio

2 Reviews on “El Rocio”

• Daniel Walker

  Best value full english breakfast in West Hampstead (somewhat unexpectedly). Good quality ingredients for less than a fiver. You can get better, but you’ll pay twice as much across the road.Rancheros eggs (poached in slightly spicey tomatoey sauce with peppers and onions) is good too but doesn’t quite stuff you as well as the full english and doesn’t feel especially breakfasty.(Skip the ‘Spanish breakfast’ – the tomatoes were strangely tasteless and the Serrano ham was a strange token Spanishification that didn’t really add up)As for the tapas dinner menu, I’ve only been under its previous owners, and wasn’t hugely impressive (and they had a guy playing an acoustic guitar so loudly the waitress could only take orders between songs).

  October 14, 2015, 1:52 am

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• Maria Kuehn

  On the recommendation of a much revered customer and an ex pastry chef of the Ritz, my biz partner and I decided to pay El Rocio a visit, an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant on West End Lane in West Hampstead. It’s a cute place, intimate, inviting and friendly and as I was to learn later from its co-owner, most of the food is imported from Spain and the seafood bought from Billingsgate. A firm favourite with the customers is the ratatouille with goat’s cheese which we had no hesitation in trying, together with some chicken skewers, garlic king prawns, pig’s cheeks and a side salad. I didn’t want a whole plateful of the Serano ham and so asked for a few slithers to try which were offered free of charge, along with a basket of hot, crusty bread, also on the house. A bottle of white Rioja was to accompany our Spanish journey and I had a feeling we were in for something rather good.Our dishes arrived promptly and looked terribly pretty and very generous in size. There was enough for three greedy individuals, that’s for sure.The goat’s cheese was sitting in a pool of velvety tomato sauce, gently oozing into it and it was a hell of a mouthful. Deeply flavoured tomato sauce, crisp vegetables and meltingly soft goat’s cheese came together beautifully. The quality of the prawns was second to none and there is nothing I like better than dunking a fat piece of bread into the garlicky oil. As for the chicken, soft and simply served with a raita (rather than an aioli) was moist and tender, just as it should be. A very large, crisp, dressed side salad was just too much for our bellies – we barely touched it, which is no reflection on the quality, we just both felt like stuffed geese.The owner came and joined us with complimentary coffee and liquors – a warming amaretto on ice was very graciously received and we proceeded to chew the fat for the next half hour. This was a Tuesday evening and as we chatted away the place started to fill up. What’s the secret? Excellent quality ingredients, a chef with a flair, serving staff with a smile and an owner who understands how to treat his customers and not rob them blind because it’s West Hampstead. On a Friday night there is live Spanish music and apparently the place is rammed. I very much look forward to another great evening that reminds me just what a huge delight eating out can be. El Rocio268 West End LaneLondonNW6 1JL0207 435 8164 mindingbellieswell.blogspot.com

  May 12, 2015, 4:14 pm

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