Tapas at Condesa London

Recently opened in Central London just behind Covent Garden, tucked away down Maiden Lane you will find a small, unassuming restaurant serving a lovely collection of Spanish tapas with a Mexican influence and fine wines from Spain, Chile and Mexico.

Daniel Caballero (originally from Mexico City) opened Condesa London approximately three months ago in the worst possible economic climate to start a restaurant but has a formula that I think will withstand the test of time and the economy.

His formula is to keep the menu simple, offer great tasting food with innovative ingredients and a collection of wines from Spain, Chile and Mexico.  We had the opportunity to each pick from the menu but we asked Daniel to surprise us with his recommendations.

To drink we had small carafes of different wines so we could taste a bigger selection. We had Shiraz, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and my favourite a white Rioja (Genoli Organis Rioja Vivura from Spain). We finished with a dark sherry that tasted of thick chocolate and figs and I could have kept drinking that for hours!

We started with Ceviche of salmon and finely chopped herbs and onion, followed by platters loaded with Lomo (cured Iberian Acorn pork loin) Cecina de Leon (Lightly smoked wafer thin 12 month cured beef) and Chorizo Iberico (Iberian Acorn Fed Chorizo)

To eat we tried quite a lot of things from the menu including three items from the specials board; Chicken Mole Tostada - a chicken, chocolate and chilli served on little corn crackers,

Mushroom Con Truffle and Mozzarella - quesadilla filled with cooked mushrooms, green herbs and grated truffles

and something I had not tried before Pig Cheek in a Pedro Ximenez (sherry) sauce. The pig cheek has to be slow cooked and it fell apart on our plates full of flavour and tender.

My favourite was the Pulled Pork Pibil Sliders, very tasty on their own but the addition of the green pepper sauce with a slight warmth (!) was absolutely divine.

We finished with a platter of cheeses, Manchego, mahon and Valdeon with a fig conserve and quince jelly.

You can visit Condesa at 15 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London EC2E 7NG and follow them on Twitter (@condesalondon)

I will certainly  be popping in next time I am in or around Covent Garden/The Strand area of London!