Conveniently placed to welcome a hungry passer-by at 46 Broadwick Street, just a short stroll from the crush of Carnaby Street and Oxford Circus, Brindisa Tapas is easy to spot: the terracotta awning, the white frontage, the bar energy that spills onto the pavement on a warm evening. But the restaurant carries something more than good looks. It is one of six London venues that together tell the story of how Spanish food stopped being a holiday memory and became part of the way this city eats.
That story starts, improbably, with a car boot. In 1988, Monika Linton began selling artisan Spanish cheeses directly to chefs from the back of her Peugeot — introducing the likes of Antonio Carluccio, Mark Hix and Rose Gray at The River Café to producers most Britons had never heard of. Nearly four decades later, the business she founded has grown, organically and without formula, into a collection of six distinct restaurants, specialist food shops and a thriving wholesale operation. Along the way, Brindisa helped make Manchego, jamón ibérico, piquillo peppers and regional charcuterie the everyday pantry staples they are today.
Soho sits within that lineage rather than apart from it. While the group's spiritual home remains the Borough Market Tapas Counter — the site of London's first traditional no-reservations tapas bar, born in a converted potato warehouse in the late 1990s — Broadwick Street channels the lively, convivial spirit that defines Spain's own eating and drinking culture. Each venue in the collection wears its neighbourhood differently: Battersea has its river terrace, Richmond its genteel riverside calm. Soho, fittingly, has the buzz.
What's on the plate
The pleasure of Brindisa has always been in the sourcing. Behind every board and conserva tin sits a network of farmers, cheesemakers, olive growers and fishermen whose relationships with the group span decades.
The cheeses show the touch. The current Torralba Mahón — fried Mahón cow's-milk cheese with a sobrasada crumble and orange blossom honey — is a small masterclass in letting good produce speak for itself, while the prized Monte Enebro, the ash-coated goat's cheese from Ávila, turns up stuffed into a courgette flower (the Flor de calabacín) with caramelised peaches. Elsewhere you'll find Cantabrian and Nardín anchovies — the two paired in the Matrimonio — the traditional chorizo of Alejandro, and a rotating cast of croquetas, tortilla española, grilled seafood and Iberian pork that shifts with the seasons.
Order this:
If it's your first visit, regulars and reviewers point to the same handful of plates:
- Croquetas de jamón — the Ibérico ham croquettes are the near-unanimous favourite: hot and crisp from the fryer, molten within. Brindisa loves them so much it opened a whole spin-off, Bar Kroketa, around the corner on Beak Street.
- Pimientos de Padrón — blistered, salty Galician peppers with just the right char and the occasional fiery one. On practically every table.
- Torralba Mahón — the fried cow's-milk cheese with sobrasada crumble and orange blossom honey; the sweet-savoury plate diners single out as a "must".
- Tortilla española — kept deliberately simple, and all the better for it.
- Jamón ibérico de bellota — acorn-fed, hand-carved ham that reviewers describe, plainly, as "unreal".
- Gambas al ajillo — six garlic king prawns, a benchmark order.
- Arroz negro — squid-ink black rice, dramatic to look at and genuinely good to eat.
- Carrilleras Ibéricas and Pulpo a la Gallega — the heartier plates, slow-cooked Ibérico pork cheeks in their own broth and hand-caught Galician octopus with Koffman potatoes, that turn a few snacks into a proper dinner.
For pudding, the burnt Basque cheesecake and the almond tarta de Santiago are the ones to end on. Insider tip echoed across the reviews: ask for a table towards the back, where you can watch the kitchen at work.
¡Brindis!
The name says it all. Brindisa comes from brindis — a toast shared between friends — and drinks have been central from the start. Long before Spanish vermouth became a London fixture, Brindisa was pouring it over ice with citrus and teaching diners the pleasures of the pre-meal aperitif.
The list rewards curiosity. There's Brindisa Ancestral, the first wine made exclusively for the group by Sergi Colet in Penedès — a softly sparkling, lightly cloudy Xarel·lo Vermell — alongside respected names such as Fento's Albariño from Rías Baixas, Rafael Palacios' Godello and the elegant Riojas of Finca Allende. The sherry selection runs the full arc, from bone-dry Fino and Manzanilla to richer Amontillado and Oloroso, each chosen to sit beside the food.
Whether you drop in for a single glass and a tapa or settle in for the long haul, the philosophy is the same one Monika Linton fell for on the Costa Brava all those years ago: gather, share, and raise a glass. In Soho, that's never been a hard sell.
Brindisa Tapas Soho, 46 Broadwick Street, London W1F 7AE. brindisatapas.com / @brindisa_tapas
