Al Andalus

Restaurant page

My best tapas experiences have always involved being on holiday with my family in Andalucia; a quartet of non-Spanish speakers, subsisting off our ability to point at interesting-looking dishes in various bars. Al Andalus, the tapas bar on Little Clarendon Street, proved an exciting prospect – familiar dishes in a great setting. One of the other beautiful things about tapas is the sharing, and Al-Andalus caters well for people such as myself who find the prospect of sharing rather nerve-wracking – what if the last piece of tortilla disappears before you have a chance to sample it, busy as you are tucking into patatas bravas with spicy tomato sauce? Luckily, the provision of side plates means you can grab a bit of everything before it disappears. And you will want to.

The food is excellent: portions are surprisingly large (you would be unlikely to finish more than three plates of tapas each) and everything is packed full of flavour (due, I suspect, to liberal amounts of fine Spanish olive oil). Classics such as patatas bravas and tortilla were excellent; though with the exciting array of plates on offer you may want to attempt something a little more adventurous, such as the deep-fried goats’ cheese with honey; a sublime combination. If that isn’t enough to supply a goats’ cheese fix, the milhojas de queso de cabra (goats’ cheese baked with potato and serrano ham) will definitely do so. The calamares romana were on the right side of crispy, with a lovely seafood flavour still shining through from the squid. A seafood addict, I also ordered the marinated seafood salad: octopus legs and replica rolex mussels marinated in Spanish vinaigrette, which was a fresh-tasting foil to the abundance of potato, cheese and ham adorning our table. For ardent carnivores and fans of hearty food, the montaditos de lorno y queso, pork loin marinated in paprika and olive oil and served on tomato bread with melted cheese, is as good as it gets: a hamburger with a twist. Just make sure you have a napkin at hand.

The all-round favourite at our table, however, was the delightful datiles con bacon: dates stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in bacon and grilled. An interesting combination, but try it and you will not be disappointed: the sharp creaminess of the blue cheese and the sweetness of the chewy dates cuts through the saltiness of the bacon, and the result is pure gastronomic heaven. You can even get them with beef on a skewer, if the bacon isn’t enough meat to satisfy your carnivorous cravings.

Al-Andalus also offer main courses; there are several grilled meat dishes, and the classic paella. Unfortunately, we were all far too full to even attempt a main, let alone dessert; though from what I could spy at the adjacent table, the desserts are definitely worth a try. As is the sangria, available by the glass or in litres in authentic-looking earthenware jugs that reminded me of a memorable (or not so, as the case may be) episode in a bar in Barcelona. All in all, a perfect destination both for large groups (they also offer a set menu for parties of seven or more) or diner a deux. It is also very good value, with plates of tapas ranging from £3.50 to £5.50; a couple could share five and probably not need dessert.

However, do be careful to check your order – we were brought several plates of bread and tortilla that we hadn’t ordered; assuming (perhaps naively) that they were complimentary, we tucked in with relish and were then charged for all of them, whilst some of our ordered dishes seemed to have been forgotten by the kitchen. Though, the meal was so enjoyable (and enhanced by the presence of a Spanish dancer brandishing castanets) that I will ascribe this to the fact that the restaurant was busy and that we did order about twenty different dishes between us, so I’ll let them off.

A version of this article featured in The Oxford Student newspaper, published by Oxford Student Services Limited (OSSL). OxNosh reproduces this article by agreement with OSSL.