Fino

Delicious Spanish Food

Dining at Fino is not cheap, but the quality of the food & the wine combined with excellent service mean that it is still very good value for money. The staff are really helpful without being irritating. The plates of food keep coming out, but they are prepared to slow the service down if asked. We had a fabulous meal and will return

Basement settings are notoriously difficult and most of the time an atmospheric let-down (save for few exceptions like hakkasan). This one is one of them which is a bit of a shame as the food is actually quite good – decent higher-end tapas offering although while decent and of consistantly good quality doesn't over-exite you either (and then you come back to the somewhat lacklustre atmoshpere on top).

I love this tapas bar/restaurant… now I must say that I never treat it as a formal meal out as such and always try to sit at the bar by the kitchen than sit in the actual ‘tabled’ area as for me this provides a better atmosphere where you can enage with the brilliant bar staff, look over the kitchen and really enjoy the atmosphere.

It is not cheap but the tapa's is good and varied… the crispy pork belly is to die for and on the one occassion when I have sat at a table for a more formal meal we had the suckling pig which is rich but amazing!

I can see why people may not rate is that highly as for a ‘formal’ dinner; there are better experiences out there; but for a bottle of wine some light tapas and atmosphere sat at the bar with a date it is a great venue.

Beware. If you like us ended up in this beautifully decorated Charlotte Street basement on account of Gordon Ramsay's latest, self-publicising, piece of commercial TV – you will be gutted. Spanish clearly does not equal Tapas. But Tapas should surely sit within Spanish? And the first few other reviews I have read are spot-on.
This is probably not the best tapas in Charlotte Street let alone London. better elsewhere at a fraction of the price. Our favourite being in Marbella, just up front the yacht club where you pay by the number of “clean sticks” at the end of your evening. And you could EasyJet it there and back, and dine, for less than we paid on Saturday. Our last bill in Marbella being €40 for two including drinks!
Fino.
Four of us dining for my mum's birthday. I'll keep to the facts.
Wine – decent red for £26. So far so good. 8 “grazeing plates” ordered. 3 never came – the razor clams, the plain pan and the tortilla with chorizo. The other 5 at random intervals – which had nothing to do with the time to cook or the pace at which we were eating.
Plain tortilla – very good. Manchego cheese massively over-priced, but tasty. £7.50? Who have we offended? Sardines – ok, tomato bread – by all accounts good and lemon and chillie chicken wings – the best of 5 received from the 8 ordered.
Moving on – my wife had pre-ordered (the need so to do a worry in itself) the suckling pig for 2-3 persons. £35 – now I dont know about you, but for that i would expect it to be (a) perfectly seasoned and (b) one of the best I had ever had.
Neither applied here.
A couple of croquette plates – 2 on each, like something mum would get from Iceland – again stunningly lacking in flavour or seasoning. A long-horn beef stew came to the rescue at this point – very deep and rich flavour – beautifully tender meat – but for around £14 I had hoped for more than 1 piece each. But by this point the extent of the robbery was becoming amusing.
Out of curiosity I asked if the razor clams had surfaced yet – or indeed any of the other missing plates – but language difficulties meant that the manageress appeared next. I am assuming it was a comprehension issue – surely no 20-something waitress would tell a customer quite so agressively and categorically that, despite 4 witnesses asking, no dishes asked after had been ordered. You do remember something like ordering razor clams, it's not really an everyday occurrence.
Anna – the manageress – was of course, charm and warmth personified. Genuinely concerned and wanting to make amends. But then the Spanish lady is a wonderful actress – look at penelope Cruz. Three free deserts and coffees seemed quite acceptable. Nothing wrong with the poached pear, Santiago tart or 3 chocolate desert. In fact very good value for money. Re-read the penultimate sentence at this point.
The cardinal Mendoza brandies were the finale and actually became high point. Quite stunning in fact.
Now here's the issue – I used to be able to get better than this in the Stable Door in Welwyn. And for 4 of us that would have been under £100. Without the peace offerings, this would have exceeded £250. By the way the Alhambra Negra beer forgotten about earlier on was also very good.
But this establishment holds itself up as the very best of its type. Sadly it is nearer to being the worst.
I had assumed an unlucky visit – but then read the other reviews. As Sir Alan would say – if 12 people tell you its an elephant, then it's probably an elephant.
With regards to mood or ambience – very good – and the senior staff really are very good – but unfortunately we were only graced by their attendance as a consequence of the errors made before half-time. There are maybe 30 tables/benches/alcoves below ground at Finos – and a brief review of the occupants of these makes it quite obvious to see what this place has turned into – probably through no fault of its own ; somewhere to bring a boy or girl on a first or second date. In saying “money no object” – which you ARE, if you come here – you will probably get from the non-payer whatever it is you are seeking. The Charlotte Street set in fact, deserve what they have created. And Gordon – shame on you for misleading the public to such an immense degree.
p.s. a previous reviewer. I know where you are coming from, but if you give out 15 points over 4 categories, it is just silly to score the place a one…

Really awful and overpriced – just goes to show that hype is alive and well in medialand.

Backstreet entrance, followed by an institutional corridor to a done-up basement
raw egg in the tortilla, raw crushed garlic on fries, salad literally soaked in vinegar
raw crushed garlic on steak supposedly in a porto sauce-bit of an overdone theme here…
£5 for a glass of orange juice
The food made my girlfriend ill – and she loves spanish food I wasn't ill but then I refused to eat most of mine
Brought back exactly the food I sent back for a second try to try to persuade me to eat it
They bring each plate of food when they feel like it, not side dishes at the same time as mains for example. £46 bill and all we finished were some croquettes – which were liquid inside
staff were lovely though…

Having been told that Fino was being hailed as the best Spanish restaurant in London by Gordon Ramsay and others, I had high expectations. As a Spaniard, I was also really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I could not have been more disappointed by the food, which fell below the standard I get in my local bar in Barcelona (for a third of the price and without the wait).

They brought the tapas all separately, which meant we spent far too long with very, very little to eat. 30 minutes with a plate of cheese and 3 small, totally unremarkable croquettes, followed by another 30 minutes with a plate of squid that was slimy and flavourless. Then we spent another half hour with a small portion of black rice (arroz negro), which was lukewarm and also lacking in flavour – the fish stock had not been prepared properly. So in the end it took 1 hour and a half hours before the only decent bit of the meal: artichokes and crisp pork belly.

Overall, the food falls well below the standard you would expect for such a restaurant and at these prices. Apparently the chef is Basque and very good, but she's clearly not got a grip on her kitchen. The lengthy and completely uncoordinated serving of the tapas just makes it all the more painful.

I thought that by taking my partner on his birthday to Fino I was making a right and safe choice.
After reading reviews, looking through the gallery and menu on their webpage, having heard about the success of Barrafina, I thought I could not go wrong.

Well, I did go wrong.

The decoration is not great. Maybe it was very trendy about 10 years ago, but it needs some updating. It looks nothing like the pictures on their website.
The service in general is a bit careless. They seem quite dozed off.

The food is very good. Flavors are great. We ordered the charcuterie platter which I wasn´t particularly pleased with, but the ham and potatoes croquettes were great, the artichokes as well. The prawns are very enjoyable, so were the scallops. And the desserts, in this case crema catalana and a selection of ice creams are quite good, but not surprising either.

If you do not care about the atmosphere and the service, and you are just looking for a great spanish meal, then this is the place.
If you want to be surprised with flavors, and well treated, then maybe try Casa Brindisa. Another lovely spanish restaurant with good service and similar food standards.

Fino did not live up to its reputation. . Many of the dishes were average but the price was high. Also we were a group of 5 seated at a large round table , the background noise was so such that conversation was only possible with the adjacent persons. We have had much better food at a reasonable price at Dehesa and Salt Yard .

After hearing lots of recommendations for Fino, I was really looking forward to dining there. However, the experience failed to live up to it's reputation and glowing reviews.
Most of the dishes we ordered didn't even get to the level of most local tapas restaurants. I've enjoyed far better Padron peppers at Carmen in Clapham common, and the tortilla was nowhere near what you'd get at Brindisa.

But, it was the service which was the real let down of the night. Firstly, the scowling receptionist was anything but welcoming and helpful. To drink, we selected a 1998 Urbina, but were presented with a 1999 bottle, when asked if we could have the year we requested we were told this had sold out months ago. Would've been helpful if they updated their wine list.
We sent back three dishes as they were either cold or inedible – the rump of lamb was so tough it was virtually impossible to eat, unless you wanted to spend ten minutes chewing.
The atmosphere was rather subdued for a Friday night, with the sound of smashing dishes as waitresses dropped trays frequently ringing through the restaurant.

I wish I'd walked a little further down the road and gone to Salt Yard, where you know you won't be disappointed by the food or the service. I will not be going again, although I did have a good martini at the bar.

Fino is disappointing. Sincerely, and being a Spanish national, I dont have a clue why squaremeal has rated this restaurant with two stars…
This restaurant is clearly overpriced and you dont get a taste of what a tapas type of experience is like. The modern decor also is not appropriate for this type of cuisine. The wine was good but overpriced and the food very average. One advise: look for better Spanish restaurants in London. This one is not worth it.