Fino is in no way a budget restaurant but it sure is fantastic! We had a little occasion to celebrate and Blai requested a meal of cochinillo, a roasted milk-fed piglet that is the specialty of Segovia in Castilla–Leon in Spain; I quickly agreed with that idea! I found that Fino served it as well as other fine tapas (it is the sister restaurant to Barrafina) and so I booked immediately. We were supposed to eat there in early February but our reservation got cancelled at the last minute due to flooding in this basement restaurant. Last week was the first time since then that we were able to find a free evening – their website does say that they only managed to reopen in mid-March though. An excellent review appeared in the Metro the week before we visited, confirming that I’d chosen a good ‘un.
Boy, was I excited – suckling pig! My research was so thorough in the subject (yes, I know I’m insane) that I even spent some time on YouTube looking at cochinillo videos, confirming that the skin of the pig should be extra crisp. The roasted piglet itself should also be so tender that a plate is used to portion the whole piglet to show off this fact. They take their piggies seriously in Segovia!
But man cannot dine on piglet alone (or can he?); we ordered some other tapas too, making our decisions while munching on some complimentary olives. To start, a couple of crab croquetas (£3.50). These spherical croquetas contained a creamy, delicately flavoured crab and bechamel filling – very nice.
Next came a small potful of arroz negro (£8.90). This black rice was topped with a single grilled baby squid, so tender and garlicky. The rice was tender but with a slight bite to it but it was a little soupier than I expected and it didn’t come with any allioli (a garlic and oil mayo), the traditional accompaniment to arroz negro. Still, it was delicious and we ate every last bit.
Then along came our roast suckling pig – exactly 1/4 of a pig (complete with itty bitty hoof), the recommended serving size for 2-3 people (£35). This little milk-fed pig was sourced directly from Segovia and must be ordered a minimum of 48 hours in advance. Oh, the skin was so crisp and the fat just under the skin was tremendously tasty and the meat was so soft. Yes, it’s a bit pricey but really, it’s fantastic and they roast it very well here. A tiny copper pot was served alongside, containing a mouthwatering concoction of roast piglet juices, lots of garlic, thyme and I think a bit of lemon (there was a little acidity in there). I was almost drinking that when we’d finished the pork. OK, I actually did drink it. As Blai aptly put it, “There are three piggies at this table.”
Throughout the month of March, they were offering calçots (£5.50), the large Catalan spring onions served grilled with Romesco. This arrived alongside our piglet and was just beautiful: tender, smoky, soft spring onions and the Romesco so full of flavour that we almost licked the plate clean. We’d heard from Blai’s mother that a slightly different Romesco, a salvitxada, is served with calçots but I have no idea how this compares to it. I need to go to a calçotada!
Finally, our classic tortilla (£5.50) also came to fill up our table. I love the little round tortillas that they make – the inside is beautifully moist and the whole thing sure beats any tortilla that I’ve ever made. What you see here is just a quarter of it.
We just had enough room at the end for dessert. Blai chose the sorbets (£6.50), which unsurprisingly turned out to be a selection of three homemade (I think) sorbets: mango, pear, and passionfruit. The sorbets reminded me of those from Berthillon in Paris, where the flavour of each fruit is captured so perfectly. The grainy texture of a pear was also apparent in that sorbet.
I chose the more enigmatic donuts and vanilla ice cream (£6.50), thinking that perhaps some kind of sweet bunyol/fritter would arrive. It really did turn out to be three very large donuts dusted with sugar and cinnamon served with a small quenelle of a very rich and creamy vanilla ice cream. These were yeasty rather than cakey donuts and as it’d been a while since I had one, I enjoyed mine very much!
Do I recommend it? Of course I do! – perhaps not for everyday eating (I wish!) but definitely if you have a special occasion. Howerver, If you’re planning on visiting, don’t forget to make a reservation! Even on a Tuesday night, the place was absolutely rammed.
Fino
33 Charlotte Street
London W1T 1RR
Sun, 5 Apr, 2009 at 19:01
WOW, that suckling piglet (and everything else) looks amazing. I’ve still only been to Barrafina but not made it to Fino yet. It will be added to the ever-growing list of restaurants to visit one day!
Sun, 5 Apr, 2009 at 20:14
Wow! That 1/4 baby porker is cheap considering St.John charges more than 320 smackers for the whole thing. Great write up, but I can’t imagine myself dining here alone though.
Sun, 5 Apr, 2009 at 21:58
Coooooor that piggy looks so tasty, must’ve been worth the wait. Great review!
Mon, 6 Apr, 2009 at 07:36
If I hadn’t recently eaten cochinillo every day for almost a week, I’d be running to Fino asap. 🙂 I did, however, just go back to Barrafina last Friday evening, and the food was tasty as always (though the 1.5-hour wait was, also as always, irritating). I’d forgotten the two restaurants were related, so I’ll definitely visit Fino soon now that you’ve reminded me.
Mon, 6 Apr, 2009 at 08:10
Wow, that all looks incredible. Fino has been on my list for some time but this post has just pushed it right up to the top.
Mon, 6 Apr, 2009 at 12:23
Oh my GAAAWWWDD! That piggy looks amazing! The crispy skin! The fat! The tender meat! Can you tell I want to eat it? Nice find Su-Lin. I wonder if the baby squid was really garlicky as it was a little play on the allioli idea – still, not quite the same is it?!
Mon, 6 Apr, 2009 at 17:28
Oh lordy. I have something nice waiting in the fridge for lunch, but you have completely derailed me. Squid! Spring onions in romesco! And that pig…
Mon, 6 Apr, 2009 at 19:46
You know funnily, I ate a Fino ages ago and had the donuts and totally forgot about them until you mentioned them! I think that and the rosemary garlic fries were the best things I had that night. Sounds like you may have had a better experience than me.
Wed, 8 Apr, 2009 at 12:34
Oh my, what a great post. Everything looks incredible. Thinking of maybe heading here for my birthday meal. Those crab croquetas sound and look delicious but of course the pig steals the show!
Wed, 8 Apr, 2009 at 13:21
Helen YLP: Oh yeah, it was definitely an amazing pig!
Les: Judging from this photo, I think the St John pig is slightly older and their site says it’s supposed to serve 14-16. This quarter fed the 2 of us and Fino’s site says a whole one (£145) should feed 6-8.
Lizzie: Thank you! It was definitely worth the wait!
American in London: If I could afford it, I’d be running to Fino and Barrafina often too! 😀 We’d actually planned a trip to Segovia a few years ago but couldn’t make it in the end… good thing cochinillo is available in London!
Kerri: Yay! Getting the pig?
Helen: Oh, I never thought of that play on allioli…nice spot! But definitely not garlicky enough!
Jessamyn: I almost ordered chipirones too…itty bitty squid deep fried… delicious!
Krista: Oh, I didn’t see any rosemary and garlic fries on the menu…that sounds so good! Yeah, we really liked the place…maybe the refurb/revamp helped?
Boo: Oh, a birthday pig! How fantastic – I think you’ll definitely like Fino!
Wed, 8 Apr, 2009 at 19:28
This looks like a meal of a lifetime (to me, anyway!), and if this is common fare for Castilla-Leon then I may need to look into relocating there. However, if I get to London before C-L, I’m making a note to come here with a ravenous appetite. Gorgeous photos and an excellent write-up!
Thu, 9 Apr, 2009 at 17:31
There is a review of Fino in the evening standard magazine dated 9th April by Mark Bolland. But your review was much better as he missed out the suckling piglet. I love suckling pork roasted Chinese style and I’m sure the Spanish version is great too. But he did mentioned the tortillas and the delicious sounding crab croquettes!
Mon, 13 Apr, 2009 at 21:25
Sapuche: Not sure about all of Castilla-Leon but definitely in Segovia. And thank you very much!
Robert: I suppose it’s unlikely that a food critic would go reviewing the special orders…but thanks for pointing out the review! I’m waiting for it to show up online. They also do a milk-fed lamb that you’ve also got to pre-order. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll love the cochinillo!
Thu, 16 Apr, 2009 at 06:20
Wow it all makes me so hungry. Your photo of the arroz negro is amazing.. I want to go make it right now.
Fri, 17 Apr, 2009 at 22:21
Kat and Kim: Thanks! The food here is wonderful…but I bet the food where you are right now is pretty good too!
Sun, 26 Apr, 2009 at 20:18
[…] few days after my re-visit to Barrafina, I saw Tamarind and Thyme’s post on her delicious meal at Fino, the older sibling of Barrafina, where you can eat your tapas *and* make a reservation for a proper […]
Tue, 2 Nov, 2010 at 11:27
[…] you’re not limited to making them in the typical cylindrical shape: the ones at Barrafina and Fino are big and spherical and I once had some rather delicate examples at a restaurant somewhere in the […]
Sun, 3 Apr, 2011 at 22:57
[…] ever travelling there from January to March. This was to be my first one. I’d had calçots grilled and deep fried before but I’d never had them en masse and I was looking forward to […]
Thu, 18 Aug, 2011 at 21:16
[…] Heading the list of restaurants I really should have been to but haven’t is Barrafina, but a no booking policy and tales of epic queues reduce its appeal for those of us with a babysitter to get back to. Our compromise was Fino, Barrafina’s Charlotte Street sister restaurant which takes reservations, albeit with a two hour time limit. I was intrigued to visit, having read contrasting reviews from some time ago from An American in London and Tamarind and Thyme. […]