Unlimited Tapas

Down in Ealing there is a branch of Las Iguanas. It took over the site occupied by Bills four years ago. I remember been saddened, as I had some excellent food from Bills, and my experience with Las Iguanas (in Birmingham) was somewhat disappointing. Though I have eaten many times in Ealing, I had never got around to visiting Las Iguanas. The main reason for this is that there are plenty of other choices in the area.

Looking for somewhere to eat, in the end we went to Las Iguanas as they had an unlimited tapas deal for £17 each. Having seen the adverts for this offer, I have been meaning to try it for a while. We did think it might be a bit sketchy, but for £17, it sounded like good value for money.

Save you reading to the end of the blog post, we had a lovely meal and enjoyed ourselves.

You have to pre-book, which to be honest, we did outside on the app and then walked in. It was a quiet Tuesday so it wasn’t busy, and we were offered a table by the window. We were given a menu, but mentioned we were here for the unlimited tapas deal, so we were given the menu for that.

There are 13 choices on the menu, well there are really only 12 as the tacos have a £5 supplement. There is a nice mix of dishes including salads. Alongside you can purchase additional sides such as fries, mac & cheese, and different kinds of salad.

You can’t just order everything all at once, they place a limit. We could only order three dishes (per two people), and we could only order food for 90 minutes.

Out first order was for the loaded nachos with fresh guacamole, fresh salsa, cheese, jalapeños, spring onions, pickled red onions, chipotle cheese sauce, sour cream, a portion of popcorn squid with garlic aioli, and some buttermilk fried chicken with agave aioli.

The nachos were nicely loaded, though some of the nacho chips were soft and chewy, the rest of the plate was delicious.

The popcorn squid was interesting, similar to popcorn chicken, these were small portions of squid covered in a crispy batter. They were interesting, but tasty. The buttermilk chicken was a portion of fried buttermilk chicken sliced and served with the agave aioli.

After finishing off those dish we ordered three more plates of food. We had calamares with garlic aioli, some hot honey fried halloumi with chilli flakes, and a plate of patatas bravas, fried potatoes, chipotle sauce and garlic aioli.

The calamares were excellent, crunchy on the outside, tender and soft in the inside. I really liked the hot honey fried halloumi which were salty and sweet, but not too squeaky. The  patatas bravas was very tasty, a nice spicy sauce offset by the aioli.

Our final order of food was some hot honey chicken wings, the roasted red pepper salad fresh red pepper salsa, cherry tomatoes, rocket, pumpkin seeds and pineapple dressing.

These were excellent chicken wings, moist and tender and full of flavour. I have found with other places chicken wings can be somewhat dried and overcooked, these were really nice, and I was impressed. The salad was lovely and refreshing and the fresh red pepper salsa had a real zing to it.

We also had some extra portions of the hot honey fried halloumi and the calamares.

Overall the food was good, much better than my previous experience of Las Iguanas. I could not fault the service which was excellent. 

More Fritto Misto

I went to the Temple Quay Street Food market where there was a lot of choice. However, I defaulted to one of my favourite boxes, the Fritto Misto from King Fin.

Fritto Misto

This was just as good as the previous boxes of Fritto Misto I have had from King Fin. Delicious fresh seafood cooked to order, with tasty fries on the side.

Fritto Misto once more

I was in Bristol and I walked to Finzel Reach for some lunch. I was tempted by the Little Smoker who were there again, but when I saw them preparing their food, I was (initially) a little disappointed. So, I went to King Fin and ordered the Fritto Misto.

Now as I waited for my Fritto Misto two people walked past with their Little Smoker meals and they looked really good. So, much so, I will try them out next time they are at a street food market I am at. I realised what I saw, they hadn’t finished putting the dishes together.

My Fritto Misto was freshly cooked to order, but it wasn’t long before it was ready. There wasn’t much of a queue, so little delay.

Fritto Misto

The box was brimming with freshly cooked deep fried crispy seafood, with calamari, fresh anchovies (whitebait), whole prawns, chunks of battered haddock, courgette slices, and sage. Alongside I had a side of rosemary fries and sauce.

Like previous boxes, this was delicious. The freshness of the box was amazing. I still found the prawns a little messy and fiddly to eat, but it was all really tasty.

Another Awesome Fritto Misto

Fritto Misto

The street food scene around where I work in Bristol, is delightful. There are twice weekly markets at Temple Quay and Finzel Reach as well as all the stalls at St Nicks. The organisers of weekly markets always try and have a mix of stalls and types of cuisine. 

On a recent visit I had eaten some delicious Fritto Misto from King Fin.

It was awesome. This was a delicious box of food. The freshly cooked squid rings, prawns and (small) fish were really tasty and it was a generous portion. The deep fried sage and courgette was a nice addition. I thought this was an amazing dish and I was well impressed.

However I like to choose different things. Well I say I like to choose different things.

So, when I was recently in Bristol, I went out at lunchtime to the Finzel Reach street food market. I had read who was there and I was really tempted by the brisket at The Little Smoker. They were a new guest addition to the line up. I even looked at their menu, but in the end I actually went with the Fritto Misto from King Fin.

The wonderful box of food I got from King Fin was slightly different to my previous Fritto Misto. It still had the calamari, the prawns, the fish and courgettes, however this time there were some chunks of battered white fish as well.

As before it was awesome, this was all cooked to order, so was hot, fresh, crisp and full of flavour. Every bite was a delight, well nearly I did find eating the prawns a little messy, but they were tasty. I was really pleased that I had gone again with this box of awesome food.

Awesome Fritto Misto

stall

Bristol has a decent street food scene, around where I work in Bristol, as well as all the stalls at St Nicks, there are twice weekly markets at Temple Quay and Finzel Reach. The organisers of those markets always try and have a mix of stalls and types of cuisine. There aren’t that many traders selling fish, one that stands out is King Fin. If I am at a market and they are trading, it is usually one I go for. So, when I went to the Finzel Reach street food market, I headed towards King Fin to try their new(ish) Fritto Misto dish. The Fritto Misto replaces the tempura monkfish on the menu. I remember when they had Fritto Misto on the menu before, and tried it back in 2022. I wasn’t that enamoured with what I had then, I wrote:

Overall, if I am honest, though I enjoyed the dish, I was a little disappointed. The calamari was great, but the rest of the fish was a little soggy, despite having just being deep fried. There were two prawns in the dish, one peeled prawn and one whole prawn. The courgette was floppy and was quite greasy.

When I heard that King Fin were bringing back the Fritto Misto onto their menu, I was eager to try it again, despite my reservations from my previous experience.

I must go to King Fin quite a bit as I got recognised as a regular, which was nice. I placed my order and waited. As with all their menu items, the food was cooked to order. After a short while I was handed my box of food and I think it looked amazing. I took it back to my office to eat.

fritto misto in a box

It was awesome. This was a delicious box of food. The freshly cooked squid rings, prawns and (small) fish were really tasty and it was a generous portion. The deep fried sage and courgette was a nice addition. I thought this was an amazing dish and I was well impressed. It certainly was much better than my previous experience. The batter was nice and crispy.  As per usual the fries were great. 

Looking forward to having this again soon.

Well they were terrible

I sometimes have the expectation that food in hotels abroad should be better than I find from UK hotels. It’s probably an unrealistic expectation and I really shouldn’t be making that assumption. Likewise, not all hotels are the same, so as with the UK there are probably hotels which are better on the continent and there are more than likely hotels with are not very good.

I was staying at the Casa Hotel in Amsterdam and I looked over the menu. I decided I would have the calamari. 

I anticipated that this might be freshly cooked squid at best, or similar to the crispy squid I had at Novotel at worst. However, it was neither of these, it was heavily battered squid rings.

calamari

These were, well to be frank, they were terrible. The batter was too thick, you couldn’t taste the squid. I really didn’t enjoy them and didn’t finish the bowl.

Crispy Calamari

I was in Birmingham for a conference and I was staying at the Novotel, a hotel I have stayed at before. 

I realised I had ordered the calamari from here before back in October 2022. Back then I wrote:

It was actually quite nice, the squid was really tender and the batter was crispy. You could tell it wasn’t made fresh, but this was late evening in a hotel. However, I did enjoy the dish.

The dish I got this time was very similar (maybe not as well presented). This was a simple dish of crispy coated squid pieces served with some salad leaves and mayonnaise.

Crispy Calamari

Not an amazing plate of food, but sometimes when you have squid from a hotel, you get battered rubbery squid rings. This dish was much better than that. The pre-battered squid was probably cooked from frozen, to keep things easy and simple for the hotel restaurant. It wasn’t the busiest place, so cooking stuff from fresh probably isn’t an option. I guess I get spoilt when I have the freshly cooked squid in a crispy coating from the likes of King Fin or La Lola in Bristol. However, I wasn’t in Bristol, so that’s that.

Pink peppercorn squid

I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel in London. I had discovered that they has run out of their magnificent roast dinners, so I needed to make a different choice. As well as a main, I decided to have a starter and went with the pink peppercorn squid with seaweed mayonnaise.

Pink peppercorn squid

This was a rather pretty plate of food. I was a little concerned that I might have had breaded calamari rings, but no there were chunks of squid in a pink peppercorn batter.

Not sure I could taste the seaweed, but overall it was a lovely starter.

Calamari and Fries from King Fin

calamari

I was working in Bristol and popped out to the Finzel Reach street food market for some lunch. One of my favourites, King Fin was there, so I went for one of my regular dishes, the calamari and fries.

King Fin is a consistently excellent street food stall, a true highlight of the Temple Quay and Finzel Reach markets. Their unwavering commitment to freshness and quality is what keeps me coming back—they’re easily one of my favourite stalls.

The food here is prepared to order, so you know it’s fresh. The calamari is a standout—the squid is incredibly tender, while the batter is perfectly light and crisp. It’s a truly delicious dish. The fries are twice-cooked and seasoned with rosemary, served with a tasty sauce. A small portion of coleslaw accompanies the meal.

I find myself drawn back to this dish again and again. While I always promise to try new things, it’s no surprise when I return to one of my favourites.

King Fin Calamari and Fries

King Fin, a consistently excellent street food stall, is a highlight of both the Temple Quay and Finzel Reach markets. Their commitment to freshness and quality makes them one of my absolute favourites.

I nearly always go for my usual order: the calamari and fries.

It’s a dish that perfectly showcases their dedication to preparing everything to order. You can tell the moment you receive it that it’s incredibly fresh. The squid itself is remarkably soft and tender, encased in a light, crispy batter that’s never greasy – simply delicious.

The fries are equally impressive. They’re twice-cooked, resulting in a perfect balance of crispy exterior and fluffy interior, and beautifully seasoned with rosemary. A delicious sauce accompanies them, adding another layer of flavour. To cut through the richness, there’s also a small, refreshing portion of slaw on the side.

Every element comes together to create a truly delicious and satisfying meal. If you ever spot King Fin, I highly recommend giving them a try!