Weekly Review: Ibai

Stunning Basque steakhouse is anything but little Britain

Quick hit: Basque tapas, amazing steaks, prime location, excellent atmosphere.

Details: Booking advised. City / Farringdon. ££££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram.
Find it on Google Maps. 92 Bartholomew Cl, EC1A 7BN.

My first impression of Ibai was its size. For a London restaurant, it’s gigantic. And it’s an odd shape. Sort of weirdly pentagonal. The kind of thing that would cause a teenager to flunk a geometry test.

The ceilings are tall and the windows run very high on every side, so during a lunch visit, on a sunny day, the place positively glows.

And it’s comfortable. The kind of place you really can settle in.

The size and comfort are key assets for a Professional Lunch. Tables aren’t piled on top of each other. You could complete a secret deal over lunch, and your corporate security or compliance folk wouldn’t even be perturbed.

I also chuckled at Ibai’s location. Though its street address is Bartholomew Close, the building actually sits on Little Britain.

Ibai, corner of Little Britain and Bartholomew Close. Plus a bollard.

But there’s nothing Little Britain about Ibai. Instead, it demonstrates London’s status as a truly global city, attracting the best culinary practitioners from here, there, everywhere.

And it was the food we came for. In this case, Basque.

The Basque Country, of course, straddles the Pyrenees mountains to encompass portions of both France and Spain.

Its food is drawn from the mountains and the sea. Wonderful fish. Amazing lamb. Stunning, fresh produce.

And for years, Basque Country chefs have turned out some of the most interesting, ground-breaking, inspired food in the world.

Ibai is a steakhouse, but it shows the same inclinations, influenced by both land and sea. And by both sides of the Pyrenees.

We began on the French side with the “Croque Ibai,” a witty take on the classic. Delicious fresh bread, filled with “carabinero, boudin noir and Tomme de Brebis.” So, that’s prawns, blood pudding, and cheese. Then toasted. Wow.

Croque Ibai. This plus some chips could have been lunch on their own.

We also went for a snackier option, returning to the Spanish side for “La Noir de Bigorre Ham & Crisps with smoked piparra peppers.” The ham is among the best you can find anywhere with a wonderful balance of salt and creamy fattiness that made a fantastic match with homemade crisps so thin that you could practically see through them.

There was nothing haute cuisine about these two dishes. They were bar food, pure and simple. The kind of tapas you wish you could find. Ideal to pair with a pleasant wine or sherry. And delicious, of course.

Then, steak. We decided to share a 400g Sirloin, but not just any sirloin. Wagyu beef produced domestically by a farmer called Sam Frost in Norfolk.

I’ve had Wagyu before, but this was next level. Perfectly cooked, with a wonderful texture that’s unlike any other kind of beef. It was truly melt in the mouth. Served with homemade chips.

Dessert sent us back over the Pyrenees for Pain Perdu — French Toast — “with rum.” I’m not going to argue that this was a light option, but it didn’t feel like a heavy pudding, and coming after the Wagyu steak, it managed to be both refreshing and decadent.

Ibai was excellent and seemingly designed from the ground up for a Professional Lunch. I’m glad to heartily recommend it.

There’s also a fabulous looking bar off to one side where you could pass an enjoyable evening drinking wine or cocktails and munching on Ibai’s selection of tapas.

The caveat on Ibai is that it is pricey. Your FD will look you at you askance if you try to put through an expense for 1kg Wagyu Ribeye at £115, even if you share it two or three ways. You’ll be in even bigger trouble if you plump for Ibai’s signature “King Crab Rice” at £85. (Which we didn’t.)

If you wanted a more affordable experience, you could work through a bunch of the Basque tapas, enjoy a couple of glasses of wine, and have a perfectly pleasant time.

Either way, Ibai should be on your list. Its location, food, wine, and atmosphere make it an excellent choice for Professional Lunch.

Thanks for reading my review this week. Been to Ibai? What did you think? And what’s your favourite choice for steak in London? Let me know in the Comments. And please subscribe if you have'n’t already.