Weekly Review: Rayuela

Perhaps critics and writers still matter, after all.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I’m trialling the summary capsule at the bottom of the review for a few weeks. Let me know in the Comments if you have strong feels about its position.

---

Some people wonder whether professional critics and restaurant writers are still relevant in today’s food landscape. It’s Tik Tok and Instagram — not the newspapers — that drive footfall these days. And who reads anything anymore?

I don’t have the data to make a solid argument, but a detailed FT analysis suggests that they all have impact.

Here’s the one relevant fact I do have at my disposal: I only went to Rayuela because of

Andy Lynes

. And he went to Rayuela because of Giles Coren.

Andy visited Rayuela a few weeks ago, and published a positive write-up in his Smashed at the Weekend newsletter.

It was on Andy’s radar thanks to a glowing Giles Coren review fully a year before. Indeed, I would suggest that it’s among the best written reviews that I’ve seen from Coren, who obviously loved it.

When I mentioned Andy’s review in my weekly Critics Wrap-Up, an old friend saw it and got in touch. He lives in the area. He’s a regular at Rayuela. There aren’t enough west London places in the Professional Lunch guide. “We must go,” he urged.

So we did.

On a gorgeous sunny Friday, I found myself on the Elizabeth Line, zipping west from Whitechapel. Moments later, I was enjoying a wonderful class of white Rioja from Muja on the sunny terrace in front of the restaurant, enjoying a view of the Christ the Saviour church, and catching up with my old friend.

Rayuela does offer a set-lunch option, but we were hungry and curious. So we went wild and ordered an assortment of Spanish delights.

The early round included croquetas so skilfully made that the coating was thin and the filling was oozing. An ox meat tataki had a hit of green chilli and yuzu. The fat in the ox had rendered, but hadn’t disappeared entirely, so the experience was like eating a really good Waygu. Grilled artichokes came topped with the aged jamón that has made Salamanca famous. There was a fantastic almond sauce that brought the dish together.

First round at Rayuela. Croquetas, artichokes with jamón, and ox tataki.

My main was octopus, served with roasted red pepper sauce. The thing about octopus is that it’s so easy to ruin, and so hard to get right. This was perfect. The knife slid in with no resistance at all. The sauce elevated the experience. Black rice, made from seafood stock and squid ink, with a topping of prawns, was similarly excellent.

Black rice, octopus, and blue cheese cheesecake — the dish of the day

The best dish of the day was the blue cheese cheesecake. Served warm and oozing, I’ve never had a cheesecake like it. Sharp and salty, but also sweet and creamy. It’s one of those culinary miracles that is great because it shouldn’t work.

We lingered over coffee, enjoying the sunshine. Only the mildly irritating fact of an end-of-day Zoom call drew me back to the train.

I’m not in a position to judge whether Rayuela is the best Spanish spot in London. I’m not sure I would cross town again just to visit. But if I lived in west London, I would go there a lot. And its location so near the Elizabeth Line and half the tube lines makes it an attractive option for a gathering. As a place for a professional lunch, it really was outstanding.

Thanks again to Andy Lynes — and Giles Coren — for drawing my attention to it.

---

Quick hit: Outstanding Salamancan delights in a pleasant west London spot.

Details: Booking advised. Ealing Broadway. £££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram and from Giles Coren.
Find it on Google Maps. Unit 9C, Dickens Yard, W5 2TD.

---

Thanks for reading this week’s review. What’s your favourite Spanish place in London? Tell me in the Comments. And please do subscribe if you haven’t already.