Uli B.
Yelp
I live relatively close to this place, yet in almost 5 years I've not managed to come and check this place out...until this past Sunday. I was in an experimental mood and with my other half gone on a business trip, I browsed through my bookmarks list on the Yelp App until this place came up ;-)
When I arrived, I was welcomed by Alan, one of the owners, and was seated right away. Turns out it was a very slow evening, which Alan attributed to the fact that it was Marathon Sunday in London. Well, good for me, as I had all the attention of the staff and therefore had a very pleasant dining experience.
My favourite part of Del Parc is that I don't have to make a decision when it comes to food...in fact, you cannot make a decision. You just tell the staff about any dietary limitations you might have and off they go. I was reading on the blog of the Kentishtowner that this idea has evolved from the fact that many of the regular patrons just told the chef to prepare whatever he deemed to be best. This is my kind of restaurant ;-)
And soon the platters (tapas) started appearing: at first a charcuterie selection, accompanied with pickles and filled olives. Then, a plate of Galician mussels was placed in front of me...and I was at first a little shocked. I should mention that I don't like mussels, but I had made a pact with the staff and my dietary limitations didn't include mussels. Well, turns out I actually do like mussels and I would've never found out, if I wasn't "forced" to eat them.
The following dishes were spinach with pine nuts and marinated raisins, followed by king prawns in a very garlicky sauce. I confessed to Alan that I'm no pro in eating prawns and he suggested to just use my hands and dig out as much meat as possible. As this was a very messy undertaking, he brought me a bowl with lemon water to wash my hands in afterwards. He also brought me some additional baguette to soak up the garlic sauce.
When I said that you don't need to make any decision here, then I was slightly incorrect: you do need to make a decision about what you want to drink. I went for sherry, as this fit perfectly into my experimental mood...being somewhat of a sherry-virgin ;-) I really liked the sherry that Alan chose for me, although I thought it was a little to chilled.
After I'd finished my meal, I engaged in a longish conversation with Alan - given that there were no other customers, he was able to dedicate a lot of attention to me. He told me that they'd been at this place for about 12 years now and that before this little tapas place, he and his partner-in-crime, Steve (the chef) had actually run a deli nearby.
Overall I really liked it here and I will have to come back with more people - given that this is a tapas place, it ought to be more fun to sample more dishes.