An Iberian treat

There are some restaurateurs who seem intent on self-sabotage. Why else would the owners of this rather splendid Spanish number open it on a street defined by its Covent Garden tourist clip joints and then, to add insult to injury, call it Oops? Like, oops, we meant to open in Mayfair; or oops, we planned an all-you-can-eat Indian; or oops, we forgot to offer a nice chilled Manzanilla on our otherwise intriguing wine list?

Who knows? Braving its dark, deliberately cork strewn interior on a sunny day reaped surprising rewards. There’s a hidden, really handsome upstairs room. And ordering from the lunch menu – four small dishes for £12.95 – brought a succession of excellent quality Iberian treats: thinly sliced, nutty fuet (a salami-like Catalan sausage); ripe, mulchy morcilla (black pudding) with caramelised onions; meaty chorizo cooked, Asturian-style, in cider; and Basque-influenced salt cod on piquillo peppers.

There were the odd weirdnesses: a tepid blue cheese croqueta that, while it tasted fine, had an off-putting beige interior; bread tasted frozen; a generous plateful of terrific, acorn fed Iberico ham (ordered in addition to the set menu) had all its silky, melting fat trimmed; perhaps a sop to British tastes but a huge mistake nevertheless. As they say: oops. Marina O’Loughlin

A meal for two with wine, water and service costs about £80.
31 Catherine Street WC2. Tel: 020 7836 3609.
Tube: Covent Garden

Oops Restaurante and Vinateria
31 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JS