Munch: El Rincon de Rafa

As you may have read it was my husband, Tim’s birthday on Friday.

To celebrate we went for tapas at El Rincon de Rafa in town. It’s been about three years since I was there last and I had such a good time I was looking forward to it very much.

If you haven’t been to this lovely little Spanish tapas restaurant, it’s located behind Deansgate (just after Sainsbury’s if you’re heading out of town) and it’s one of Manchester’s gems.

Trotting down the stairs and trough the doors to the right, we were met with the friendly staff who took us to a table within a couple of minutes. Drinks swiftly served, a pint for Tim and a diet coke for me, we set about the menu to see what was in store.

I was right on the whitebait. I love it!

Tim only east fish (no meat) so we wrote a list of what we’d like and tried to ensure we got a good spread of everything.

We ordered:

Hot bread topped with garlic and parsley                              

£2.95 (number 1 on the menu)

Spicy hot potatoes                                                                

£3.95 (number 5 on the menu)

Whitebait, vinegar, olive oil, garlic and parsley                       

£3.95 (number 4 on the menu)

Silver hake deep fried in garlic and parsley butter                   

£5.15 (number 10 on the menu)

Mediterranean king prawns                                                   

£6.95 (number 13 on the menu)

Small octopus, garlic, onion and white wine                           

£4.95 (number 16 on the menu)

Paprika chorizo sautéed in red wine                                      

£4.95 (number 26 on the menu)

Best mushrooms baked with blue cheese and cream            

£5.25 (number 32 on the menu)

Piqullo peppers filled with tuna and potatoes                       

£5.25 (number 36 on the menu)

We also go an extra order for prawns in filo pastry, but I’m not sure how much this was or what number!

In total it came to just over £50.

The whitebait, chorizo and mushroom were my favourite dishes out of those listed above.

Tim starts

 

Tim finishes!

The staff were attentive and friendly, clearing plates as they were finished with and asking if all was okay, which it was better than. The food was delivered to the table as and when it was cooked, ensuring that everything that was meant to be was piping hot and very delicious.

In short: lovely food, lovely staff, no other tapas place in Manchester compares to it.

They get very busy so it might be worth booking a table if you plan to eat after 7 on a weekend evening (details below).

Go, eat and enjoy :D

Contact:

El Rincon de Rafa off St John’s Street. 224 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4BQ. 0161 839 8819.