Vigo tucked away on Carrer d’Aribau 27 is all about tapas and paella, served in this long, airy little spot with loads of dark wood and slate underfoot. They even have a burger if you’re feeling rogue, and spaghetti for marathon runners – no joke, I was there with one who was carb-loading for a race the next day. It’s the kind of place you just kind of graze and chill, with low-hanging lights and a big open front that’s made for people-watching. Honestly though, the staff make it – they’re always smiling, super friendly, just good vibes all round.
We start with green olives “our style” €3.10
The pan con tomate is decent too €2.60
The Galacian fried peppers €5.80 or padron peppers were blistered from the hot oil they were cooked in, as they should be.
Fried prawns roman style €11.80 were golden-tinged with a double crunch from a greaseless craggy batter, it was a welcome hit of texture with incessantly sweet prawns that were the star of the show. I felt them pop beneath my teeth releasing their juices.
Prosciuto croquettes €6.80 were golden crumbed too, filled with the salty, nutty rue with a clout of cured ham. How can you not like these?
Fried anchovies €8 were golden-crumbed too and tasted like they were from the sea moments before they were crispened from the depths of the fryer.
The beef burger €15.90 – we were informed that it did a job.
Spag bol for the marathon runner €13.80.
Finally came the attention grabbing seafood paella €20.90pp and it’s divvied-up table side for extra theatrics. Silky saffron infused rice was piled up high on our plates with generous amounts of squid rings, mussels, clams and fully armoured prawns that demanded to be stripped of their dignity. Their heads were prime targets for maximum suckage – and trust me, we didn’t hold back.
One went MIA
Verdict
When did I go? March 2019
The damage: Expect to pay €30/40 per head with drinks and lots of food.
The good: At Vigo, they have tapas worth pining for – let’s take the fried prawns as an example which I believe you’d be able to make a brilliant living out of, piled up high sold kerb-side at anyone of London’s street food stalls. If you come armed with a sense of hunger, you’ll get a good feed hoarding a few of the tapas dishes and walk away very happy.
The bad: I didn’t get any romance from the paella though which lacked the ripples of flavour from previous versions I’ve had elsewhere. The prawns were cooked to the point of resilience that needed lots of jaw grinding before you gutted them of their gritty guts. One fell on the floor, but we didn’t feel disappointed.
Rating: 3.5/5
Would I go again? Yeah for the fried prawns roman style and fried anchovies.
Address: Carrer d’Aribau, 27, 08011 Barcelona, Spain
Web: click here
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