Spanish Tapas: Iberica Manchester Restaurant Review

Tapas is one of my favourite meals. It’s perfect for having a little bit of what you fancy, accompanied by Spanish drinks and a whole menu of delights to choose from. Of course, it almost goes without saying that tapas always reminds me of my holidays to Spain, particularly some great memories of Barcelona, sitting beachside or along the side streets of Las Ramblas with a bottle of wine and the sun beating down.

When I discovered that Iberica restaurant, located in Manchester’s affluant Spinningfields quarter has a new Spring menu out, I was therefore super excited to see what they had on offer.

I didn’t realise at first, but Iberica is part of a chain of Spanish restaurants across the UK offering a range of traditional Spanish food with a modern take. When entering Iberica, it doesn’t feel like a chain at all, but like a beautiful and premium indepedant restaurant. It’s decor is luxurious, with floor to ceiling windows, huge red velvet curtains and lots of quirky Spanish references. I absolutely love it!

We ordered some drinks and nibbles to start. My guest chose a Mahou, a Spanish beer, and as much as I would have loved to indulge in a Spanish wine I am trying to cut back on the bottles, and so opted for a Slimline G&T. Aren’t I an angel? Our waitress was an angel, too, and took great pride in taking me through Iberica’s range of Spanish gins (which was huge!) and advising me on her favourite, which was Brosses 69 gin, served with orange peel and lemon tyme and was delicious!

To start, my guest and I shared some cold nibbles. We went for toasted bread with tomato (£3.50), which was gorgeus sourdough bread with fresh tomato, served on a wooden board. To go alongside this, our watiress recommended the Cecina (£6.50), which was air cured beef with an intense smokey flavour – her favourite bread and meet combination and we could totally understand why.

And as cheese lovers, we also tried the Trio of Hard Cheeses (£7.50), which included Idiazábal, Mahón and Ibores served with quince. Mixing and matching these starters altogether was superb and I would totally recommend this combination of traditional Spanish flavours if you are to visit, too!

For our mains, we were recommended to order 3 Tapas dishes each, so we chose six between us to mix and match. Like in Spain, these came out as and when they were cooked o ensure they were fresh, and quite neatly came out in sets of three.

For our first dish we obviously had to choose Patas Bravas (£5.50). I mean, how could we not?! Look how delicious they were! These were cubed potatoes with spicy brava sauce and alioli, and did not disappoint.

We also chose two new items from the Iberica Spring Menu, including the Spring Vegetables (£6.50) and Cod Brandada (£5.50). The Spring Vegetables were sautéed seasonal vegetables topped with melted Idiazábal cheese and seasoned beautifully. Whilst the Cod Brandada was one of the most unusual tapas dishes I’ve ever tried. Presented beautifully with vegetable crisps and anchovi purree, it was a beautiful almost pate style cod and absolutely delicious.

Our next three dishes were equally as impressive. The special of the day were Scallops, which we chose, and were some of the biggest Scallops I have ever seen. They were cooked perfectly with a lovely subtle fish taste and great bouncy texture, in a sweet cauliflower pure.

Another seafood dish from the new Iberica Spring menu was the Gambas (£9) as recommended by our waitress. We were told this was a traditional dish with a new revamp, and consisted of prawns in garlic sauce with a hint of cayenne pepper.

For our final dish, we chose the Albóndigas (£7.50), which was beef meatballs, fried potatoes and Vizcaína sauce, which was almost like a rich meat gravy sauce which complimented the meatballs perfectly.

We were also offered a dessert but were simpy too full and satisfied to oblige!

Over all, I was massively impressed with Iberica Manchester. The food was delicious, the staff beyond helpful and the venue luxurious and central. I would happily recomend this for anyone looking for either a romantic date location, a special occassion or even to just bring a slice of Spain to a rainy Manchester day.