Centro Galego de Londres (Tapas)
There are, you might think, very few people in the world who would risk their lives for a barnacle. It is a symptom of the Galician obsession with seafood that, even in the wildest of oceans, dozens of men in little boats will row out to the spray-lashed outcrops of northwest Spain and scrape percebes – goose-necked barnacles, aka ‘the Devil’s toenails’ – from the rocks. That they sometimes fetch several hundred euros a kilo is no doubt a factor, but you have to admire such paramilitary gastronomy.
Fish is serious business here. Even the hake in the fish market in La Coruña have identity cards clipped to their mouths, guaranteeing that they have been caught in Galician waters, while the preparation of octopus is practically a sacrament.
As well as being piscine obsessives, Galicians are also renowned travellers: the Galician diaspora is extensive, and many have fetched up in London. Forty years ago, the Centro Galego de Londres was formed, and it has been comforting homesick Galicians with food, wine and music ever since.
Galicia is considerably greener than Kensal Green, but the Centro’s rather shabby location, near the junction of Harrow Road and Scrubs Lane, does little to dampen the spirits of the Galician locals, especially if Deportivo happen to be playing football at the time.Which they were when I dropped in for dinner one Saturday night. They were winning, too, which made the atmosphere in the ground floor tapas bar pleasantly raucous.
Downstairs, the wonderfully anachronistic – to the British mind, anyway – idea of ‘dining and dancing’ holds sway amongst the starched tablecloths and fanned napkins. The menu is a roll call of classic Galician dishes, with room for one or two interlopers from other parts of Spain, while the wine list features the excellent Martin Codax albariño, named after a legendary Galician troubadour, and as fragrant as apricot blossom.
Even the simple things are beautifully done. A tomato and onion salad is just that; yet the onions are perfectly sweet and mild, and the tomatoes actually taste of summer. Tortilla is freshly cooked and yields at the wave of a fork; pimientos de Padron are earthily aromatic, although I haven’t had a really hot one in years.
Everyone comes here for the seafood, however. Big, juicy prawns; generously-proportioned fish stews; rich, savoury sardines… and, naturally, gently fatty, rich discs of octopus sitting on sliced boiled potatoes and sprinkled with spicy pimentón. Prices are eminently reasonable, and the quality is high.
The monkfish is superb: surrounded by clams and mussels, bathed in a fine, light, fishy broth.
By 11 pm or so, our table is stuffed to the gills, especially after a few slices of torta de Santiago, an almondy pastry drenched in hazelnut liqueur. The last thing we want to do is dance. A coffee and an orujo – Galician grappa – is all we can manage.
As the band (well, the chap with the Casio keyboard) strikes up Guantanamera, we make our excuses and leave. The Galicians, however, are made of sterner stuff, and will strut their stuff well into the small hours, tenacious as barnacles, determined to stay until the last dance, and the last shot of orujo. by Bill Knott
Dinner for two, with wine, around £65
Centro Galego de Londres
869 Harrow Road, Kensal Green, NW10 5NG
020 8964 4873