Images: Tabanco will be serving delicious tapas dishes as well as larger Spanish feasts
Edition gets a delicious preview of Green Street’s new tapas bar
It’s not often that you get to visit a restaurant before it actually exists – so when Edition was offered a preview of the food offering at what was soon to be the newest restaurant on Green Street, we understandably jumped at the chance.
Opening its doors in early March, Tabanco will be a proudly independent tapas bar serving barrelled sherries, fine wines, delicious small-plate eats and larger Spanish-inspired feasts.
Tabanco will become the Cambridge-based sister of the hugely successful Drakes Tabanco, located on Windmill Street in London’s Fitzrovia, opposite the Charlotte Street Hotel. Drakes has been delighting guests with barrel-drawn sherries, chilled fino and imaginative takes on rustic Spanish cuisine since 2013, and the owners also have two further Spanish-influenced eateries – Copita and Barrica – in their predominantly London-based small collection of restaurants. As you’d expect, the menu at Tabanco will be inspired by the successful dishes found at the team’s other restaurants, but the Cambridge-based chefs will also be creating their own seasonal specials where they can show off their skills and the first-rate produce they’re offering to diners.
During the week, Tabanco will be open throughout for breakfast, lunch and late-night dinners. They’re hoping to sell their own loaves of bread, alongside bocadillo sandwiches stuffed with flavourful cheeses and charcuterie. Tabanco will also sell refillable bottles of its barrel-stored sherries, so in the warmer months you’ll be able to drop in, grab a refill and a couple of bocadillos, and head for the punts, picnic in hand.
As you’d expect from a team with this much passion for Spanish cuisine, they’re extremely proud of their Finos, Manzanillas and rarer, older Jerez wines, and have plans to run tasting nights with matched dishes at some point in the future. At weekends, the restaurant will serve Spanish-inspired breakfasts as well as their weekday menu, so it sounds like Tabanco could quite easily become another much-needed spot for a languid brunch in the centre of our city. The name “Tabanco” translates as “hangout” – a relaxed place where guests can drop by for a quick bite or plan a larger, more elaborate meal.
They’re hoping the eatery will be able to provide whatever sort of experience their guests are looking for, and the pictures they paint are very rosy indeed: cycling to town for a newspaper-fuelled weekend breakfast of crispy-hot churros, dark chocolate for dipping, steaming cups of coffee enjoyed while sat next to the restaurant’s flung-open windows.
Stopping by after work for a quick glass of sherry and a well-earned plate of patatas bravas with their homemade, garlic-sweet aioli. Gathering your nearest and dearest for a lazy, drawn-out lunch where the dishes just keep coming out of the kitchen.
And the dishes themselves? Well, anywhere that serves simple bowls of excellent Marcona almonds gets a thumbs up: but we also encountered several noteworthy plates of food. Their aforementioned patatas bravas has been worked upon for months to reach crunchy, fluffy perfection: a plate of al-dente sprouted broccoli was drenched in peppery, fresh gremolata and feather-light shavings of Manchego.
A whipped goat’s cheese was served with flaked almonds, truffles and honey, while their take on a Spanish omelette revealed an oozing centre stuffed with sweet onions and was topped with generous rolls of Jamon Iberico. Larger main courses include Iberico pork cheek swimming in PX gravy, and a hearty Iberico “presa” – a thick shoulder steak from the Pata Negra (“black foot”) Spanish pig, which is served medium rare and is much-sought-after by chefs and foodies alike. Though this world-famous pork does (understandably) power several dishes on the menu, the team also promise plenty of options for vegetarian diners.
The decor wasn’t finished. The signs weren’t up. But by the time you read this, they’ll be well on their way to opening the doors. And if Tabanco manages to make good on their dreams of a relaxed eatery offering the sort of dishes we were treated to, then the future for 38-39 Green Street looks very bright indeed.
