JIMMY BURNS, journalist and author of La Roja and Barca I keep going back to Iberica. Why? Because I like the way it is designed, its atmosphere, and its food. From the moment you spot (as Beckham did) the impressive shop window of quality Spanish food products, you know you are going to be in for a special treat. Iberica’s largely Spanish staff is impeccably well-mannered and attentive without being overbearing and have been sufficiently well trained to know and respect what they are serving. I kicked off savouring some exquisite Iberico Ham (limited edition) produced by Juan Pedro Domeq, along with a Mini torta de Trujillo,(cheese tart) from Finca Pascualete.which won the Super Gold Medal, World Cheese Awards 2011.and some anchoas Don Bocarte , Cantabrian sea anchovies on olive oil. My entrée was completed with some very special bread with tomato for this was done with perfectly toasted Sourdough bread, finely grated tomato and extra Virgin Olive Oil. I had mixed feelings about the Ham croquettes, one of Iberica’s signature dishes with its contents cooked gently over a long period and the final product shaped and breaded lovingly by hand. But I found this traditional dish overelaborated so the taste of the ham was not distinct enough amidst the –for my taste- too rich béchamel. Similarly, I am not crazy about a cold beetroot ‘gazpacho’ even though Iberica’s Group Head Chef César García is full of admiration for the high quality of the British beetroots used and says it’s a popular dish. Give me a well-made traditional tomato based Gazpacho any day. The food taster was soon back on delicious quality as well as creative track with a simply divine Milhohas de escalvadia – smoked scalibada cooked with cream, aubergine, red onion, piquillo peppers, cumin and roast garlic with honey, finishing with Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar from Catalonia. Then I had Iberica’s version of “Trinxat catalan”, which takes it to another level, by using smoked haddock instead of pork, finish with crunchy bread and Spanish pimenton oil. For the main tapas, I sampled some sea trout with toasted almond pure, home-made pickled cauliflower and smoked olive oil, and finished off with lime zest, which had my taste buds in a riot of celebration. The seduction of my senses climaxed with a lamb stew which would be an understatement to call typical. Cooked to the point when the meat melts off the bone, it is then seared on a griddle with green peas pure, marinated cherries, and comfit Bierzo peppers, arguably the best in Spain. And yet a post-coital culinary delight still awaited with another Iberica signature dish-their caramerilezed Spanish rice pudding, cooked for more than hour in low heat, just as my Spanish grandmother’s cook used to do it in our family home near Toledo more than five decades ago, long before the age of fast food nearly destroyed our work/life balance. So,a pleasing resurrection of great Spanish cooking at Iberica. Abbey and Stephen Wright, former British Ambassador to Madrid Iberica Marylebone Iberica Marylebone is located in Great Portland Street a short walk from Regents Park. The tapas restaurant is large and airy with a balcony and a gorgeous interior. Tables are generously sized and not too close together. The restaurant is busy and the atmosphere is vibrant and the service charming, efficient and helpful. We started with some delicious jamon, olives, bread and oil and a good fino sherry. We sampled a delicious gazpacho of beetroot, red berries and anchovy and some Milhojas de Escalivada, crispy filo sheets with smoked and roasted aubergine and red peppers. The ham croquettes with Serrano ham were light and crispy though more cheese than ham flavoured. We sampled a white Cumio from Ribeiro which was crisp and good with the tapas and a Marques de Riscal Verdejo from Rueda. We tried a wonderful crisp toast spread with creamed cheese and topped with intensely flavoured sun blush and cherry tomatoes, a corn fritter with a sauce of scrambled egg and cabrales cheese, a little too fatty for our taste but very tasty. With a Beronia Reserva from Rioja we sampled the Iberia burger, a small burger made of pork loin with Piparra pepper. We found this a bit challenging. The meat was very rich, one of the peppers was mega hot and the accompanying sauce was very sweet. The twice cooked lamb with marinated cherry tomatoes had a superb flavour and the accompanying chive sauce provided a lovely counterpoint, and the Black Rice with Cuttlefish, prawn and aioli sauce was the star of the night for us. We tasted two sweet tapas, the Arroz con leche and a Tarta de Abuela. They were both very rich and sweet with quite a lot of condensed milk in the taste. The moscatel wine helped balance this. The wine list was superb. There were a lot of wines in the upper £30 range and not a great many cheaper, and if money was no object there was both a Vegas Sicilia at £290 and a Pingus at £800! Overall this was a “de luxe” meal, the dishes were very high grade and tasty but for our personal taste the majority were very rich and there was a lot of sugar and salt in the making. Iberica 195 Great Portland St, London W1