Join us for supper Spanish style
If you’ve ever been to Barcelona, Madrid or Marbella, you will know that the Spanish eat supper late – incredibly late, by British standards. It’s not unusual for a Spanish couple to be settling down to an intimate meal at 10 o’clock.
Now, imagine things the other way round. What do Spanish tourists find when they visit London in 2025? The whole place shuts down just as they’re getting peckish.
Well, the news is that change is in the air: late-night dining in the UK capital is not yet a movement, nor perhaps even a trend, but gradually restaurants are staying open late specifically to cater for late night diners.
The Spanish eat late because they tend to have their main meal – comida – at lunchtime. It’s often several courses, and they take their time over it (even if in cities the siesta is a thing of the past). That means that they’re not hungry again until much later, and dinner – cena – tends to be a little lighter. And as a result of a move by former dictator General Franco, Spain has a time-zone quirk that means it stays lighter for longer in the summer.
Restaurant Piccadilly Spanish Tapas Bar
In Britain, we always ate early – usually between 6 and 7 pm – and after the pandemic the tendency was to head for the earlier time of 6pm. There has also been a decline in clubs and late bars, which leaves post-theatre diners and late night tourists staying in central hotels with nothing much to do.
So, restaurants are increasingly offering reservations until 10.30pm to meet the need.
And now El Pirata is joining them, with a special late night menu for bookings beyond 9.30 in the evening. At just £30 per person, Mayfair’s neighbourhood tapas restaurant is offering a choice of four tapas, one main to share – like a classic paella Valenciana – and a choice of dessert, perhaps a crema catalana or a tarta de Santiago.
No longer do you have to leave the theatre and head off home hungry, or return to your hotel where the restaurant is probably already closed. Stroll across to Down Street just off Piccadilly for a taste of late-night Marbella in Mayfair. You can be certain of a warm welcome.
