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Mesón Bilbao

33 Malvern Road, NW6 5PS Full details & map

Restaurant: Basque

Time Out says Rate it

By Time Out Editors Posted: Dec 15 2009

Set in an awkward location midway between Kilburn and Maida Vale, Mesón Bilbao can be disconcertingly quiet of an evening - though its old-fashioned, candlelit dining room with tables squeezed around the bar is cosy enough to make solitary diners feel at ease. True to the restaurant's Basque name, its menu is particularly strong on seafood. Couples can share merluza (hake) for two instead of the ubiquitous paella, while the tapas list includes eels and an outstanding rendition of chipirones en su tinta (squid in its own ink), with tender chunks of squid half-submerged in rich, velvet-black ink and onion sauce. Sadly, the other tapas we sampled failed to live up to the squid's dark splendour: patatas bravas, made with boiled rather than fried potatoes, were lacklustre; chorizo busturia (juicy, generous slices of chorizo sandwiched between thin slices of fried aubergine) was slightly burnt. Still, unobtrusive but friendly service and a modestly priced wine list compensate for the odd lapse. The two-course set menu offers superb value for money; you can dine on jamón serrano then sea bream for a mere £12.95, with a coffee thrown in for good measure.

Tags: European, Spanish, Basque, Late night, West, Maida Vale, Tapas, Restaurant

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Mesón Bilbao details

Address

Mesón Bilbao

33 Malvern Road NW6 5PS

Transport Maida Vale tube

Telephone

020 7328 1744

Lunch served noon-3pm Mon-Fri. Dinner served 6-11pm Mon-Thur; 7-11.30pm Fri; 6-11.30pm Sat.

Main courses £9.95-£12.95. Tapas £3.50-£6.95. Set meal £12.95 2 courses incl coffee.

Credit cards MC, V

Facilities

Tables outdoors ( 2, pavement ), Babies and children welcome ( high chairs ), Booking advisable ( dinner Fri, Sat )

Mesón Bilbao map

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Comments & ratings

By Giancarlo - Feb 14 2011

We love Meson Bilbao for the great (Basque-focused) food and ambience. Our favourite Spanish restaurant in London by a country mile.

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By sadim - Sep 25 2010

Very disappointing restaurant unfortunately. I had high hopes for this place after reading the reviews but it really is not very good. We order 5 tapas dishes to start with, they arrived at different stages which was annoying as I wanted to combine what I had ordered together, not one by one. The Prawns in garlic were brilliant but everything else wasn’t. My husband wanted T bone steak but that’s was off, then he ordered the Cod but that was off too, so we settled for a chicken and sea food paella for 2. Big mistake, Paella is my favourite Spanish dish and what arrived was defiantly not Paella, firstly it was long grain rice, secondly, no smoked paprika or red peppers had ever been introduced to this poor soulless dish. The prawns looked ill and the chicken was pointless. We took one bit and decided we had to say something. We called the lady over and said we were not happy with the dish, she understood and we paid for our tapas and wine and left, she charged me for an extra tapas dish ( the bread they bought over to us at the start of our meal) but I just wanted to get out of there so I did not question it. If your not someone who goes by reviews please believe we when I say I have NEVER written one before about anywhere but I feel strongly about this place enough to do one now.