Spanish eyes up London

10 April 2012

This review was first published in February 2001

It's a 50:50 ball - is the name Paell'Ya a helpful piece of phonetic spelling designed to encourage Brits to say the word properly? Or is it a much more arch reference to the surrounding patch of SW8 which is a 'jolly OK-Yah!' sort of neighbourhood?

When you find out that the restaurant has been set up by some ex-ad men, you have to assume they know what they're doing.

Paell'Ya is a very large, modern restaurant and it is branded to the hilt. There are books of Paell'Ya matches; there is special rice for sale in little sacks branded Paell'Ya; there's Paell'Ya branded olive oil; the logo is stuck on everything. Paell'Ya doesn't have a sign saying: 'We hope to open a chain of these', but it should.

The food comes from a brightly tiled, open kitchen. It is Spanish (obviously) and rather good. Whether the owners realise their dream and end up selling a string of restaurants for a shed-load of money will all hinge on one factor. The logic goes like this: the paellas are good here - they are all cooked to order (which is the main reason that they turn out so well) - so when you choose your paella you are signing up for a 30-minute wait.

The success of this concept will depend on whether the good folk of Battersea are not deterred by the prospect of a leisurely meal, and a wait for their main course.

Good bread and good olive oil arrive promptly. Order a few tapas by way of starters. Pan Catalan (£2.95) is fine - toast with tomato, garlic and olive oil; the jam?n Serrano (£5.95) comes in a good, big helping; the gambas a la plancha (£6.95) are large, precisely cooked prawns. The patatas bravas (£3.75) taste pleasantly chilli-bravas.

Then the menu goes on to list a range of salads before hitting the high spot, the paellas. These are prepared for two, four or eight people and are priced per person. The paella mariscos (£11.95 a head) is delicious: lots of monkfish, langoustines, prawns and mussels; a good, saffrony base; and plenty of areas where the rice has just caught on the bottom of the pan to give those splendid crispy bits. Paella campesina (£9.95 per person) is another star turn - ingredients include rabbit, chicken, snails, green beans and butter beans - hearty, full-flavoured and well-seasoned. There's also paella vasca (£8.95 per person) comprising salt cod and spinach, and the extra-vagant paella bogavante (£17.95 per person), which features a whole roast lobster.

Service is slick and cheery in a rather Hi-de-Hi fashion (they may try and cajole you to drink from that glass device that squirts wine down your shirt). The wine list is fairly priced with something for everyone. This is a friendly, unpretentious restaurant serving sur-prisingly good food, and a good paella is something of a treat, but ultimately its success will depend on whether or not the residents of Battersea are prpared to wait as long as half an hour for their dinner. OK-Paell'Ya?

Paell'Ya
811-813 Wandsworth Road, SW8

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