Restaurant review: Flamenco

This month sees us a few miles further down the coast in the town of Eastbourne where we were recommended to visit Flamenco, a tapas restaurant located close to the theatres and entertainment hub and not far from Eastbourne’s lovely Sea Front. Persuaded to visit this restaurant by a good friend of SBT we suggested he should select the choices and what an amazingly wise decision it was.

Flamenco was opened in 2004 by the current Chef/Owner Peter Priser-Jones – PJ for short – after spending a considerable amount of time living and absorbing the Spanish lifestyle in both Barcelona and in arguably the spiritual home of tapas, San Sebastian. Believing that there would be a market for a Tapas experience in his hometown of Eastbourne, PJ returned home and initially with a business partner, Flamenco was opened. However, PJ’s developing vision and skills led to him taking sole ownership and direction of the restaurant shortly afterwards.

Determined to make Flamenco as authentically Spanish as possible outside of Spain, the whole Tapas Style is immediately noticeable the moment you walk into the place which has the buzz of any number of San Sebastian Tapas bars. All the produce is fresh and delivered daily by up to five specialist artisan Spanish Food companies each with their own product specialities which ensures the high-quality produce from which Flamenco produces their food.

With incredibly attentive and predominantly Spanish front of house staff who have no problem if you want to practice your pre-holiday Spanish or like our dinner guest’s 10 year old daughter does, proudly order her dinner in the Spanish she has learnt at school makes the experience family friendly and adding to the Spanish feel. You won’t get to see PJ; he is frantically working the kitchen to produce some mind-blowing dishes which are all prepared and cooked to order.

So, with three hungry Fellas around the table our friend placed the order and what an order. We asked for all the food to be served together so we could happily mix and match and the food arrived in a clever selection of dishes designed to keep the hot food, just that, hot, throughout the whole meal. I would be impossible to describe in detail the quality behind all the dishes, but a few standout offerings just have to be mentioned. The Lamb Skewers were marinated in a selection of herbs but with dominant Rosemary and were cooked to perfection. The lamb was so tender you could cut it with a postcard. The prawns wrapped in smoked pancetta gave a superbly subtle combination of sea and woodland flavours sealed in with garlic butter and the three times cooked belly of pork? What great crackling!!

We ordered a salad of Anchovies which were so subtle in flavour and not highly salted and which had a really refreshing impact on the palate just in time for the luscious thick dark rich sauce which accompanied the beef stew and although not intended to go together on the menu, a little remaining sauce turned out to be a wonderful accompaniment to the Spanish Black Pudding. To top things off, the chicken cooked with honey and apricots and the best potato bravas with yet another homemade tomato sauce, was delicious. We chose an excellent very well priced Escena Rioja which we discovered was supplied by our old friends at Bouquet Ltd to accompany our banquet.

What else can you expect from Flamenco? Well, look out for their Spanish music night events with high quality authentic Spanish Performers and if you are heading to the theatre then pre-theatre specials start from 5.30. Tapas is an ideal way to start your theatre evening as you can order as little or as much as you like to make sure you don’t miss that vital “Curtains Up.”

Flamenco’s popularity is ensured and secured and if you haven’t heard of it that’s because they have no need to advertise. There are so many repeat customers and you have to book!! We counted at least 10 drop in customers who had to be asked to book for another night due to Flamenco being fully booked, but with the latest take away delivery service just becoming established, then at least those who didn’t get to eat in the restaurant would have had the chance to eat Flamenco’s food within a short while of getting home. Not all is lost then!!