Bradley's Spanish Bar

42-44 Hanway Street, Bloomsbury, London, W1T 1UP

Whenever you meet with some bloke from overseas here in London the selection of the pub to have some drinks almost always ends up asking you about an Spanish pub, somewhere where you may have tapas, Cruzcampo and chorizo. It is shellproof: it always works like that. And you, as the Spaniard you are, have to go again for the same argument: Spanish pubs in London are crap, tapas are pretty overrated Cruzcampo tastes like shit, and well yes, I know a very good place but is in Clapham, then miles away from here.

Thanks to Wessel, who is going out with an Spanish girl, I have overcome this problem with quite a lot of flair, indeed. What about a typical folk Spanish bar, completely stuffed with ‘Sevillanas’, bullfighting posters and any other paraphernalia – with a tiny distinction: music is English enough, beers are English enough, and the atmosphere is English enough.

Well, Bradley’s is the place.

First, its location surely fits everyone. Just beyond Tottenham Court road, five minutes away from Soho. Its location is very likely indeed the reason for its biggest flaw - it is almost always packed, and particularly on the weekends it may feel as it’s not comfy at all inside. Let’s go there in a weekly day, then.

Second, the decoration. It is so ‘cutre’, or bizarre, or however you wanna spell it, that in fact it is sort of lovely. Imagine a pub for tourists in Madrid and you clearly got it. I particularly like the tacky Spanish memorabilia behind the bar… it remembers me Benidorm or some place even worse J.

Third, the music. The jukebox in this place is very likely one of the best in London. It mainly covers British music from the 60s and 70s, and I can promise you that the collection they have is difficult to beat. Add to this an old fashioned jukebox – this is, one of those that physically pick a vinyl from a stack and gently lands it in the player-, and you have a quite hypnotizing experience.

Four, YES, they have Cruzcampo. Like if anybody from Spain northerner than Madrid gives a shit about it. We don’t like it, we don’t care about it, and we prefer Carling. Clear enough?

And finally, about the staff… well, friendly enough everybody. Everybody but the busybody glass collector/traffic nazi who herds customers from the road and tells them where they should stand or not. Arsehole…

Now seriously, the place is a dive. Really small, with two different storeys, the good one for me is the one upstairs, which by the way is the tiniest one. It is there where the jukebox is, and also where some nice sofas can be used. Downstairs there is more space, but the decoration is not that Spanish and it is more about people sit down in chairs and tables, which doesn’t make a very big difference from somewhere else.

The mighty jukebox

Drinks are overprized, as everywhere else in this area in London, and the toilets are the smelliest I have ever been in. They really stink badly, and that may be a problem if you are planning to have quite a lot and you are sort of picky about this kind of thing. As I’m not, I don’t really bother.

And finally… any Spanish around? Well, some of them, but mainly if you call on Wednesday or Thursday. If you just let it be for the weekend, the drunk British crew is more common. As a Spanish, would I recommend it? Yes, I do. It is a charming place, and that should do it.