R Garcia & Sons – Foods and Wines of Spain

Garcia’s has been around forever and become a Portobello instituttion. For a while they operated a tapas bar next door, but now it’s back to basics — well, actually, the selection of Spanish staples and specialities is anything but basic. They stock everything from tinned tomatoes and beans, via fresh meats and cheese, olives, vinegars and oils, to a good choice of Spanish wines. Bread is baked fresh every day.

An HR person asked me if I had any future goals. I affirmed an interest in learning more about Spanish food. Unfortunately I was working for a financial news company that saw no direct effect from me gaining any efficiency in grubbing categories.
And that’s a shame. We might all be 13% more efficient is properly lubricated with the right fish, oils, meats and cheeses. It takes bold leaders to explore these things.
In the meantime, anyone can explore this cool shop on PB Rd. While there are several aisles of dried goods, cans, jars and wines… I really liked the deli cases where shop workers offered up cheeses, cured meats, olives, etc. There’s also a self-​serve salad bar.
This shop makes me realize I need to travel more in Spain. On the flip side, I’m hoping that those who really know Spain find this to be a decent location for authentic fare. Let us know, Si?

Great place. Authentic Spanish food and a great selection of foods, meats, drinks, etc. Garcias has been in Portobello Rd for as many years as I can remember and it is still going strong. There is now a café/​restaurant next door which Ive been to a couple of times and Ive been happy with the service and food/​drinks. I don’t visit every week as I don’t live in the area any more but I do like to pop in when I’m in the vicinity.

THE place to go for any spanish person in London or any spanish-​lover ! :D

aka R Garcia & Son, and Café Garcia. Although, technically, Café Garcia is next door attached to their la carniceria.
It is a great Spanish grocery store that stocks up on all the chorizo, dulce de leche, Rioja, and smoked paprika to your heart’s desire. As Matt mentioned below, from the merchandise to the shopkeepers, everything and everyone is very Spanish. Brush up on your Spanish, and get ready to purchase everything in sight.
muchas gracias.

Brilliant little spanish deli.
It represents good value, particularly at the moment with the pound so weak to the Euro it’s cheaper than bringing items back from your holiday to Spain.
The Chorizo Picante is a wonderful cooking sausage, the Boqourones (not sure on spelling) are the tastiest anchovies I can find in London, there home made frozen Tortilla Espanol from the freezer ready for you to take home is great. Essentially it’s just a pleasure to shop here, and if you can manage to get a piece of their very small bread selection you’ll be terribly lucky as it’s lovely.

We stumbled across this shop quite by accident while browsing along Portobello Road and were pleased to find a nice selection of Spanish meats — including an assortment of salamis and exquisite Serrano ham — cheeses, wines, and olive oils. One of the advantages of staying in an apartment while visiting London is being able to take home some goodies from places like this. We enjoyed a couple of lovely meals using ingredients we purchased here.

In the heart of Portobello Road is this Spanish deli, the best place and one of the largest for all things Spanish. Amongst all the other fantastic eateries in this area, R Garcia really is in a modest league of it’s own.
Amongst the students of the Spanish Institute further up the road, who seem to gather here for their daily catch up, you’ll find stacked high shelves, full of not only food, but Spanish toiletries too. The charcuterie is the best part and I usually go a little wild and end up buying far too much as it all looks and smells amazing. This is the best place to buy chorizo and I even took some back North with me this Christmas to add to our brussel sprouts. Yes it really is that good.
The staff are all very Spanish and friendly and they never make you feel like an oddity just because you aren’t Spanish, unlike too many foreign food shops where you walk in and the conversation stops.

Forgive me if this sounds a little cliché, but you really do feel like you have walked into a Spanish super market when you go to Foods and Wines of Spain. Located on Portabello Rd, it fits in well with the rest of the shops on the strip.
I love the way the shopkeepers shout across the store to each other in Spanish, It really does make it an authentic experience. The selection of wine is amazing and so is the selection of dry goods.
If you need any kind of Spanish food and wine, this is definitely the place to go.

I’m purely reviewing the deli side of this place. I have never been to the café so cannot comment on that section.
The deli is great — it really reminds you of those cosier food shops found in Spain — lovely quality chorizo and other cured meat as well as lots of other tasty Spanish goodies. They even have those chilli peppers you fry and eat whole — I didn’t know anyone sold those in the UK. A great shop.

I had to write a review for this place to warn people if you are considering eating here, don’t do it.
I went for lunch a few days ago with a colleague and both of us were so disappointed– the food is so bad that not even the friendly service can save it.
We ordered a selection of tapas and I really I’m not fussy about food, but there was something unappetizing about each one– the chicken in garlic and white wine was in fact 2 chicken wings with no meat on them and the 3^rd bit was a shade of grey with soft white skin (!), the potatoes were soggy with oil and cold, the salad (which cost nearly £5) was just iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots and the meat balls looked and tasted like they came from a tin.
And top it off we had to hand over £32 (we didn’t even drink anything alcoholic!) for the pleasure of finding out ‘never again’.
There are so many great restaurants just round the corner in the city; this really is not one of them.
Tags: R. Garcia and Sons, Portobello, Tapas Bar, Spain, Garcia

Garcia’s is a Portobello institution, and for very good reason. This family-​owned and –run business is half Spanish deli and half Spanish café, forming a magnificent whole! The deli side is packed full of products that are either difficult or impossible to get hold of in the UK, horchata and ready-​made tortilla for example. There is an extensive selection of Spanish wines and spirits, and the food aisles are so close together and so packed that it is often difficult to move in the shop, especially at the weekends. At the back there is a fantastic deli counter filled to the brim with chorizos, jamon iberico and olives which Family Garcia import themselves. This serves homesick Spaniards, spanophile Brits and local businesses, just try one of Garcia’s chorizos in a Banger Bros baguette down the road!
Next door is the café section. Again, this is always packed at the weekends with people filling up on thick Spanish hot chocolate and delicious tapas. The tapas is all homemade, as is the granizado which is available during the summer months. The ridiculously drinkable house red wine is a snip at £5 per bottle, and goes perfectly with some chorizo al vino or albondigas on the mezzanine-​type top floor of the café beneath glass roof. What a place!