Don Luis

This traditional tapas and steak restaurant in the heart of Esher surpassed all our expectations. We had heard wonderful things about Don Luis and our recent visit here not only turned out to confirm this, but it was a complete taste sensation, bundles of fun and an insightful tutorial into traditional Spanish dining.

Don Luis Tapas serves only authentic Spanish food lovingly prepared and cooked by their head chef, Madrid-born Raul Domingo, who is completely passionate about food, having grown up in his family restaurant in Madrid and having run his own restaurant in London.

“I was born into the restaurant trade,” Raul discloses. “I know everything there is to know about Spanish cuisine....There are many regions in Spain all offering their own delicacies. Among these are Catalonia, Galicia and Andalucia.”

Raul therefore selects the finest dishes from each area and converts them into the best dishes for Don Luis.

Some of these include ‘Pimientos del Padron’, ‘Pollo con Romesco’ and ‘Pinchos Morunos’ a wonderful lamb dish.

Don Luis is a family-run restaurant, from the charming husband and wife team of Tidora and Diego, who are always on hand to oversee their customers have a top dining experience, with a combined 40 years in hospitality.

You can tell as soon as you walk in the door and are greeted with a warm welcome and delicious aromas, that this restaurant is a cut above the rest.

It is well documented that Don Luis’ customers are well connected to Spain. “A lot of our customers have second homes there and the reason they come to visit us is because they can get food here as good as they can in Spain,” Tidora, co-owner of Don Luis, says.

“Raul has so many ideas of Spanish food and has created ‘Specials of the Week’ along with our main menu to offer customers the amazing flavours of Spain.”

In case you were unaware (as were we!) all Don Luis Tapas’ food is Spanish inspired, freshly prepared with quality ingredients from local producers and from Galicia and Madrid suppliers and every dish is cooked completely from scratch.

TAPAS TASTING

With over 30 dishes to choose from, it was hard to choose just a few for our tapas lunch as they all looked and sounded so tantalising.

The first dish we tried was ‘Gambas al Ali-oli’- prawns cooked in

garlic, chilli, white wine and lemon. Served with fresh bread and Gambas al ajillo, this sizzling dish was devine and we were able to tuck into eight succulent king prawns, such a generous portion for tapas.

The next dish was ‘Croquetas de Jamon Iberico’ and the crispy coating with ali-oli topping was perfect. The cheese and Iberico ham filling oozed out of the crispy crumb – easily one of the best dishes on the menu.

Next up was ‘Patatas Bravas’ a mainstay on most tapas menus and this ‘Don Luis’ dish was excellent with crispy chunky slices of potato with a delicious homemade tomato, garlic and mayo sauce drizzled on top. One of our tasters lived in Spain for 6 years and said this was easily the best potato bravas they had tested. Enough said.

The broad selection of Don Luis Menu included Paella and an abundance of Steak options. We opted for the ‘Paella Mixta’ which was chicken and seafood paella and it was well worthy of our 5 star review. There was plenty of meat, fish and the rice was cooked perfectly al dente with chilli, onion and mixed vegetables. The best bit about the dish was the plentiful supply of fresh seafood; the mussels, prawns and clams were to die for. Easily the most generous portions that we have ever experienced.

DELECTABLE DESSERTS

Choose from ‘Crema Catalana’ the best Spanish crème brulee, ‘Fondant De Chocolat’ chocolate fondant served with homemade vanilla ice-cream or the traditional Spanish almond cake served with vanilla ice-cream otherwise known as ‘Tarta De Santiago’.

The best of the bunch was the ‘Churros Con Chocolate’, which was perfectly crisped doughnutesque churros melted with a chocolate centre – a must try on their delectable menu.