Imagine an unexpectedly sunny Saturday in Turnham Green, a manicured patch of grass in Chiswick with benches scattered along its borders, the leaves of tall trees, rustling and swaying in the light breeze, and the overground section of the District line train rumbling in the distance. What a glorious day to spend outdoors: reading, people watching, listening to music or the surrounding sounds while you lay lazily in your designated patch. If you’re lucky, you’ll be blessed by a curious oncoming dog or two, sniffing its way to your snacks.
When it’s time to dine, Avanti is across the green on South Parade. A Mediterranean tapas bar that brings the liveliness of Spain, romance of Italy and cuisine of both, Avanti opened in 2018, with Chef Sayan Raja running the kitchen. It’s a cosy, limited space, with a brick and wooden interior that’s complemented by gold twinkling lights, floor-to-ceiling shelves of Italian and Spanish wines, small tables and a seductive terrace out front – intimately lit by night, and with heaters to enjoy eating al fresco in any season.
The best season is late spring, when the sun sets late and the cool weather calls for sangria. Red, white or rosé, the option is yours, but I go for red and while the fruity, sweet drink is delightfully chilled, my cheeks turn rosy and warm.
Avanti has all the ingredients and ambience to provide for a joyful, well-fed evening
Turning up the heat is the menu: a vast selection of meat, seafood, vegetarian and vegan tapas, fresh salads, various pizzas and hefty paellas.
Most of my many visits involve tapas, excellent for sharing and tasting a good chunk of the menu without feeling like you’ve missed out on other plates. The berenjenas, or aubergines, are generously layered with cheese and tomato sauce and come bubbling hot, as do the gambas al ajillo (tiger prawns in garlic, chilli and olive oil) and gambas pil pil (tiger prawns in fish stock, garlic and chilli), both packed with garlic. If you’re sticking with seafood, order the sardines, grilled and ridiculously fresh with red onions and lemon. The croquetas de manchego (manchego cheese croquettes) are paired with seasonal jam, and if fig jam is available, you’re in for a sensational celebration of sweet-meets-savoury. The chorizo al vino tinto is cooked with rioja, and goes fabulously with the pan con tomate (bread with tomato), a Spanish classic and perfect example of how simple ingredients and techniques can make the most comforting dishes.
Pan con tomate
Gambas al ajillo
Grilled sardines with with red onions and lemon
It’s hard to vouch for pizzas in west London when Crisp W6 is less than a 30-minute journey from Chiswick, and is superior to all other pizza joints I’ve been to in the city. However, Avanti’s are thin-crusted and light, and when I don’t feel like dealing with Crisp’s overcrowding or ordering process, Avanti’s Diavola does the job. Neapolitan fans, head elsewhere.
As for the paellas – a mighty Valencian dish consisting of saffron-infused rice mixed with various vegetables, meats and seafood – Avanti does it justice most of the time. There are visits where I’m certain of its greatness. The plate arrives steaming hot, with either chicken and chorizo, seafood or vegetables embedded in the bright yellow-orange rice. It’s well-cooked, well-seasoned and fresh. It reminds one of what paella stands for – culinary intimacy, especially when ordering the paella-for-two. On the most joyful visits, you find those crispy rice bits that were left too long at the bottom of the pan. On other visits, you don’t always find them and the flavour lacks.
The arrival of churros are enough to forgive any paella that might be slightly lacking: these are doughy-good in the middle and not overly sweet so you can dip them in the chocolate sauce provided.
It seems like Avanti has all the ingredients and ambience to provide for a joyful, well-fed evening. Good tapas, good pizzas and thirst-quenching sangria, at a reasonable-for-a-Chiswick-establishment price. Its only enemy is paella inconsistency, but I have no doubt that it can be defeated.
4 Bedford Corner
South Parade
London
W4 1LD
June 2025
