"One of the three-and-a-half bona fide Dominican restaurants in London — La Barra is the half — El Rincon Tropical is located upstairs in the same arch as the former. The small space serves more as a bar and meeting place for Dominicans, and while there’s no menu there are normally just three or four options per night. Picadera mixta is a symphony of brown — a mound of juicy fried chicken, heavy on dark meat, fried pork belly, sour spicy sausage and strips of bofes. A small plate of bacalao, preserved salt codfish pungent with oil and chilli, shows off the more overtly Caribbean side of Dominican cuisine. But, the humble frijoles overshadows everything, with its extraordinary depth of flavour. To anyone who grew up on Central American cuisine, it’s a dish that tastes like home." - Jonathan Nunn