Recommended Eats: Antonio's in Fareham brings the heart of Spain to Hampshire

Antonio’s in West Street, Fareham, opened in 2004. The restaurant has been able to thrive by embedding itself in the local community with charismatic owner Antonio Pego leading the charge. Antonio’s is a small and intimate restaurant that has the quintessential feel of Spain. The exposed red brick work and wall adornments give nods to various regions of the country, and accompanies the freshly produced dishes beautifully.

When reflecting on what has made the restaurant a mainstay in Fareham for two decades, Antonio believes it is two fold. He said: “It’s the food and service we provide but also because we have always been involved in the community. We are part of Fareham. We sponsor the local cricket club, two netball teams, and we also hold a lot of charity events, and we have more coming up.”

As well as Antonio, the head chef, Diego Lopez, is also from Spain helping to deliver the authentic flavours. Antonio said: “We are unique as the maître de is Spanish and the chef is Spanish. We are both from the north of Spain from the Galicia region which is famous for it’s meat and fish dishes, and we take that with us here.”

Every restaurant is only as good as the food it produces, and Antonio’s focusses on fresh produce a made to order dishes. Antonio said: “We have an a la carte menu, a tapas menu, a set menu, and a fish menu. The tapas is very popular, as is our paella, which we need 24 hours notice for as we cook it fresh. It takes an hour to 45 minutes to cook so we need to make sure we have the right stock, ingredients and start cooking it before the customer arrives. You can’t leave it alone either, you have to nurture a paella.”

Alongside the traditional favourites, Antonio’s also provides variety. He said: “The tapas, set, and fish menu change daily, as we buy the produce fresh everyday. You are welcome to go into the kitchen there is no freezer in there, only the one for the gelato, that’s it.”

Spain has one of the more popular national cuisines, with tapas and the small dish style being implemented across different types of modern restaurants. Despite this, there is not an abundance of traditional style Spanish restaurants in the area, with many having Latin American or broader Mediterranean influences. This is one of the ways that Antonio’s stands out, it is a celebration of Spanish food culture.

Antonio said: “Spanish food should be fresh, it should be cooked to order, it should be nurtured and cared for. Similar to Italian, French, and Portuguese, we love our food. When we are having our lunch we are talking about what we will have for dinner.

“There is also a huge range of opportunities for Spanish food, there are many dishes. From lovely fish to a lovely meat dish, it’s endless what you can do. Every region is different so you will have thousands of menus in the Spanish peninsula, they are all different and they are all particular to their region. That’s what makes Spain special.”