How to build a table for sharing without coming up short

Ordering to share looks easy until the food arrives and there are four plates of the same thing, or half of what you needed. Here is how we put a table together when people ask.

How a Spanish table works

Nothing here is a single portion for one person. Everything goes to the middle and everyone reaches in. You order in rounds rather than all at once, and a second round is normal. So the question is not what you personally want, it is what the table needs.

Start with the croquettes

A croquette is a small crisp fried roll of thick béchamel with something folded through it, eaten in one or two bites. All five of ours come either as a full portion of eight or as a half of four, and that is what changes a table: instead of eight of one flavour, you can spread two flavours across the same group.

• Prawns in pil pil
• Iberian ham
• Stew, made from the slow-cooked meat of a traditional Spanish puchero
• Oxtail
• Selection, which comes only as a full portion of eight

The starters, by what they do at the table

Choose them by function rather than by appetite. The menu has three clear heights.

Bites to get the table going
Anchovy gilda, fried calamari brioche, grilled tuna mollete, crispy prawn dumpling, marinated tuna taco and calamari taco. One or two bites each and quick to arrive, so nobody sits waiting.

Plates for the middle
Padrón peppers, shrimp tortilla, patatas bravas, marinated anchovies, fried aubergines, prawn cocktail, homemade guacamole and scorpionfish pâté. These are the body of the meal and let people pick at their own pace.

One plate with weight
Sea and land fritters, Galician-style octopus, tuna tataki or the La Piratería board. Have one, and only one, acting as the anchor. Order three and the table turns into several meals happening at once.

Three sample tables

Two people, snacking rather than a full meal
Two half portions of croquettes in different flavours, a couple of bites (a calamari taco and a tuna taco work well together) and one plate for the middle, Padrón peppers for instance. Four things, no heavy plate, and you leave the table light.

Four people, a full meal to share
The croquette selection, one plate with weight such as the La Piratería board, two for the middle (patatas bravas and fried aubergines) and something fresh to cut through it, like the marinated anchovies. Five or six plates is enough, with room left for dessert.

Six people, a long weekend table
Full portions of croquettes rather than halves, three or four plates for the middle spread along the table so nobody has to reach, one plate with weight, and a round of bites to open. With six people the thing that usually fails is not quantity but distance: two identical plates at either end beat one large one in the centre.

Three things that help when ordering

Mix temperatures. A table of nothing but fried food tires halfway through. The marinated anchovies and the prawn cocktail arrive cold and balance it.

Count one and a half plates per person. For four people, six plates is plenty. You can always order another round.

If rice is coming, eat less first. All our rice dishes are for two and they fill you up. If the plan ends in paella, three starters between four is enough. We went through them one by one in the rice post.

Allergens

Most of the sharing menu contains gluten, egg or crustaceans, and several contain all three. Every dish lists its own allergens on the menu, along with current prices. If there is an allergy at the table, the practical thing is to say so when you book rather than when you order.

Where

We are at C/ Pacífico 29, facing the promenade at La Misericordia beach. For a long table of small plates, the terrace is what you want, and it is worth asking for it when you book because it fills first.