Southbank, Spanish Restaurant Guide

Many older Londoners tasted their first tapas at this “fun and reliable” Hispanic spot on a prominent corner of the Cut, near Waterloo – back in the days when you “had to queue (now you can book)” for a place in the “cramped interior”. It’s still “excellent before and after visiting the Old Vic” across the road.

Long-standing tapas bar in a tiny converted pub near Southwark tube that’s “great fun and like being in Spain” – tucked away in a backstreet, it is handily close to the South Bank’s arts venues, including Tate Modern, the Old Vic and the National Theatre.

“It’s a great show to watch the chefs at work”, perched on a stool at the counter of the Hart Bros’ “incredibly busy and buzzy” bars – their hyper-successful homage to Barcelona’s Cal Pep. “The tapas is always first rate” with “succulent grilled seafood all prepared in front of your very eyes” a highlight. “Staff are friendly and efficient and take such pride in the dishes and their presentation”. (In April 2023, executive chef Angel Zapata Martin left the group after six years, leaving Antonio Gonzales Milla minding the central Barrafina locations, and Francisco Jose Torrico in charge of Coal Drops Yard and Borough).

“It’s a great show to watch the chefs at work”, perched on a stool at the counter of the Hart Bros’ “incredibly busy and buzzy” bars – their hyper-successful homage to Barcelona’s Cal Pep. “The tapas is always first rate” with “succulent grilled seafood all prepared in front of your very eyes” a highlight. “Staff are friendly and efficient and take such pride in the dishes and their presentation”. (In April 2023, executive chef Angel Zapata Martin left the group after six years, leaving Antonio Gonzales Milla minding the central Barrafina locations, and Francisco Jose Torrico in charge of Coal Drops Yard and Borough).

“An excellent location overlooking the River Thames makes the Richmond branch very special if you are able to bag one of its outside tables on a balmy summer evening”; and it’s a highpoint of this chain run by a firm of well-known Iberian food importers. On the plus-side, its branches are generally “buzzy”, with “tasty” and “authentically flavoured” tapas. On the minus-side, for all the “high quality ingredients”, dishes can end up “indifferent” and “pricey for the size of the portions”; and “service can be a little too uneven”.

2022 Review: This “great little tapas bar with simple service” at the edge of Borough Market is “a place where the food speaks for itself” – which may be a good thing, since its “cramped” accommodation inside a Victorian railway arch is “decidedly grotty”. There’s a definite meat bias to the menu, although the “squid with black rice is particularly good”.

A “reliable Soho favourite”, where results from its blackboard menu are “always solidly good and can be excellent” – the same can be said of its handwritten ‘little black book’ of wines. “Small, relaxed and friendly”, it “can become pretty noisy, but that’s part of the fun”.

“Living up to the naturally high expectations”; this prime site within the Café Royal, off Piccadilly Circus, wins praise – albeit on limited feedback this year – for the “meticulous patisserie” you would hope for from Albert Adrià (who, back in the day, was pastry chef at his brother Ferran’s world-famous destination restaurant: El Bulli, long RIP).

“It’s a great show to watch the chefs at work”, perched on a stool at the counter of the Hart Bros’ “incredibly busy and buzzy” bars – their hyper-successful homage to Barcelona’s Cal Pep. “The tapas is always first rate” with “succulent grilled seafood all prepared in front of your very eyes” a highlight. “Staff are friendly and efficient and take such pride in the dishes and their presentation”. (In April 2023, executive chef Angel Zapata Martin left the group after six years, leaving Antonio Gonzales Milla minding the central Barrafina locations, and Francisco Jose Torrico in charge of Coal Drops Yard and Borough).

This “buzzy but very noisy” Hispanic quartet (in Marylebone, Farringdon, Victoria and Canary Wharf) offers a “good range of tapas” and “interesting wines by the glass and the bottle”. They still have plenty of admirers as a “reliable” option, even if they “no longer provide the novelty or the high standards they once did”.

Set over two spacious floors in the grand Victorian former HQ of Lloyds Bank, this “classy Spanish restaurant is a great place to eat and drink” – with food and atmosphere that are more than a match for most of its City rivals.

“An excellent location overlooking the River Thames makes the Richmond branch very special if you are able to bag one of its outside tables on a balmy summer evening”; and it’s a highpoint of this chain run by a firm of well-known Iberian food importers. On the plus-side, its branches are generally “buzzy”, with “tasty” and “authentically flavoured” tapas. On the minus-side, for all the “high quality ingredients”, dishes can end up “indifferent” and “pricey for the size of the portions”; and “service can be a little too uneven”.

“For maybe a decade now, José has been London’s most reliable and enjoyable restaurant”, assert fans of the tiny tapas bar José Pizarro opened on Bermondsey Street in 2011, now the spiritual home of a growing culinary empire. “Whether it’s a quick lunch or hours spent at the bar, it simply never misses”. “Always incredibly fun, always worth the queue, always get the croquetas”.

“Just wonderful: fresh… lively… exciting and always interesting!” – that’s this year’s worst (!) report of many lauding Nieves Barragan and José Etura’s phenomenal slice of Spain, just off Regent Street. “A seat at the counter, if you can snag one (get there early, or be prepared to queue – it’s well worth it) transports one to Andalucia or Castile, and the assured food is as good as it is there”. Or “eat upstairs at the El Asador dining room” (which is bookable nowadays). “Seating can be a little cramped but it all adds to the atmosphere”. Top Menu Tip – “crisp piglet never disappoints”.

“Stunning and authentic” Spanish food in a “beautiful, always-convivial setting, and with a wine list to die for” is the attractive proposition at José Pizarro’s massively popular Bermondsey restaurant. Its ratings are a shade below those of José, its older sister (by a few months) tapas bar across the road, due to a minority sentiment that it’s “good rather than great”.