Southwark, Spanish Restaurant Guide

This old Southwark pub “is not the smartest venue” but it’s a favourite near the South Bank and Young Vic. The unexpected find of good value, contemporary Spanish tapas is key to its popularity, but its highest rated asset is its “wonderful staff”.

The tapas bar operated by this Spanish food importer greets arrivals at the main entrance to Borough Market – and “on a bustling summer day, sitting outside with a glass of simple red, a table full of tapas on the go, chatting convivially with friends, it’s great – just what one would expect”. The newer branches around town match the quality, and can be a little easier to nab a table. The group is scheduled to open its sixth site in Richmond – the first located in the suburbs – in late 2021 (it will be on the striking riverside site that was formerly Jackson & Rye (RIP) complete with 150 covers and a 60-seat outside terrace).

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”.

This “long-lived favourite” in Waterloo is packed early most evenings before shows at the nearby Young and Old Vic theatres. “Love the atmosphere” and the “fabulous tapas and wines” – although “the menu hasn’t changed since it opened”. Not everything stays the same, though – “now there are good tables outside and you can book”.

Harts Group's May 2022 newcomer again celebrates Spanish cooking over fire. Like its Coal Drops Yard sibling, the venue will have an outside terrace (with 40 covers) with tabletop ‘parrilla’ grills, for guests to cook themselves over coals. But, for the first time, you will not have to DIY here, there also being an indoor restaurant (with 60 covers) with a menu designed for sharing cooked on an Ox Grill and an apple and olive wood-fired stove at the heart of an open kitchen.

The Fitzrovia charcuterie bar and restaurant is arriving in Borough in 2022 serving its blend of Spanish and Italian small plates; exact opening date unknown.