Spitalfields, Spanish Restaurant Guide

“It’s a little crowded and cramped but the food is phenomenal” at Tomos Parry’s “lively, totally welcoming and unstuffy” operation – the clever conversion of the first floor of a Shoreditch pub (over the Smoking Goat) with its own separate entrance. When it opened in 2018, Tomos helped lead the vogue for cooking over fire in the capital and the “fabulous” results here remain “worthy of applause for their creativity, presentation, taste and good value”. “Passionate staff add to the atmosphere as does the open grill and it’s an absolute must-do, especially for a group of foodie friends looking for a fun night”. “From the bread through to the superbly done fish and vegetable-based dishes and a memorable wine list, it’s memorable all round, every time”. Top Menu Tip – “exquisite Turbot” (for which the venue is named… in Welsh!).

From its King’s Cross roots, this tapas chain mushroomed in size in 2025 with its takeover of the former Iberica group, acquiring the latter’s good-looking sites in the process. Reports are slightly uneven, but its early days and the balance is notably positive, especially about the “buzzy” vibe in all locations.

2024 Review: Star chef Dani Garcia opened his first UK venture in Shoreditch’s Mondrian Hotel a couple of years ago, to mixed reviews. This up-and-down sentiment continues in feedback to date – some reporters think the Spanish cuisine – paellas, roast and grilled fish and meat, tapas – is “very good” (but encountered “an empty room on a Sunday lunch”); other well-travelled types thought it “underwhelming compared to the wonders of his native Andalusian restaurants”.

José P’s City “professionally run” outpost in Broadgate Circle becomes “buzzy with the after-work crowd” and it makes “a good midweek date night spot for solid tapas”. Those searching the passionate Iberian cuisine and approach that’s won Sr. P the Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain’s equivalent of a knighthood) should probably head down to his other ventures in SE1 though.

Open from late August 2025 off Shoreditch High Street, in the new Montacute Yards development, this sibling to the smash-hit Sabor from superstar Spanish chef Nieves Barragan is likely to become one of the key openings of 2025. Legado means ‘legacy’ in Spanish, so one imagines both she and her accomplished partners, JKS Restaurants, are setting themselves a fairly high standard. Its menus will explore regional cooking from throughout Spain, from Cadiz and Jerez in the south to Galicia on the northwest coast, with stews from Asturias and whole-animal cookery from Castilla y Leon.