Spanish Restaurants in Greater London
1. Ember Yard
Spanish restaurant in Soho
60 Berwick Street - W1
2021 Review: Up-and-down reports on this “lovely” Soho haunt, specialising in wood-fired, Mediterranean, grilled dishes – part of Salt Yard Group (all of which was absorbed into the Urban Pubs portfolio in November 2018). Fans applaud the “delicious tapas from this ever-reliable family” but quite a few reports express disappointment: “maybe there’s a sense it isn’t quite what it was”.
2. Salt Yard Borough
Spanish restaurant in Southwark
New Hibernia House, Winchester Walk - SE1
“The original Salt Yard in W1 used to be one of London’s best new tapas restaurants” – but it opened over 15 years ago and “the subsequent roll-out of the brand as multiple branches” under Urban Pubs & Bars “has seen quality drop quite a lot”. As “a pleasant option for well-produced Med-inspired dishes”, they maintain a fair number of fans, if without the pizzazz once conjured by the name. The year-old branch near the entrance to Westfield is the highest rated, and the newest near Borough Market is also seen as “a handy addition to the group”.
3. Dehesa
Italian restaurant in Soho
25 Ganton Street - W1
We’re in two minds about the inclusion of this former star of London’s tapas scene, which generates very little feedback nowadays despite a prime mid-Soho site. Fans do still laud its “well-crafted dishes and Spanish wines”, but others say “the food has that ‘here’s one I made earlier’ quality. OK, but not very exciting”.
4. Salt Yard
Spanish restaurant in Fitzrovia
54 Goodge St - W1
“The original Salt Yard in W1 used to be one of London’s best new tapas restaurants” – but it opened over 15 years ago and “the subsequent roll-out of the brand as multiple branches” under Urban Pubs & Bars “has seen quality drop quite a lot”. As “a pleasant option for well-produced Med-inspired dishes”, they maintain a fair number of fans, if without the pizzazz once conjured by the name. The year-old branch near the entrance to Westfield is the highest rated, and the newest near Borough Market is also seen as “a handy addition to the group”.
5. Opera Tavern
Spanish restaurant in Covent Garden
23 Catherine Street - WC2
“Handily located near the Royal Opera House”, this converted pub serves Spanish and Italian-style small plates of “food that’s just a bit better than its local competition” in the heart of Covent Garden. It is “not the best of the Salt Yard chain, but good for a quick pre-show meal”.
6. Meson don Felipe
Spanish restaurant in Southwark
53 The Cut - SE1
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.
7. Mar I Terra
Spanish restaurant in Southwark
14 Gambia St - SE1
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.
8. Tapas Brindisa
Spanish restaurant in Southwark
18-20 Southwark St - SE1
“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”.
9. LOBOS Meat & Tapas
Spanish restaurant in London Bridge
14 Borough High St - SE1
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”.
10. Barrafina
Spanish restaurant in Covent Garden
10 Adelaide St - WC2
“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).
11. Barrafina Mariscos
Spanish restaurant in Covent Garden
43 Drury Lane - WC2
“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).
12. José
Spanish restaurant in Southwark
104 Bermondsey St - SE1
“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”.
13. 10 Greek Street
British, Modern restaurant in Soho
10 Greek St - W1
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”.
14. Hispania
Spanish restaurant in City
72-74 Lombard Street - EC3
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.
15. Pizarro
Spanish restaurant in Southwark
194 Bermondsey St - SE1
“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”.
16. Cakes and Bubbles
Spanish restaurant in Westminster
Hotel Café Royal, 70 Regent Street - W1B
“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).
17. Barrafina
Spanish restaurant in Soho
26-27 Dean Street - W1
“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).
18. Ibérica
Spanish restaurant in Farringdon
89 Turnmill St - EC1
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”.
19. Tapas Brindisa Soho
Spanish restaurant in Soho
46 Broadwick St - W1
“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”.
20. Camino Monument
Spanish restaurant in City
15 Mincing Lane - EC3
“Reliable tapas in handy locations” is the USP of this 16-year-old trio with a flagship near King’s Cross station (by far the best known) and offshoots in Shoreditch and Monument. But while they’re “decent enough”, they offer “standard fayre” – it’s “nothing exceptional”.
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