London, Spanish Restaurant Guide

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.

The Broadgate Circle tapas bar from the trailblazer of contemporary Hispanic cooking in London provides “excellent food in a modern environment” – even if aficionados of the more atmospheric original insist it “doesn’t replicate the better José across the river” in Bermondsey.

“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”.