Hankering after a taste of your hols or simply fancy hoovering up some jamon with a lovely glass of Albarino? We pick out London's best Spanish restaurants for you to try.
Barrafina
Soho, Covent Garden, King's Cross, Borough
Barrafina changed the landscape of the Spanish food scene in London. When Sam and Eddie opened the first Barrafina on Frith Street in 2007 it was to evoke their best times sitting up at the counter at Barcelona's Cal Pep. They succeeded in introducing Londoners to a new level of tapas by cunningly procuring the talented Nieves Barragán (now at Sabor) to run the show. Barrafina has since grown to five restaurants across town, and it still serves up some of the very best tapas in London.
Also see: Parrillan (King's Cross, Borough) - the Barrafina spin-off with some larger dishes and a grill-your-own meat option
Sabor
Mayfair - 35-37 Heddon St, London W1B 4BR
Expectations were sky-high when Nieves Barragan moved from Barrafina to set up her own restaurant with GM José Etura. From the word go it was a huge success and you honestly feel like you could be sat in a tapas bar in Madrid rather than just off Regent Street. It won a Michelin star in its first year and has gone from strength to strength since.
Jose
Bermondsey - 104 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3UB
They say great things come in small packages and that’s 100% the case with chef José Pizarro’s Bermondsey tapas spot. He has a number of restaurants across town that are all well worth visiting, but this is probably the one you’re most likely to spot him in, chatting to customers as they prop up the bar or nab one of the must-prized stools.
Also try: There's Pizarro in Bermondsey, just down the road from the tapas bar, José Pizarro Broadgate and, one of our favourites, Jose Pizarro at The Royal Academy, perfect for pairing tapas with culture.
Maresco
45 Berwick St, London W1F 8SF
Expect Scottish seafood in a range of Spanish tapas in this first central London restaurant from North London restaurateur Stephen Lironi. The window counter on the ground floor is perfect for Soho people watching over a plate of razor clams fresh from the Scottish coast that day, served up with some amazing Spanish wines.
Bar Kroketa
21 Beak St, London W1F 9RR
The clue to this tapas bar's speciality is in the name (that's the Basque way of spelling croqueta). With a regularly changing menu of inventive croquetas and pintxo, this Carnaby spot is great place to while away an hour or two. If it's on, the king prawn croquetas with prawn head alioli are the absolute business.
Bibo
Shoreditch - 45 Curtain Rd, Hackney, London EC2A 3PT
Bibo comes from Dani Garcia, a top Spanish chef with Michelin stars to his name. He's brought his Bibo restaurant to London with some of its signature dishes like the oxtail brioche and a pretty amazing Russian salad. There's a great scene here too - so it's definitely the place to be if you're after excellent Spanish food and a buzzy vibe.
Arros QD
Fitzrovia - 64 Eastcastle St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 8NQ
The QD in the name stands for multiple Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur Quique Dacosta. This is his London restaurant and focuses not on tapas but on another great Spanish tradition - paellla. Expect some of the very best paella in town, cooked over their bespoke burners alongside some excellent dishes like their cheese stones (not a typo).
Lurra
Marylebone - 9 Seymour Pl, London W1H 5BA
Lurra specialises as a Basque grill and imports its own Galician beef (supplying other restaurants in town), so you will want to make sure to order the Galician steak here (to share), alongside some Presa Iberica. The sourdough with bone marrow is also excellent. (Lurra pic by Issy Croker)
See also: Just across the road is their sister restaurant, the tapas bar Donostia.
Morito
Exmouth Market and Hackney
Sam and Sam Clark first opened this tiny offshoot of their popular Exmouth Market restaurant Moro in 2010. Part tapas, part mezze bar, it’s now expanded to Hackney and both places serve up a super selection of twists on classic tapas and dishes that flirt with a North African theme.
More about Morito Exmouth Market and Morito Hackney
Bar Tozino
Bermondsey- Lassco Ropewalk, Maltby St, London SE1 3PA
This little jamon bar, under the arches at Maltby Street, will really bring back memories of Spain. Owner Chuse Valero was working as a carver in Barcelona when Monika Linton from Brindisa enticed him over to London. Now, together with friend Zac Fingal-Rock Innes (whose family are the Fingal-Rock wine merchants), he runs this tight ship of excellent jamon and very good wines.
Copita
Soho - 27 D'Arblay St, Soho, London W1F 8EP
Noisy and vibrant, this Soho spot packs them in year-round and its mixture of standing space and stools gives it an authentic tapas bar vibe. Don’t forget to peruse their excellent sherry list.
Also try: Barrica, their sister restaurant in Fitzrovia
El Pirata of Mayfair
Mayfair - 5-6 Down St, London W1J 7AQ
A true London classic, this restaurant has been in London for over 25 years - and has seen the odd celeb pop in from time to time. It's old-school in the best way, with excellent service and easily some of the best prices in the surrounding Mayfair area. The tapas menu here is more expansive than most, with dishes like sardines and artichoke hearts among more standards like croquetas and tortilla. There's a tapas sharing menu if you fancy going all-in.
The Tapas Room
Tooting, Brixton, Battersea
The Tapas Room originally started up under the name Donostia Social Club, appearing at Pop Brixton. They now preside over three restaurants, including a return to Brixton in Brixton Village. Expect classic tapas like cod croquetas and pan con tomate alongside larger plates like Confit Panceta or Chilled Octopus & Tomato Salad.
Boqueria
Battersea - 278 Queenstown Rd, Nine Elms, London SW8 4LT
When you name your tapas bar after the biggest and best food market in Spain (maybe even Europe), then you’d better have the goods to go with that. Happily, Boqueria does. Barcelona-born co-owner Jaime Armenter serves up a menu that covers all the classics but also showcases modern dishes like Beef Tenderloin, Foie & Pedro Ximénez on toasted bread.
Brindisa
London Bridge, South Ken, Soho, Battersea and Richmond
Brindisa founder Monika Linton's contribution to the London tapas scene can't be underestimated. Way back in 1988 she began importing top-quality Spanish produce to London. Restaurants inevitably followed and the group now have five dotted around London. Our favourite is still the Borough Market one, even though it's probably the hardest to get into.
Camino
King's Cross, Monument, Shoreditch
Camino's group of restaurants have a menu that covers Spanish tapas from all over Spain. All the classics are here, from jamon croquetas through to calamari, chiorizo, presa Iberica and more. They have pretty large bar spaces too - so it's often easy just to pop in for a drink and a couple of tapas.
See also: In King's Cross, they have a Spanish Quarter going with the newly-opened Bar Rioja in the same courtyard.
Little Taperia
Tooting - 143 Tooting High St, London SW17 0RU
This Tooting tapas bar comes from locals Hikmat Antippa (who also owns Meza in Tooting) and Madeleine Lim. The aim here is for more innovative tapas, so alongside croquetas and tortilla, you'll also find dishes like morcilla scotch eggs and grilled hispi cabbage with romanesco sauce.
Llerena
167 Upper St, Islington, London N1 1US
Llerena comes from Extramadura jamon specialists Jamon & Salud who have been raising Iberian pigs since before the second world war - so you'll definitely want to make a beeline for the jamon section of the menu here. You should also try the platter of pork cuts with presa and secreto Iberica too.
Lobos
London Bridge and Soho
Lobos chef Roberto Castro was originally at Brindisa and brought an ex-Brindisa crew with him to Lobos, realising their dream of opening their first garito (neighbourhood joint) in Borough. Of the two branches, the Borough is definitely the more atmospheric. Meat is as big a focus as the tapas, with the secreto Iberico a must-have.
Salt Yard
Fitzrovia (the original), London Bridge, Shepherds Bush
Any tapas roundup is going to have a lot of jamon mentions, but if you're looking for a top veggie pick, then Salt Yard is just the place, the flagship in the group with the same name. Since opening way back in 2005 their courgette flowers, stuffed with Monte Enebro goat’s cheese, lightly deep-fried and drizzled with honey haven't been off the menu. They've started expanding with more Salt Yards, but the original remains the best.
Also try: The sister restaurants in the group, Ember Yard, Dehesa and Opera Tavern.
Tranga
61 Newington Green, London N16 9PX
Trangallan was a big hit on Newington Green, but they came back post-pandemic in a slightly new guise. They still focus on Galician tapas, though. Standard tapas like tortilla, Padron peppers and jamon croquetas sit alongside a market paella with aioli and keep an eye on the daily specials board too.
See also:
Barcelona Tapas - old school bar in Whitechapel
Escocesa - Scottish/Spanish hybrid tapas bar in Stokey
El Ganso - Broadway Market spot with Valencian chef Marcelo Sánchez Cabrer in charge
Iberica - Michelin-starred exec chef Nacho Manzano runs the show, making this mini-chain always worth checking out
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