JOSÉ PIZARRO @ The Royal Academy of Arts This is José Pizarro's first foray into central London, amazingly ten years after he opened the fabulous José Tapas Bar on Bermondsey Street in South London. He has taken over the Dorfman Senate Room on the first floor of Burlington Gardens. This beautiful, light, and airy space is a sit-down Restaurant with plenty of bar-top dining options. He has opened the Poster Bar downstairs, which is more of a café/tapas bar. It is best to pop

ANDANZA Andanza (luck or fate in Spanish) comes from the same people behind The Rose Gastropub opposite. In its previous incarnation, the Restaurant was a William Hill betting shop for over 30 years, so as everyone says to the owners, "I hope your gamble has paid off!" The chef worked formally in Basque Restaurant Lurra, and the team carver was from Restaurant Brindisa, so they have some of the best food. On a sunny Tuesday evening, we went when most of the customers were eat

EL GATO NEGRO TAPAS Michelin Bib Gourmand Simon Shaw opened El Gato Negro Tapas in an empty former pub in Ripponden in 2005. With a view to good luck and a nod to a favourite old shop in Madrid, he named it El Gato Negro (Spanish for the black cat). Strangely, it later transpired that the pub had been called the Black Cat many years before. El Gato Negro's move from the Pennine village of Ripponden to Manchester has proved a great success story. Simon, whose love of Spanis

UPDATED - APRIL 2025 - CLOSED In October 2021, we visited a Vilarnau cava-tasting evening with tapas at Ibérica Canary Wharf, London. A...

CANTO We came to Canto, a recent creation of Simon Shaw, of El Gato Negro Tapas fame, on an unusually sunny Sunday Lunchtime In Manchester, for a meal before going to the football at Old Trafford later that day. You will find this younger sibling of Simon's in the heart of Manchester's latest to be redeveloped neighbourhood, Ancoats, on Cutting Room Square. It is quite a stunning, ample space with blue Portuguese tiles that reminded me of a recent visit to Braga. They use th

BARRAFINA One Michelin Star Barrafina moved to a new address in Soho, from Frith Street to 26-27 Dean Street, Soho, London. We thought we would try the new venue on this midweek evening in March. As usual, it was busy, so we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. Once at the bar, we tried these dishes. Pimientos de Padrón y jamón croquetas. Paletila Ibérica Lenguado en salsa de almendra (sole in almond sauce) Solomillo Rubia Gallega (sirloin steak from Galicia) The food is

TAPEO & WINE PERMANENTLY CLOSED 2021 This was our first visit to Tapeo & Wine in Deansgate, Manchester, as a precursor to the football at Old Trafford. The restaurant was opened in 2016 in the buzzing heart of Manchester by the Mata family (The owner's Son, Juan Mata, is currently a Manchester United football player). There is a bright, modern bar and restaurant on the ground floor that looks out onto busy Deansgate. It also has another large restaurant bar downstairs, whi

CAMBIO DE TERCIO Under Abel Lusa's long-term, excellent hospitality and guidance, and chef Alberto Criado's (Twitter @Alberto_Criado) creative dishes, Cambio de Tercio has become a standard-bearer for Iberian food in London. Most Hispanophiles consider it the best in town. You can choose from the traditional tapas menu, an inventive á la carte menu, or the reasonably priced tasting menu. On a recent visit, we had this tasting menu. Andalusian gazpacho, steamed king prawns

IBÉRICA CANARY WHARF UPDATED APRIL 2025 - CLOSED Chef Nacho Manzano is the chef of the three-star Restaurant Casa Marcial in Arriondas...