Shoreditch, Spanish Restaurant Guide

Bibos in Madrid, Marbella, Cádiz and Doha have pre-dated this latest opening for celeb Andalusian chef Dani Garcia, within the newly opened Mondrian Shoreditch (on the site of Red Rooster, RIP). Perhaps because of the drubbings it’s received from press reviewers, not very many reporters visited. One or two that did found it “all-round exceptional”, but others were “fairly underwhelmed, first by the lengthy explanation of the tapas, and then by the pretty pedestrian-for-the-money food”.

“Reasonable enough tapas, with all the standard dishes” help make this long-running Hispanic trio into “decent” value and also quite “fun” options. The original and best-known branch is “tucked away incredibly close to King’s Cross station, which makes it very handy for a meet-up” (with Shoreditch and Monument also useful addresses).

“Sensational” cooking over an open fire in the corner of the room has won the highest culinary esteem (including from the Harden’s London Restaurant Awards) for Tomos Parry’s “unassuming” Shoreditch venue, which sits in a “functional and slightly industrial”, first-floor dining room above ‘Smoking Goat’. In particular, “the signature turbot is a must-try” (‘Brat’ is another name for turbot) and has become a checklist item for London foodie fashionistas. Its food rating slipped this year from the highest heights on a few reports of “great but slightly inconsistent” meals. For most of its many fans, though, a meal here is still “always wonderful”. Top Menu Tips – aside from the turbot: “still superb bread and anchovy…”, “soused mackerel in a piquant broth was divine…”, “smoked potatoes are my Death Row dish…”

You find a “real taste of Spain” at this “small and friendly restaurant in Broadgate” from José Pizarro. Perhaps inevitably, the glossier surroundings here are a turn-off to those who know him via his revered Bermondsey original, for whom this “feels awfully like a franchise”, but even so, all reports rate the food as good or better.