José

My favorite place in London! Brilliant food and service, Carlos made my last two visits especially special, recommended amazing food and wine to complement the taste. Ask him for recommendations I guarantee it will not disappoint!

I’ve been walking past here for a year now assuming that this was the waiting area and that there is an underground part to it. I was wrong. It is a tee is tiny space, almost bar like, with lots of places to perch, definitely not suitable for large groups. And that is why this place is cool.
I think where people go wrong with tapas is when there are too many people and someone (possibly an ordering novice) takes over ordering and under orders. With a small place like this, where quite literally a party of three is verging on the ‘too big’ side, it’s hard to under order as you will probably want one of everything and it’s easier not to be polite in a two or a three.
Rule of thumb: start with the tomato bread, knockout some of those initial worms, then work your way through as much as possible. Menu changes regularly but there will be jamon, croquettes, tortilla, the potato bravas with aioli, something with chorizo, maybe even a bocadillo (conveniently named slider for your English benefit).
Wine list is awesome: start with a sherry. Staff are just as awesome– truly hospitality professionals with personality, enjoying what they do. See you in the window!

What I love about tapas is that it comes thick and fast. It matches the buzz of a Spanish environment and its atmosphere, and this is what makes @jose_pizarro one of if not THE best Spanish bars to eat in London. Tight, cosy & authentic space. Certainly my favourite tho Barrafina is battling it close as if it was Ronaldo vs Messi for the Ballon d’or (again).
I did want the pluma, oh THAT pluma; looking out for it as I peaked over her diners toward the specials board, but found the ibérico pork fillet as a great substitute. Melt in the mouth goodness. Could easily eat two plates of these.
Was gasping for some King Prawns a la plancha like I had last time, but wasn’t on there so ended up for going for a fish. Served medium rare which I have never seen before. Was asked if I wanted it cooked more and I did. Better cooked through IMO.
I also shared some Spanish croquettes. Today is the turn of spinach to be the hero, which is unbelievably moist with that cheese inside.
(Updated review — 19^th Nov ’15)

Wow. Wow… Wow. I have never been to this part of London hidden away in some side streets just next to the river this is an excellent spot! The Unilocal map pinpoints this restaurant incorrectly however, the restaurant is just a bit further down the road and can be found on the corner of the road.
Going in here with my friend it was not at all what I expected, an intimate bench with just enough room to fit your food and wine on was a smart choice instead of tables to make the most of the limited room in a very small restaurant.
The staff are very good at getting to you and getting your food quickly. The tapas here is incredible. We ordered the omelette, chorizo, pumpkin, the filet of beef. These were all incredible It makes me want to go back this week. I also had a very special bottle of Spanish Rose which turned out to be very good indeed.

Jose tapas had very tasty food, very tasty food indeed, but to me it was a place that tried a little too hard to create a spanish atmosphere in London.
First the good:
Great red wine– the second and third choices on the menu were both good recomendations from the waitress, with the second choice, the Granache, our favorite (£4.5-£5 per glass). Usually my wife and I dont esepcailly enjoy spanish wine.
Croquetas– crispy on the outside while perfectly fluffy on the inside. Definitely melt-​in-​your-​mouth (£6.5)
Tortilla– with courgettes and some type of drizzle. Hardy (£4.5)
Pan con Tomate– hard to dissapoint (£3.5)
The only thing that put us off was the lack of seating– there was ample standing room, but the place seemed to only distribute seats to about half the places. We asked to wait until we could get seats to eat, but they seemed to want to rush us out by ‘recomending’ multiple times to order as soon as possible. We did not want to pay 4x the price of similar food in Spain and be rushed out. Seems the exact antithesis of the spanish way.
The waitresses were nice after this initial unpleasantness, and especially once we got seats.
Overall, a fun place, but will probably not return.

Tapas gourmets de qualité dans un restaurant sympathique? Ça c’est fait !
Petite envie de soleil dans mon ventre et on se dirige vers José, charmant restaurant de tapas avec une toute petite salle où se poser au comptoir, en duo (pas plus c’est vraiment rikiki).
La carte est assez complète et malgré des prix exorbitants pour des tapas c’était vraiment VRAIMENT très bon ET léger sur l’huile d’olive.
On a tenté plein de trucs :
— boulettes de bœuf, pain croustillant et sauce tomate. Un délice, riche en saveurs et parfaite cuisson des boulettes (pas sèches quoi)
— Tortilla aux oignons grosse et aussi haute qu’une part de cheesecake et tout aussi moelleuse. Sublime.
— croquetas au jambon crousti-​fondantes parfaites
— fricassé de poulets aux petits oignons et lardons sur purée de pomme de terre. Bön mais le poulet était un peu sec. Cela dit la purée était onctueuse à souhait donc… Ca rattrape le coup.
Ça aurait pu être magique comme 5 étoiles Unilocal mais l’addition est bien trop élevée pour les mériter toutes. Environ 70£ pour deux personnes pour des tapas, c’est pas cool.

Food is very tasty and when you see what they have on that board you will experience hard times in deciding! Definitely to try the peppers and the steak with shallots!
no booking, but it gets very busy, so don’t go if you are a large group!

This might be best tapas restaurant I’ve tried outside of Spain (I think it might even surpass Barrafina). Everything here was fresh and light on the oil, which is soooo important, because sometimes I feel like tapas are completely smothered in oil and you miss the flavors.
We ordered the below and loved everything! The wine selection is also amazing. Everyone’s really laid back here and it was completely packed but the atmosphere was cozy.
Seabream
Patatas Bravas
Tortilla
Boquerones en Vinagre (SO GOOD)
Padron Peppers
Pork belly

Fantastic! Get here early for lunch, there must only be about 15 places to sit and it is (rightly) popular.

Pretentious mediocrity. Not worth it. Decent food, aggressive service. Embarrassing for a man of Mr Pizarro’s talents.

Today I have a special treat for you, a review of one of my favorite restaurants in London. I know I have many favorites, but José is a place with many fond memories. We used to hang out at this place almost every week. It is actually one of the first places my husband took me out on a date. What a way to steal a girls heart, offer her some Iberico pork and get her drunk on Cava. We are now married, so what else can I say than that it worked.
José is the small and simple cava and tapas bar from José Pizaro who also runs a more upscale (still rather casual) restaurant called Pizarro down the road on Bermondsey Street. He was also before opening these places head chef at Tapas Brindisa. It is almost always crowded but people do not tend sit for long so often the wait is not that bad. Even if you cannot get a table immediately you can stand around and drink a glass of sparkling. The wait goes much faster with a drink in your hand
There are usually three or four good sparklings (Cavas) by the glass. The wines are decently priced but perhaps not cheap, around £5−7 per glass and £30−40 per bottle (the on-​going gentrification of Bermondsey Street has meant that prices are moving up). There are also nine different whites, three rosados and twelve reds by the glass. Food is excellent! The menu is not fixed, it is written on two black boards behind the bar and as things run out they are crossed off. However a few things can almost always be found there: some excellent Spanish cheeses as well as Jamon Iberico and chorizo. The Patatas Bravas, Pan con Tomate and Padron peppers are also some of my usual choices. My favorite is however, without a doubt, the flavorful Pluma Iberico (or when that is not on the menu the Secreto Iberico). Mmm, I would almost kill for that dish. All in all, I dont think I have ever been disappointed with a ny dish at Josè’s.
Service is always friendly and considering that it is always packed things move along smoothly. I also do like the fact that they do not automatically include service on the bill — i am not a bad tipper, but I want to make the choice myself. A tip should be an incentive to provide extra good service, not a part of the normal salary. That’s just my opinion and I wish more places would do that.
After years of testing the quality of food at both José and Pizarro I can conclude that the food is excellent. I think it’s partly due to good quality produce, but also the skill of the chefs. It requires a special talent making simple dishes well. An important element for me is also the no-​fuss quality wine list. They rotate the wines now and then so often I find new things to try.

Great Tapas menu and wine list. We tried the jamon Ibérica, croquetas, pluma, cheese plate, tortilla and calamares. Everything was delicious. This place is small, but very lively. The host tries his best to get you in to a good spot. If another opens, he will ask if you want to move :-). The wait staff is stupendous.

They have authentic Iberican ham. The Iberico Jamon (shaved aged pork shoulder) is excellent. The Pluma Iberica (pork flank cooked rare — a rare find outside of Spain) is amazing. Nice wine list.
Great food; great wine; fantastic service especially for London. A must visit. Will come again.

On the pricey side but every tapa is a work of art. Perfect blend of textures and flavors, also nice play on hot and cold.
Hands down some of the best tapas I had in a while.
Still and sparkly water comes with the meal.
Worth noting: the chicken liver, fried cheese and honey, and mushroom croquettes

The best Spanish food I’ve had outside of Spain and possibly in Spain! Me and my husband shared about 4 tapas and all of them were out of this world. Beautiful little place in a lovely location. Will be back when I visit London again!

Very nice food but terrible service and even offensive waiters (one of the women was particularly unpleasant). Too proud of themselves.
I won’t repeat, there are too many nice places out there to waste my time in bars that make you feel bad like they did.

By far the best tapas in town. Jamon of supreme quality and same goes for all products.
Great wine list, staff is very knowledgeable and helpful if you’re not accustomed with Spanish or Latin American wines.
Amusing atmosphere, very vibrant and easy going! The restaurant is not big (actually very small) and you might have to wait before getting a spot but it is well worth the wait!

I finally managed to get a table at this place which is so small and so popular that sometimes you feel it’s not worth attempted to go into
I have to say the food is just extraordinary… everything on the menu is just normal tapas but the way they do it is just so delicious … I recommend the patatas Bravas, jamon Iberico and hake… all just so delicious
The problem with this place is that you aren’t going to sit down or have a comfortable meal… It’s always going to be crowded and intense… it’s a bar essentially with tapas … But the food just makes up for it as does the service
Highly recommended but not a place to relax, just to have good Spanish food

José is an incredible tapas bar located in the middle of Bermondsey Street. Although it is very small and almost impossible at times to get in, it really is worth the wait. The tapas are very simple yet wonderful (not as inventive as the ones from Pizarro, the owner’s other restaurant down the street). My favorite dishes are the croquetas And pan con tomate. I love Jose and would love to go again soon.

This has to be one of my favorite eating establishments bar none. The atmosphere is great, the food is fantastic and the sherry selection is incredible. I used to live around the corner and would visit several times a week. Now I make a point of stopping by whenever in London.
All the staff takes pride in giving you a genuine experience.

First off, I’m not generally a tapas guy – nothing against the taste but just not normally into small portions or sharing food =) …but fast forward to this dining trip, and I may have to change my mind about tapas. This place was simply amazing! We ate in a couple of rounds, ordering first the Jamón (OMG), Patatas Bravas (yum!), and Bread w/​Tomato (simple but succulent) – all of these blew my mind. Our 2^nd round consisted of the fried calamari, chorizo sausages, and fried (really sautéed) peppers – again, all delicious. To accompany our meal, we ordered a bottle of rosé, which paired perfectly with all of our selections.
I didn’t know it when we came here, but the restaurant is owned by celebrated Spanish chef José Pizarro. I’ll definitely be buying his book on Spanish cooking! …and waiting for the day he brings his stuff to NYC!

José is the small and simple cava and tapas bar from José Pizzaro who also runs a more upscale (still rather casual though) down the road on Bermondsey Street. José is in a way too close to where I live as it is always tempting to stop by for a glass (or bottle) of cava and some of the lovely tapas. It is almost always crowded here but people do not tend sit for long so often the wait is not that bad and with a glass of sparkling in the hand time moves faster.
There are usually three or four sparkling by the glass and a few reds and whites as well. The wines are decently priced but perhaps not cheap, the on-​going gentrification of Bermondsey Street has meant that prices are moving up. Food is excellent, the menu is not fixed (written on two black boards behind the bar and as things run out they are crossed off the board) but a few things can almost always be found there so there will be some excellent Spanish cheeses as well as Jamon and chorizo. My favorite is however without a doubt the flavorful Pluma Iberico (or when that is not on the menu the Secreto Iberico).
Service is always friendly and considering that it is always packed things move along smoothly. I also do like the fact that they do not automatically include service on the bill — more places should do that.
So to summarize my favorite tapas place in London (and where I can likely be found on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday and any other day I may happen to me home).