Based in the same location as the former Windmill Portugese Tapas Bar…read more Very good food. Attentive, friendly service. A welcome addition to the local restaurant scene.

Very cute and good service. Nicest place in the area. The food was cooked well and very good. The…read moreSangria an A+!

Amazing cocktail bar that you have to visit if you are ever in the area. I can wax on and on about…read morethe Summer in Serrano cocktail or the awesome DJ, cute bartenders and the cool vibe of the place but you have to check it out for yourself. Located next to a mosque look for the neon telephone sign!

On the site of the now defunct Maneros, I was worried when I heard they were being taken over but…read morethose fears were misplaced. This is the coolest place. It has great tapas with a British twist, but it really comes into its own Thursday to Saturday nights when it's open till 5am. They have great DJ's, friendly knowledgable bar staff and really nice vibe. Can't recommend this place enough

I was astonished at how unassuming and unfussy this place was for such a big name chef, tucked away…read morein a corner of Spitalfields market. I wasn't too sure what to expect from Portuguese tapas but what we got was lots of small plates with (as Gregg Wallace from Masterchef would say) big flavours! We went for variety when ordering. Not all the dishes were five stars but there were some definite highlights - for me it was the 24-month-aged St Jorge cow's cheese which did somersaults on my tastebuds, whilst my guy really liked their beef sandwich. We found the runner bean fritter a bit of a waste but both dived for the last mussel which was served in a small tin and beautifully seasoned. The custard tart which you have to reserve a slice of early as they only make one a night, was actually a bit disappointing - I found it a little too gooey for my liking. Every dish feels very thoughtfully prepared, and it was so nice to feel that thought and care extend to the service here, with a lovely welcome from the front of house who made sure we were happy sitting in the front 'outside but inside' area. Our waiter also took very good care of us, happily advising on dishes and in my case the wines too, as I hadn't heard of many of the grape varieties. So the 5th star is for their charm. A good feed if you're in the area with a very relaxed, rustic feel, but be warned the prices stack up quickly with this type of food! I could easily be persuaded to return though, as I already know which dishes I'd ditch and which new ones I'd order next time... ;)

I had high expectations for the Taberna do Mercado since the ratings were quite high and I am a…read morePortuguese food lover. I have to admit that our diner at the Taberna was flawless. We sat at the bar to watch the cooks and see how they handled the food. They put so much enthusiasm in their food: resting the meat properly, seasoning, checking texture, tossing away what they weren't happy with. Even though we had some favorites (hear me here: Heaven bites), all dishes were great. The tinned fish, served with pickles and fresh sourdough toasted bread brushed with olive oil, are definitely a must have. The green beans fritters are served with an acidic sauce that makes it a perfectly balanced dish. The cod is fresh and cooked as it should be. The egg yolk pork fat desert in a port wine sauce is worth trying. The staff was really friendly and the cooks would always take the time to answer our questions. The selection of wine is good for all ranges of price. We had a bottle of wine and about 7 dishes and a dessert to share for 115£ (which isn't bad for London price.) I left the place thinking I'd love to come back for a sandwich for lunch or a whole suckling pig with friends. Well done for a restaurant to fill your appetite while making you want to come back straight away. Definitely a place I would put on my list of London's best restaurants, along Hawksmoor, Ceviche, Dishoom and Franco Manca!

Two-year-old BP & WP is a funky, little resto offering up Spanish cuisine. Not being too…read morewell-versed in the food of Spain, I couldn't exactly tell you from which region(s) the food hails. Tapas, side dishes and larger shared plates make up the menu. Vegetarians and Pescatarians will not go hungry here. And, of course, meat eaters will be pleased with the selection. I was angling for the leg of lamb (meant for 2-3 persons), but my dining companions were not keen. The space is narrow, candle-lit and, on the night we dined, filled with patrons. There are two 2-tops out front and a short bar accommodating approx. four diners. 2-tops, four-tops and, at least, one larger table fill the floor. Behind the bar I spied beer, wine, port, and some spirits. Our fare was tasty & attractively arranged. We had anchovies (warning: the vinegar hit the back of our throats and made our eyes water), black rice with squid, tortilla with a ramekin of aioli, broad beans with ham and a sauteed spinach side. The last two dishes were garnished with roasted garlic clove. The service was friendly, informative and, considering how busy the resto was, not terribly slow. My tiny quibble would have been the shape of the wine glasses. They resembled a, sort of, wide-mouthed, stout cylinder, if that makes sense. It made for a bit of an awkward grip-n-sip when one drank. Raucous music reminiscent of Les Negres Vertes played over the loud speakers and made for a peppy, upbeat dining experience that I much enjoyed.

Stoke Newington has Turkish cafes, great Indian food, sushi, hot salt beef bagels, fish and chips,…read moreand a bunch of pubs. Now, thanks to Black Pig with White Pearls it also has Spanish tapas. I was a regular patron of the restaurant which used to inhabit the space so I was curious to see what the new owners had done with it. The decor is what you could call Spanish hipster; black walls and simple tables are embellished with candelabras and cardboard bull heads wearing pearls. It manages to be spare, striking, and yet homey at the same time. The people who run it are relaxed and friendly so the whole atmosphere is really pleasant. Yeah yeah, but how was the food? Delicious! We shared five plates and a dessert, all of which were tasty. The padron peppers with sea salt were perfectly done, the lamb dish was tender and flavourful, and the croquetas were light and rich at the same time. If you're interested in going, make a reservation! They were able to seat us at the bar, but you might not be so lucky. It's pricy enough so that I won't be going very often, but the next time I want to have a slightly more special meal, I'll be sure to call ahead. I might even wear pearls.

I've been to Italy over 100 times. I know the food well. This food was excellent. Owner is…read morecharming. Prices are too low for the quality of food. I highly recommend it. You won't be disappointed. Bravo Pomaio!!!

Came here for a corporate dinner. We were about 20. Seems like a new place…read more Service was astoundingly slow. About 30 minutes between sitting down and getting our appetizer which was a bruschetta. Or as I like to call it, supermarket bread with tomato paste on it. Something a 10 year old a home can do. Someone else at the table also commented on this without me saying anything so I know it's not just me. Waited another 45 minute for pasta. My table got their order 15 minutes before me. So everyone was awkwardly waiting for me to get my food. In the end they just ate their tiny portions as I waited. When my food arrived it tasted like canned meat sauce and the portion was no bigger than a closed fist. Finished it in about 3 minutes. Maybe this level of service and food quality was simply a result of us being a corporate event but I'll never come back to find out.

We've been a few times but I generally find it to be a bit average at the end of the day despite…read morebeing a very cool location. I feel it may be even better for an evening drink on the rooftop than the brunch-type place it primarily advertises. Service can be a bit slow unfortunately. We once ordered the granola which took nearly a half hour to arrive. They said they had to bake the granola in the oven but it seemed as if they were harvesting the wheat and building the oven it took so long. We've also gotten the avocado toast a few times but i think they've shrunk the portion size a bit. Last time I got it with salmon and while it was very good, I had to cut around some subpar pieces of salmon. Nothing bad, but I guess I had higher expectations than I should've had.

Across the street from Bethnal Green is this Spanish tapas bar. We ordered a few tapas and the…read morebest one was the pork belly. Very good value for money. The drinks were reasonable a full bar to offer. The staff were great and definite come back to stay in this area.

I've had some memorable banter with waiters in restaurants over the years, but "...AND DON'T EVER…read moreCOME BACK, YOU RACISTS!" is unlikely to be superseded. Service was slow last night, and gradually disintegrated into full on dreadful (menus being taken away, no order being taken). Me and my husband finally placed an order, and the waitress returned five minutes later, barking with weird aggression: "no chicken, just beef or vegan." I asked for the menus again, and she walked away with a stage whisper of "JESUS CHRIST!" and rolled her eyes. So we said actually, we'll just pay for our drinks and leave, because... rude. The waitress then LOST IT: "Well, I don't like YOUR attitude! YOU are the ones who have been rude - you've been REALLY CONDESCENDING." We were taken aback, and asked politely and precisely how we had been condescending. "Hey, I GAVE you a menu!" she offered, then really went off on one. She was clearly having... a moment/meltdown. So we stood up and said that after that spectacular verbal assault, we were going immediately and weren't going to pay for the drinks either. As we headed for the door she shouted "...AND DON'T EVER COME BACK... YOU RACISTS!" So I turned back and said "WOAH!! WHAT!!?? WHAT DID YOU SAY!!?" She wouldn't say it again, and when I asked for the manager, she shouted "YOU WANT ME TO GET MY PHONE OUT AND GIVE YOU MY MANAGER'S NUMBER!? YOU REALLY THINK I'M THAT STUPID!!? GET OUT." I have never left a restaurant actually SHAKEN. (And certainly never been called, totally randomly, racist, which was ringing in my ears for hours). I've been going to Viva Dalston for years and used to really like it. But now it will always just be The Place With THAT Waitress where THE THING HAPPENED

Felt very lucky to stumble across this place on a boiling hot day - we didn't realise it had a…read morelovely outside seating area in the back! The food is the star of Viva. The nachos were really superior. I think it's hard to stand out with nachos - probably nine in ten taste pretty much the same, and none of them are really bad until you get the Basics Grated Cheese on cold doritos. But these were something different. I'm not a huge salsa fan but the salsa verde is very moreish and paired with beautifully toasted tortilla chips, sour cream and cheese, I was in heaven. I also had the chicken mole taquitos - ordered 2 but could easily have eaten 4! Others were all happy with their quesadillas, variously chile con carne, chicken and butternut squash. The atmosphere and the food make this place, but there were a few hitches that made me consider a 3 star rating. Firstly, they were out of a few things - namely, the pork (which is one of three meat fillings, so reduces the menu quite a lot) and crushed ice (so take half the cocktails off the menu). Secondly, they brought out the wrong dish for someone on my table (chicken instead of chile con carne quesedillas) - and while my friend was fine with this, it was notable that the waiter was not at all bothered and didn't even attempt to offer to change it, even sounding like it was my friend's fault somehow that the chef wasn't told he wanted chile con carne after finding out the pork was out. And finally, the glasses were a bit dirty, so a few cocktails seemed to have small bits of fluff in. However, I try to go on how I feel on leaving a restaurant, and I would definitely recommend Viva and go back, despite the downsides - so four stars it is!

Food is more than decent, but the service left us wanting...our order…read more All of the plates we ordered were fresh and tasty, even the calamari, which is always a good indicator of what's in store. Unfortunately, getting our tapas and beverage, and bill were much more of a challenge. Advice to owner, hire more staff for the weekends. Comments to chef, well done.