Eat Out London!José
Tapas Homepage – José Pizarro
José Tapas Bar was my first solo venture: a tapas and sherry bar on Bermondsey Street in London.
It’s small and cosy, inspired by the bustling tapas bars around La Boquería market in Barcelona and the traditional tapas bars in the hot, dusty towns and villages of Andalucía.
The daily menu depends on what looks good at the market on the day.
We maintain a diverse wine and sherry list from both established and small producers of Spain.
You will find wines and sherries here that you won’t see anywhere else.
Reviews and related sites
Pizarro homepage – José Pizarro
food
The full-sized restaurant is one block away from my sherry and tapas bar, José, on Bermondsey Street.
Here, at the window seats overlooking the lovely church of St Mary Magdalen or at the long communal table or at the bar itself, you can have a drink and graze on snacks, cheese, cold cuts and special tapas all day long.
At the rear is more formal restaurant seating – tables for 2 and 4, banquettes for 4-5, a large communal table for 8-10 people and a private dining room for 8-10 people.
When the restaurant area is open, the restaurant food menu is available in both the restaurant and the bar.
We take reservations for lunch and dinner in the restaurant and private dining tables, but hold the bar seating back for walk-ins.
José Pizarro restaurant review: a taste of Spain for the City set ...
food drinks staff menu location
To sit under the awning of José Pizarro’s new all-day tapas joint there on a sunny afternoon is to watch a new London taking shape, one that barely feels like London at all.
Pizarro is the likeable chef from Extremadura via Bermondsey, whose two restaurants on Bermondsey Street — a hole-in-the-wall sherry bar called José and a more formal option called Pizarro — have brought a heady fig of jamon iberico to SE1.
Spanish delights: pork presa (Picture by Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd) Looking around, most of his new neighbours at Broadgate (sounds like a prison, doesn’t it?)
Pizarro is clearly down with his lettuce trends, as his little gem came seared and served with blue cheese and anchovy (£8).
Latest restaurant reviews Latest restaurant reviews 1/128 Sackville's 2/128 Paradise Garage 3/128 Asma Khan's Darjeeling Express Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures 4/128 The Trading House 5/128 Le Chabanais Daniel Hambury/Stella Pictures Ltd 6/128 Aqua Nueva 7/128 Les Deux Salons Adrian Lourie 8/128 Vintage Salt 9/128 The White Onion ★★★ Adrian Lourie 10/128 Chutney Mary 11/128 Social Wine Tapas ★★★★ 12/128 Berber Q 13/128 The Ivy ★★★★★ Paul Winch-Furness 14/128 Fu Manchu 15/128 José Pizarro ★★★ Daniel Hambury 16/128 Taberna Do Mercado ★★★★ Matt Writtle 17/128 Chick ’n’ Sours 18/128 Wolfe ★★★ 19/128 Craft London ★★★★ 20/128 Queenswood ★★
Restaurant: José, London SE1 | John Lanchester | Life and style ...
drinks food staff
The adjunct can be so important that the tapas are the bar's raison d'être, but they don't prevent it from being a bar, a place where people sit or stand around, having a drink and a natter, with or without food.
José Pizarro is a Spanish chef whose new bar in Bermondsey, José, is actually a bar.
Pizarro was the head chef at Tapas Brindisa, the much-admired restaurant that spun off from the fabulously good Spanish food importer Brindisa and then turned into a mini-chain of three places, all in London.
José makes a big thing of its list, and the bar staff will suggest food matches for you.
José is a proper bar with proper tapas and proper sherry – all good.