Boqueria

I was so pleased with this place!
Just before getting my tonsils removed I decided to have one last amazing meal before weeks of agony and after some online research of local tapas restaurants Boqueria seemed the best. We were not disappointed.
We definitely ordered too much food expecting the portion sizes to be much smaller than they were! But we were given really decent sizes and the food itself was amazing. The chorizo particularly was fantastic!
Service was great and they kindly waited for us to finish (which we did impressively do!)
The building is great and has a beautiful sky light that I imagine is beautiful in the daytime =)

Meat was tough and was overcooked, service was ok. Nice enough staff but weren’t even given a new plate after having to de-​shell our own prawns. Our plates were covered in plastic from opening the hand towels and we had to wipe it off with our own napkins for the next dish that arrived. Price was a bit high for what each dish had. £9 for two extremely minuscule lamb chops in no sauce. Wouldn’t go back any time soon was surprised that Michelin has recommended this restaurant and it won overall time out award of Brixton. There are definitely much more deserving spots in this town!

My first review in 2016.
I decided that it should be for a special place, and here is the Winner — Boqueria!
Inspired by El Mercat de San Josep de la Boqueria (the biggest food market in Barcelona), this is a stylish and yet cozy place. The place itself makes you feel like you’re in Spain. The staff is very nice and knowledgeable.
The food is really delicious. I was impressed by the Cochinillo Asado, served with sweet potato crisps. Tapas are generally priced at around £7 per dish. The wine list offers high quality Spanish wines among with sherries and cavas.
This so far is one of the very best tapas restaurants in London.
Asombroso!

I had a friend visiting London over the weekend and her request for dinner was Spanish. I was a bit hesitant about bringing tourists to the Brixton area, where most of them would never go, but I gave her some restaurant suggestions and she liked Boqueria so we booked in for dinner on a Saturday evening. After dinner we ended up on Clapham High Street, and I’d recommend coming from that direction if you fancy a much more pleasant walk through a largely residential area. Inside it is very nicely furnished and decorated, and there were several dates going on but it was only about half full.
We were recommended to order 3 tapas each, and we had a group of 5 so we ended up with 13 and that was more than enough food. That was nearly everything that I was interested in on the menu. Everything we had was absolutely delicious, and a lot of them even came in fives (like the prawns and the croquettes), which I’m quite sure was a nice touch by the restaurant! And they arrive in waves, so you are not overwhelmed all at once. The staff was extremely friendly and very attentive.
To start, we got the pan con tomate, which was extremely tasty because of the very generous servings of garlic. The patatas bravas was a huge mound of crispy potato cubes with a big creamy dressing. I feel like sometimes this can be more tomato based, but this was closer to a Thousand Island dressing. The croquettes were extremely large; I feel like sometimes I get croquettes half or a third of this size! The calamari were traditional rings, nothing too fancy but I liked the green aioli sauce that came with it. The padron peppers and octopus were also great — and these are large plates with like 15 – 20 pieces, so don’t think of them as small tapas! The grilled vegetables were recommended and it was a selection of bell peppers, aubergine, etc that was nice to get a balance in the meal (nothing you can’t make at home though).
The lamb chops, beef tenderloin, and suckling pig were all recommended and absolutely delicious. I thought the beef tenderloin was pretty interesting; you don’t see foie gras much in Spanish cuisine and it was one large tartine that I cut into five pieces. The suckling pig was also a standout; the lemon sorbet pairing is more like something you would see in fine dining, and it definitely impressed. In addition, we got the grilled king prawns, which come with the shell on, and the arroz negro that came with two mussels and one prawn. We must have gotten one of the specials too but it escapes me right now.
In addition to all that, we had 2 bottles of red wine, priced reasonably with a house option under £20 and many options in the £20−30 range. And the bill for our feast came out to about £30 a person. I think this is truly a neighbourhood gem that could charge much more and be completely packed if it was in another location, like literally just a few blocks down the road in Clapham! In the meantime, definitely get yourself here and enjoy the delicious food and the relaxed dining experience. This is infinitely better than queueing for tapas at Brindisa and night and day compared to my recent traumatising experience at Dehesa!

We discovered a very good and lively tapas bar on a Friday evening, in particular aubergine cannelloni with goat cheese and mushrooms, Iberian pork shoulder with roasted peppers marinated in garlic and cumin, as well as suckling pig with sweet potato crisps, apple sauce & lemon sorbet.

Had high hopes for this place. Got decent reviews online. Not really all that good. Had the croquettas, ok, nothing to write home about. Tortilla espanola was aweful, totally wrong, undercooked, weirdness. Then the black paella was soooooo salty oh my god, Terrible.
Nice atmosphere, would not go back.

We order seven tapas for two and the octopus on a bed of potato and crispy aubergine were the best. We shared the ‘chocolate explosion’ for pudding which was rather disappointing.

Really nice place and friendly staff. Food was nice and tasty, but a bit too pricey to be honest. Loved the desserts and bread with aioli.

Really enjoyed our visit to Boqueria. Although it was family friendly we found our little table in the corner with the dimmed lights and candle to be quite romantic which was a pleasant surprise. Food overall was delicious & very affordable — the only dish which didn’t hit the spot was the Pulpo a la Gallega — which is one of my favourite tapas dishes ordinarily. However some of the food combinations were really inventive and worked fantastically well. We were lucky to try the crispy aubergine with spiced honey which was absolutely delicious. Also the Succling Pork is a must — it fuses different flavours, textures & temperatures and it works perfectly! Service was really fast and attentive so top marks there.
I’d say a must try if you love Spanish tapas.

Being a huge lover of tapas, pintxos and Spain in general it’s always been a bit hard to find a decent spot to satisfy my cravings without actually flying to Madrid. This definitely hits the spot! I find the food great with my favourites being: pimientos padron, croquetas, albondigas and cochinillo. The location is very nice as it is away from the craziness that Brixton Village has become. Staff Looks to be all Spanish and is very nice and attentive without being over the top. I love this place and keep on coming back whenever I get the chance.

Despite it’s location on a busy road between Clapham and Brixton, Boqueria is an incredible restaurant. Once you’re inside, andy noise from the road vanishes. I highly recommend the Muga, Rioja 2013 and Canelones de berenjena. Can’t wait to go again!

Another trip to Boqueria tonight and it was one of the best. All of the food was delicious, the service was quick and so friendly. I love this place and would happily come here every week. If you haven’t been, you must go! I personally recommend the bread and alioli, croquettes, and suckling pig.

Dropped by for tapas and had the option to sit at the bar or in the restaurant area at the back– sat in the back because it was warmer. It was busy with a group at a long table and gradually filled up. Ambience is nice and the food came quite quickly. We ordered a few tapas to share including the lamb chops, the suckling pig, the octopus and goats cheese salad. The octopus with paprika on a bed of potatoes was incredible! Sadly we didn’t notice the specials board behind us, so if you go make sure you check it out! Surprised the waitress didn’t tell us about the specials. 4 is about enough for 2 people and then we had manchego cheese for dessert. Everything was tasty, would come here again.

Nice venue. Cute little tapas which were delicious but all in all it was a bit pricey for me.
The service was just okay. Not really attentive and didn’t explain much about our platters/​tapas…
Disappointed.

It’s not easy to find a place to eat in Brixton on a Monday night but when you’re given options like Boqueria you’ll quickly forget about it. A Spanish tapas place naturally you’re going to get sharing and small plates, lots of dishes were excellent. The arroz negro was fantastic and I highly recommend this dish. I was not as impressed with the pan con tomate which the waitress sort of hoodwinked us into ordering. Always check out the specials though to see what’s going on.

Amazing tapas! Best I’ve had outside of Spain! Would highly recommend the suckling pig!

I am somewhat surprised by the amount of 5 star reviews.
Now let me start by saying that there is a LOT to like about this place.
–In an area that doesn’t have much this is certainly an oasis.
–Staff was friendly and reasonably attentive.
–Big – lots of tables in the back an even downstairs – although I can imagine when it is full it is quite nosy.
–Nice, modern, simple décor.
–Cheap prices.
–Good wine.
AMAZING goat cheese with carmelized onions (a must) although weirdly in the vegetables section.
Croquetas – really disappointing (borderline bad). Flavorless.
Monkfish and prawns special. Overcooked, flavorless and the potatoes with it were nothing short of poorly executed.
Dishes ranged from outstanding to poor but overall I was content. They have some work to do and I wouldn’t run to go here, but for those in the neighborhood or passing through it is worth checking out.

One of my friends «hates tapas». The rest of us can’t understand how this could be, so we ignored it and took him to Boqueira on Monday night (having discovered that Brixton Village goes to sleep on Mondays.)
At the end of the evening he said «Ok, maybe I might perhaps possibly like tapas a bit now», which we consider to be a definite victory.
It’s a squeaky clean, slick, white-​walled place in the no-man’s land between Brixton and Clapham. Just when you think you’ve gone too far and missed it, there it is. We luckily managed to just walk in and grab a table at about 6:30, but it rapidly filled up around us — very impressive for a Monday.
The menu is great — about ⁶⁄₇ dishes per section (meat, fish, salads, cheeses, etc.) and a lot of variation. We chose 10 dishes between the four of us, plus bread, and 2 bottles of wine, and it came to about £27 each, which is incredibly reasonable once you compare it to the tapas places in central.
The stand out dishes that we all agreed upon were the tuna carpaccio (genuinely incredible), the salted pimento peppers and the pork with mushrooms. All were absolutely delicious. Remember to check the specials board too — we had some delicious suckling pig croquettes.
Mysteriously, the house white wine is £5 more expensive than the house red, although both were lovely and far too easy to drink.
Boquiera turned out to be a wonderful, and for some of us, mind-​changing, find.

i’m surprised this place hasn’t gotten more reviews! It was hugely popular when it opened, as Time Out magazine raved about it, and actually Boqueria won an award at the end of 2012 from Time Out.
The hype is real — the tapas here is amazing. Every dish has a creative twist to the standard tapas dish, and very well executed. The suckling pig with lemon sorbet? WOW! The black rice with squid and mussels? You could not have asked for a more perfect dish.
Best of all, the portions are reasonable — my recommendation is 5 dishes to share between two. And the prices are very decent.
The only downside is the location — its a far walk from either Clapham North or Brixton, in what is a slightly shabby area of London. But once you step inside Boqueria, you could easily be in a tapas bar in the middle of Soho.
Best of all — no service charge tacked onto the end of the bill — so you’re free to tip as you like.

I’m exceptionally lucky to have this place a short walk from home. Stranded in the once-​was-​no-​mans-​land between Clapham and Brixton, it probably struggles for walk-​in trade, but word has got around and this place is habitually busy. And you’ll see why.
Their tapas list is extensive, but not exhaustive. Lots to choose from, including the classic tapas offerings, but some more exciting and unknown dishes can be had — just ask the staff. The specials board is very much worth investigating too! It isn’t the cheapest tapas ever, but it’s a high quality and damn tasty. So very good. Even basic offerings such as tomato and garlic on bread were unbelievably tasty!
I don’t want to tell you too much more as I’m worried I won’t be able to get a table.