Tendido Cero

Really good food and service, nice selection of wines as well.
We had a number of negative experiences in our travels getting to London. What a great and pleasant surprise this restaurant was. We had the prawns, the asparagus (REALLY good), the sheep manchego cheese plate and ham croquettes.
One tip: if you don’t want bread at the table, tell them so. Otherwise, they will bring you bread for which there is a £2 charge.

I wanted to adore adore adore this place because I loves me some tapas AND I loves me some spanish-​speaking waiter who calls me macita by the end of the evening, and looks at me with those dark eyes and says that next time he goes to Colombia…
But I digress.
The food, which is why people go to restaurants, right, was just ok. The Pata Negra was great, as were some of the tapas (the anchovies, the artichokes and the cheeses especially) but some others, like the patata bravas and the chorizo, were ok — edible and better than I would have cooked probably, but not life changing, or even restaurant worthy IMO.
The vibe is great, though. Nice, lively tables and banging location.

Finally I came here after living next door since the summer!
This is the more relaxed version of cambio de tercio (in front), nice atmosphere and good service
The menu is not impressive, quite traditional tapas bar but the food is good. Overall nothing that stand out but I liked all I tried.
Impressive wine selection, although I think we got a different bottle from what I ordered.
Still Quite expensive

We had a late lunch so there was not much of a crowd. But we did have reservations still just to be make we had a table.
I love tapas and spanish food so I was so excited to try this place.
First, order the sangria — sweet and provides a nice balance to the strong tapas flavors.
A must is the Pata Negra — thin slivers of cured meat and the flavor is amazing — a perfect balance of salty and sweet and spice. Some people may disagree with me but its better than jamon serrano.
We ordered several but the ones I recommend are the chorizo wagyu and bacalao croquetas — but these were on the specials menu so if its available, you must order it. Also try the pulpo a la gallega — the octopus was cooked perfectly — tender and full of flavor. The crispy artichokes, the spicy chorizo, and the patatas bravas — a different take on patatas bravas. Its sinful but dunk the warm bread in the chorizo oil…
For dessert, we had the churroz con chocolate, manchego served with membrillo, the vanilla ice cream which was creamy and nice and tasted like mantecado ice cream and the best was the spiced bread pudding.
The only down side was the service — a bit slow. Not terrible but it could be improved. But will definitely add to the list of places to go back to when in London.
I am now in search for Pata Negra…

What a great tapas bar! It was a bit crowded and noisy — I guess you’d expect that given the quality of food and servicio. I half expected a long wait for the food, but with the exception of dessert the food came super quick.
The menu is not as adventurous as the sister restaurant across the street. The descriptions seemed pretty conventional. I ordered Baby Anchovies in Sherry Vinegar from the cold tapas menu, Fried green asparagus, romescu sauce, Deep fried squid «a la andaluz», and Iberian pork cheeks cooked in p.X. Wine, potato cream from the warm tapas menu. Everything was great. The calamari was quite possibly the very best I have ever had! The pork cheeks were braised and melted in the mouth; they were so tender. They came with whipped potatoes that seemed a little gluey, though I’m sure they meant to make them that way as it seemed to work. The asparagus was crispy on the outside. The romescu sauce was okay, but unnecessary — they were great on their own.
The only dish where they lost me was the ice cream. Someone had ordered ice cream that was served up with fresh berries and liquor poured over. Since I’m a sucker for ice cream, I ordered the «vanilla ice cream with Pedro Ximénez sweet wine.» I should have realized something was up when I didn’t get my helado right away. When I did, instead of berries they put raisins on my ice cream! Raisins! Ugh. I’ll eat raisins in granola or maybe in an oatmeal cookie, but ugh, not in ice cream! When I got the bill the waiter comp’d the dessert (which I didn’t complain about), so I think they probably did run out of berries and felt a bit apologetic.
I’ll definitely come again.

I’m afraid that food cooked to mediocre standards, smothered with paprika and served in small portions priced as if they were much bigger portions does not good Spanish food make. Perhaps I have become jaded by my trips to Catalonia, from where I am now writing this review having visited Tendido Cero a few days ago, but after being rather underwhelmed by my meal and then seeing the bill afterwards I can’t really draw any other conclusion.
There were certainly some high points to the meal: the padron peppers (cooked/​blistered just the right amount with a generous topping of coarse salt), the Spanish cheese plate (nice selection with good accompaniments) and the boquerones were all very enjoyable. You will notice, however, that it is pretty hard to screw any of these dishes up, by virtue of the fact that none of them really require much on-​site preparation. Sure, you have to pull the peppers off of the grill at the right time, but I’m fairly sure that they aren’t making their own cheeses or marinating their own fresh anchovies.
Unfortunately, dishes that did require a bit more thought and preparation tended to be on the more lackluster side of things. If there was one dish that I had to pick as the poster child for the opening sentence of this review, it would be the Pulpo a la Gallega (Galicean Octopus). The octopus was not well cooked (quite slimy and chewy) and was served thinly sliced with sliced boiled potatoes. The dish was finished with enough paprika to fill a container ship (it would be better described as paprika with an octopus and potato garnish) and was really rather oily, so I couldn’t even tell you how the octopus tasted, because any flavour had been effectively drowned out. The «new» patatas bravas that everyone raves about were fine, but their unique presentation didn’t make them any better than the many other versions of patatas bravas that I’ve tried over the years. If anything, I was suspicious of what they were trying to hide by giving such a great classic such a gimmicky presentation.
The sangria was decently made and the service was polite and efficient. The surroundings had a fairly generic «Mediterranean» décor and there were a few smaller tables outside which was nice for a summer evening. Dinner for 3, including one pitcher of sangria, came to just under £50/​head which, given the standard on offer, was not an amount I would be willing to spend again to give this place a second try.

Love tapas!
We had a great experience at Tendido Cero. We arrived with no reservation on a Saturday night and were told we could have a table for the next few hours (perfect).
We ordered almost every single vegetarian tapas choice on the menu and they were all delicious. I loved the way the patatas bravas were served, the pan con tomate was great… but there was a star: THE MUSHROOM AND ARTICHOKES. It was so good it deserves all caps. I desperately want the recipe so I can make the dish myself — it was amazing.
The service was attentive. It seems like the kind of place where most of the guests know the staff — a good sign that we should return again and again for a great dinner.

We stopped by on a Saturday afternoon with two kids after having tried the main restaurant a few months earlier. The food is great but it is not the same tapas as served in Cambio de Tercio. However, the service was great and it was a wonderful lunch filled with tapas. The pulpo was amazing but the gambas could be better for the place. We were surprised how friendly the staff was with the kids and would go back to it if we are close to the area. I still prefer Brindisa on South Ken as the usual tapas place in London.

We love this place! Try the pan con tomate e jam on (tomato on bread topped with cured ham), the lightly fried asparagus (its’ incredible!!) and the meatballs (they disappear faster than I’d like to admit!) The waiters are very helpful selecting a nice wine in your price range (our waiter not only remembered us from our previous visit, but also the exact bottle of wine we had ordered while we were there). It’s always busy, so book a table early and expect to be cosy with your neighbors as it’s not the biggest place… never a disappointment!

Thanks, Unilocalers for recommending this place! There was a moment as I crossed the threshold when I thought the waiter was going to be snooty because we didn’t have a reservation but 10 seconds later they were taking our coats and we were sitting at a window table!
We didn’t sample a very wide range of tapas but everything we had I enjoyed. The cheese plate had a good range of soft and hard cheeses and the pan con tomate was delightfully saturated in olive oil. The gambas al ajillo didn’t look as plump as Brindisa’s but maybe that’s because they were peeled — they still tasted good. The menu looked quite different from what I saw on the website (slightly more expensive and less adventurous dishes, although I might be mistaken about the latter) but I wasn’t disappointed. What I do really want to try is the tuna tartar with avocado alioli sauce — sounds amazing.
I get the impression that the staff here are working extremely hard. It might not help that multiple people are involved with serving every table, which I think meant we asked the wrong person for something a couple of times. Overall though this place has a kind of fun, charming vibe — great for catching up with friends and eating a lot of garlic-​based products.

We wandered in here without a reservation on a Tuesday night and were offput at first (I think they were not super excited to see 2 Americans who clearly had not dressed for the occasion — we were in jeans while everyone else wore smart casual). But we were seated at the bar and had a great meal! Their Tempernillo selections cannot be beat so we were off to a great start. We ordered the asparagus, charcuterie plate, garlic shrimp (excuse me, I mean prawns), chorizo in cider, and calamari, and thoroughly enjoyed every dish. By about halfway through our dinner we were chatting with the servers and convinced them we weren’t the slobs we originally appeared to be! We finished up our meal with the chocolate churros at the recommendation of our server, and were so obsessed with the chocolate that we wanted to drink the remaining liquid from the dainty little cup (but restrained ourselves). We had an after-​dinner apple liquer on the house to round out our great dining experience. When we are back in London I will definitely return here (wearing something more suitable next time)!

This place is darn tasty! It’s tapas, but not particularly traditional Spanish ones.
We tried a few different things: foie gras with apple, patatas bravas with mayo (interesting presentation but need to be spicier), octopus (yum!), and the most tender, steak-​like piece of pork I have ever eaten, sitting on a sweet potato purée. I am getting hungry again just thinking about it.
They also have a large selection of half-​bottles of wine, for taking it easy or just trying two different wines with dinner.
Gluten-​free notes: Most dishes don’t contain wheat or other problematic ingredients, but be sure to ask.

Good place, yummy tapas and convivial atmosphere

Just up the street from our mews house, this place is a jewel of a neighborhood restaurant. It’s always crowded, so book a table well in advance!
The entire menu is tapas, and sharing is expected. Favorites include the cheese plate, the charcuterie, the patatas bravas, the ham croquettes, the sobrasadas (seriously, yum!), and octopus. And their chorizo is fantastic — I’ve never had anything with chorizo in it that wasn’t great.
The dining room is attractive, loud, and fun. If you want romantic, go across the street to Cambio de Tercio. Highly recommended for small and medium size groups looking to share some drinks and laughs.

Tendido Cero is a vibrant and cozy tapas bar that had friendly service and great (and some unique) food. Of the dishes we had, the cod, oxtail stuffed peppers, and anything with the chorizo in it were the favorites. The tomato and serrano ham topped bread was average and came out about 30 seconds after we ordered it. In fact, the service in general was very fast but luckily they only brought out a few of the dishes in each rapid round so we still ended up lingering there for about 2 and a half hours. We will definitely return!

Tapas right at my doorstep? Yes please! What a gem, although I say so with a few disclaimers:
1. The décor and ambiance could be that of any «Mediterranean» restaurant — Italian, Spanish, Portuguese. Red walls, wood tables.
2. The menu is extensive with many tapas classics (bruscetta, cheese plates, peppers) and many other original dishes (calamari, cod, tomatoes & cured pork).
3. The food is quite oily, but I think that’s meant to be part of the authenticity.
The best part of the meal was the bread rolls, and I don’t mean this in any form of disrespect. I’m not a big bread person but these were warm out of the oven, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Seriously incredible when eaten with fresh soft cheese and prosciutto.
In sum, the best tapas I’ve tried in Kensington so far, but not as good as Barrafina, Dehesa, etc.

This vibrant place is basically at the top of my street and I’ve been meaning to check it out. We arrived around 7pm, first table to be seated but when we left around 8pm the restaurant was ²⁄₃ full.
We tried the Serrano ham, patatas bravas, tortilla, paprika chicken, garlic prawns and aubergine chips. Some was melt-​in-​your-​mouth good (take a bow, patatas bravas) and some less so (aubergine ships were mushy, overly sweet and not a winner with either of us). The presentation is really excellent, and the dishes a reasonable size. 6 dishes for 2 people was quite a lot — we had bits leftover and we’re good eaters: p
Service was nice: fast, friendly and not pressured.
On the negative, I found the wine really, really expensive. We just wanted a glass each yet all the half bottles cost more than most full bottles which seemed weird to me. We ended up with a decent by the glass at £6.50.
So, all in all good for unchallenging tapas with enough choices to suit most palates. And if you’re teetotal, you might steer towards 5 stars!

Tendido Cero is a bit of a treasure in Earls Court/​Brompton. It is a Spanish tapas bar opened by the same people who own the award-​winning Cambio de Tercio. Indeed it is only across the street from the latter, but is there to specialise in tapas and the less sophisticated (read expensive) dishes on the Spanish menu. What that means of course is that it is a place you can go to eat some of the top-​quality Spanish ingredients in London for much less than they are being sold for at the notoriously over-​priced Cambio. Indeed a keen eye will even spot the waiters sneaking across the road to pick up some dishes from the more glamorous venue. A double-​positive then. The tapas are delicious, and the atmosphere can also be good as the place tends to fill up. The price, while hardly cheap and cheerful, should come in around 20 to 30 pounds a head, which is decent for the area. Definitely worth a try.

A fun, noisy, warm & cosy spot, yellow-​red-​and-​black Tendido Cero is the casual tapas sister of the more formal Spanish restaurant across the road (Cambio de Tercio). It’s best to go with few others as the place gets packed to the rafters, but sitting at the bar is a fine option.
The tapas here are authentic Spanish and quite oily — neither of which is my style — but I am always completely happy here with the same 4 things: the bread basket (filled with soft and warm white slices and continually replaced), slices of Ibérico ham (or even Ibérica), the Spanish cheese plate and a bottle of Rioja. Bliss.