Tapelia — Restaurant in London

WOULD NOT RECOMMEND FOR FOOD AND SERVICE = From the very first 10 minutes it was disaster. The food was mediocre; for manchego salad, they forgot to add manchego and took it back; several times the waitresses mixed the orders and the tables. One of the waitresses looked so unconfident as if it was her first day. The restaurant was pretty full and it was not enough to have two waitresses only. One and a half waitresses, honestly.

When we finished and asked to take home the leftovers of paella, we were given the foil boxes without any explanation; so we put the food in ourselves sitting in the middle of the restaurant. Random!!!

The empty plates and paella pot stayed on the table for more than 15 minutes, even after we ordered the desserts and then another glass of wine. Nobody took care of us, even though I was with two senior age guests, just so unpleasant experience.

When I approached the waitress who was chatting to the barmen, they said sorry and took the plates away, and the barmen came to us with the desserts menu. Wait, we ordered it already! What is wrong with the service.

Deserts were absolutely disaster, cheesecake tasted bad and it looked as if the barmen cooked it himself , not someone who tried to make cheesecakes in the past. I cook it much better and it looks much better!

In the end, I was given the bill with 12,5% tips for the service included. What? Even though there was not really any service?

The whole Sunday evening was spoiled. My guests were delicate enough to say that it was ok, but everyone left...

Great food, great original atmosphere. Spanish restaurant based on tapas, little plates full of tasty food. The premises were nicely decorated and reminded me of when I went in Spain. We tried a variety of plates and we would recommend all the fish dishes, especially the meals of the week: we had some scallops and they were the best I had in London. Really delicious! The meatballs were slightly under seasoned but the accompanying sauce gave them flavour. Good portions size and good quality/pice ratio. Good selection of drinks and wines and very pleased that they had a different alcohol free beer. Staff very friendly and the service was perfect in timing. Order was taken in a tamely manner and the not availability of a dish was immediately reported and advised. Definitely be back to try their paella. I was very delighted about this restaurant because there are not many Spanish ones that are as...

I visited Tapelia yesterday after a friend gave me some vouchers as a birthday present.

I love Spanish food, and the atmosphere of the restaurant is quirky and welcoming, as is the staff.

We ordered seafood paella, ham and cheese croquettes, octopus, and patatas bravas.

Unfortunately, the food wasn’t great.

The starters—croquettes, potatoes, and octopus—were all reheated, as was the paella. I understand that paella can’t be made to order because it takes time to cook, but the starters? Croquettes and potatoes could easily be freshly prepared, yet everything was just thrown in the microwave, which ruined the texture and made the food unpleasant to eat.

It’s a pity because the restaurant has the potential to be great—if only the food were cooked fresh and properly.

Sadly, this is another restaurant to avoid, and I’m crossing it...