Tollingtons — Restaurant in London

I really wanted to love this place, but sadly, it felt fairly disorganised, overpriced, and not a particularly comfortable or joyful eating experience. I could put poor service down to teething problems, but at the moment, I simply couldn’t justify the price and am amazed anyone can in this day and age.

The produce on the whole is good, so most dishes tasted as expected. But it was decidedly average.

Unfortunately, the food came out one by one so slowly that it made for a very disjointed lunch and laborious to eat. For instance, I don’t really want to eat a plate of tomatoes and then wait 15mins for another dish to come out. The bread then arrives by itself with nothing. I guess that’s the nature of tapas but the dishes didn’t seem strong enough by themselves and all felt like side dishes without much satisfaction or heartiness.

It’s not quite a bar but not quite a restaurant either, so it provides a fairly frustrating dining & drinking experience - I don’t really know what this place is trying to be. I’d like to say if you were in a big group it may be better for a casual hangout, but there are no tables. It’s all ledges attached to the wall so it’s actually not a particularly social layout either. It’s also incredibly hot as you’re basically sitting in the kitchen.

We also had to keep reminding staff for water and food. I really recommend diners at least get served a jug of tap water on arrival, especially as the food and drinks trickle out so slowly. Having to grab a waitress to refill a little cup every 10-15mins is annoying. Errors were made on our order and it was rectified by the other waiter, but the dish we actually ordered was remade and took a very long time. So long in fact, that we thought they forgot it and we tried to settle the bill. We were given a complimentary drink for this though, which was very much appreciated.

The prices are exorbitant and I understand fish is expensive, but £10 for a small plate of tomatoes? £18 for a small slice of turbot? The bread looked good on the counter and was a couple quid, but on arrival, it was a few small slices of a supermarket style French stick, plonked down with no butter or oil, and the quality of the bread didn’t justify it. It was dry.

What we thought would be a nice relaxing light lunch ended up being a slow, expensive, uncomfortable, disorganised, very loud and hot outing. It was kind of a relief to leave to be honest and unfortunately we were hungry within an hour, which at those prices is insane.

The queuing is staggering for such a place, and the slight pretentiousness and hype of it all made it all the more disappointing. I respect them honouring the original interior of the former chippy but it honestly made me just want a chippy rather than over priced, fussy tapas.

Unfortunately - despite its promise - overall, Tollingtons seems more of an aesthetic place; another ‘instagrammable’ establishment which has adopted a faux-humble facade for well-to-do twenty-somethings to cosplay working class culture in an old British chippy. Tapas also has working class roots and even today is usually cheap or even complimentary in Spain. So I find it almost soul sucking to pay £18 for a couple...

We went there on a Friday evening. It was very busy and adorably lively. There are not a lot of tables for two people, unless you don't want to freeze outside, so we accepted two stools and a narrow countertop. It was charming but not the best experience one can wish for. We got a bottle of Cava for 30 quid which can be considered acceptable if compared to the 45 pounds asked for the Txakoli (in a restaurant in San Sebastian in Spain a bottle would set you back around 15 euros). The good: the scallops were good, the padron peppers with Beauvale (a very good British blue cheese) were genius and the patatas bravas were very nice with a rich sauce that remembered me the ones I eat every time I go to Logrono in La Rioja. The bad: the John Dory was small and bony but, more worryingly, it tasted off like badly frozen or badly kept, like one of those cheap salt fish that each of us has tried at least once. The monkfish was a few days over, it was tough like a steak that one forgets in the fridge after removing the packaging, all the magical taste and texture was gone together with the freshness and my hopes. The brill wasn't fresh either but was the least concerning. Now let's face it, this is not Madrid nor Milan nor Paris, quality of food is not the name of the game in London (and in all of the country really) so overall it was not a bad experience and given that seafood is a taboo on these isles (ridiculous, right?) and places like this are oases in the desert I'm going to even stretch it and say:...

I took myself for a date when Tollingtons opened the first day of the new year back in January. I didn’t feel out of place, but warmly welcomed, cosy and looked after with such lovely smiles. Based in an old fish & chip shop, the Spanish tapas have a traditional, yet playful vibe. Fish is hanging in clear door fridges like a work of humble art.

I started off with CHISTORRA AND TOMATO along with SMOKED EEL AND HORSERADISH thanks the former as a lovely gesture from my hosts. I followed with MUSSEL AND CHORIZO CROQUETTES that were deliciously rich, creamy and moreish. I went for the SQUID ON THE PLANCHA, which I love to cook, but even more so to be served with a smile from the lovely team. I love to try a good hearty rice dish so the MONKFISH RICE was a dream that took me back to cooking on the coast, with inspiration to cook similar again. I was kinda full, but the BATTERED PRAWNS AND CURRY SAUCE called to me and I’m glad they did. So, so good and like a Spanish Katsu curry fusion. I finished with the FLAN for dessert, but the title doesn’t do it justice, with incredible custard dynamics and caramel soaking into every finger you wipe across the plate.

Whether you’re on your own, with a mate or date, Tollingtons is a fantastic destination that takes you to Madrid in a really cool way. Thank you guys for bringing the smiles, small plates and a happy belly having tried almost everything!...