Pizarro

I dunno, you wait for London's tapas king to open one new restaurant, and two come along at almost the same time… No one was at all surprised when Jose Pizarro of Brindesa fame opened up jewel box perfect Jose on Bermondsey Street a year or so ago, there was a little more surprise when it was followed up less than a year later by bigger brother Pizarro a few doors down.

If the impression is that these are a couple of places he's thrown together, then it works. Jose is a absolute favourite for post work sherry and a pincho from the authentic little bar cum kitchen in the tiny space. I remember taking a Madrileno friend prior to dinner at nearby Zucca and after a swift but heated argument with the bartender on the best sherry on the menu and two plates of their heavenly croqueta, he happily declared it the equal of anywhere in Madrid.

Pizarro is a different level to the bustle of Jose. It's a significant step up in size for one, and though there's window seating and bar service, the majority of the covers occupy dark, masculine furniture evocative of a high end wine shop. We took a seat at the marble bar and eyed up the short menu.

While everything is available for sharing as you'd expect from the tapas king, there's a slightly more ordered approach here, with the menu broken up into small and large plates. We went for two of each, which arrived in that order, much in the manner of a starter and a main course…

As well as some of the divine jamon croquetas, we went with razor clams to start. Served in their shells with lashings of garlicky butter and sticky nuggets of chorizo to contrast with the soft flesh of the shellfish, they were perfectly well cooked if not quite to my taste, I traded the last one for another go on the croquetas, an outcome that suited both parties. Of the mains, we shared a slightly one dimensional if well conceived dish of roasted root vegetables and curdy but bland goats cheese. The other shared ‘main’ was as lovely a lump of roasted lamb as I've had in some time, soused in good oil and dotted with olives, insanely tasty little flavour bombs when crisped in the hot oven.

It wasn't as busy as I was expecting, possibly less surprising as it was a mid week lunch later in service. In itself not a problem, though it did deaden the mood slightly. I'd definitely recommend an evening table shared with friends. You can go through most of the menu between 4 or 5 of you and with the help of an exceptionally well chosen wine list and the knowledgable, friendly staff have a very acceptable night out.

In contrast to the stagnant D&D dominated restaurant scene in Shad Thames, its great to see the buzz of new Bars and restaurants around the London Bridge / Bermondsey St area. Pizarro has replaced the uninspiring Bermondsey Kitchen, which we only visited once and didn't return to.

Having enjoyed Jose tapas a few times (when relatively quiet off peak), we thought we'd pop into Pizarro for a long Saturday lunch. Since we strolled up at midday, there was no wait for a table. They have a no bookings policy, which I don't like. If, like The Hope & Anchor at The Cut, Pizarro becomes too popular, we simply won't try to eat there at any popular eating hour.

It became surprisingly busy soon after we sat down, and quickly had a good buzzy atmosphere. Together with wood furniture, warm decor and friendly staff, Pizarro has a nice cozy feel, as another reviewer has commented. Staff could be a bit better organised, but some were charming.

There was a small but sufficient choice of circa 6 starters and 6 mains. We had a wonderfully tasty and light lambs tongue, and a delicious artichoke salad starter. We then went for a 3rd starter, a very tasty quail. Our appetisers were followed by 2 very good mains, a tasty and nicely cooked patridge and a Hake. We really enjoyed the simplicity and lightness of the cooking. Everything was flavoursome and tasty, but not at all oily, fatty or heavy.

Like Jose, an all Spanish wine & sherry list, with a very good selection by the glass or carafe (1/3 bottle). We had a good rioja with our mains, followed by a lovely rich sherry with dessert.

At roughly £55 for 2 for 2 courses, extremely good value – so I guess everyone will just have to queue to enjoy it ! A great addition to SE1. We wish them well.

We were really disappointed after eating at Pizarro last Friday night. We live close by and had made several attempts to eat here since the restaurant opened but it was always too busy and we were told there were 2-3 hour waits! They operate a no reservation policy which I am not a fan of in general and I definitely wouldnt wait 2-3 hours for any restaurant. On this occasion we had to wait an hour but thought we might as well as we were in no rush and did want to try it. It helped that we managed to grab some room by the bar and found a perch there for the hour. Unfortunately, this meal was not worth the one hour wait.
The red wine we ordered was excellent and good value (£24.50) but the most disappointing thing of the night was the food in general. I had high expectations based on how excellent their sister restaurant Jose is but soon found Pizarro was very different.
The menu was limited as expected and I dont have a problem with that. as such It only becomes a problem when they dont have all the items listed on the menu such as the croquetas which we were informed they were all out of that night. Typically one of my favourite tapas dishes so not a good start and it was only 9pm. I find it bizarre a Spanish restaurant runs out of a dish which is usually a popular one and always on my list of dishes when I eat Spanish food. They also charged for bread which I thought, based on the prices of everything else it should have been complimentary.
On a positive note some of the dishes we sampled were delicious including the Jamon Iberico, Parnsip and Celeriac soup and the Manchego Canelones. However the Jamon was really expensive at £20 for an average portion and it definitely was not worth that amount.
So to sum it up, I will not be returning here any time soon. We are lucky that there are plenty of great restaurants in SE1 so lots of choice and of course Jose is not far away. I think Pizarro is overpriced and not worth waiting any long period of time for.
Bring back Bermondsey Kitchen…at least they offered good food at reasonable prices and no waiting!

cozy ambi. friendly staff. the service would b perfect if our waitress had more knowledge about the menu and wines, being a Spanish didn't help that much. The food was as great as the Jose bar down the road.