Tendido Cero

Really good food, served by nice waiters, in a good setting. Really enjoyed it.

Food is good and creative. Service is hot and cold. There is frequently an attitude when you walk in the door and I haven't been able to tell if it's a language barrier. Don't bother trying to reserve a table online. The restaurant doesn't bother to call you back if the place is full for the time you requested, despite what the website says. Here's a hint Tendido Cero: customers don't have telepathy. Get with the times and figure out how to offer true online bookings.

This is a brief note to let you know of our experience last night was not as expected.
I am regular client at Cambio de Tercio and I have no complaints related to food quality or service, on the contrary ! whereas Tendido Cero’s food wise left a lot to be desired. Service good 10/10.
We ordered
Jamon de Jabugo Pata negra
Pan Tomaca
Boquerones
Pimietos de piquillo rellenos con rabo de toro
Jamon Iberico
Tortilla Española
Gulas
Rollos de camaron con mermelada
Crema Catalana
Vino
Total paid £ 163.00 plus
When we were served the first dish I was quite disappointed to see chocolate colored Pata negra, the fat was yellowish and of course feared the worst; it was stale and the bellota quality had long gone., we both thought as its worth £ 19,00 per dish popularity wasn't there !. Then we received the Tortilla, this looked good, it was freshly made but the potatoes tasted as if there were boiled rather than fried, It was watery and tasteless, except for egg taste of course and followed by the Pan Tomaca, I expected a crusty crunchy bread with freshly crushed tomatoes and instead the bread was lame and chewy , the tomato tasted as if it was made a day before yesterday and it was dry, I asked several times for olive oil only to be given the extra order of olive oil after we consumed these so we hoped that the next round of bread might have tasted better however the second round was equally boring and stale.

As we felt that we needed something that would resemble Jamon… we decided to try the Iberico. This was delicious ! and you could taste the bellota within it.. Gulas, very nice, Rollos quite exciting and new as I never tasted these before, Pimientos tasted old and stale, Boquerones made to perfection and Crema catalana was good. The wine at £ 46.00 was quite good and well suggested by the amicable waiter.

All in all I would give the whole experience a 3 out of 10, I could hardly sleep last night due to the Rabo de Toro and Pata Negra’s taste kept repeating itself ending being sick at the early hours of the Morning.

I would suggest to serve fresh pata Negra or at least make sure that the look of the dish resembles a pata negra portion, it is awful.

For your information the restaurant I wanted to go into was Cambio de Tercio but as it was fully booked I decided for second best with awful results. Cambio de tercio was recommended by my very good friend Freddy Cohen and Patricia whom have very warm thoughts and I have been a client since.

We as a party of 8 women who went to Tendido Cero to celebrate a girlfriend moving from London. We enjoyed our meal but I have never been more shocked when, just after our teas and coffees were served and before we had a chance to drink them, the waiters suddenly arrived with our coats obviously insisting we left. If the restaurant had been filled with people at the bar waiting for tables I would have understood but there were several empty tables and no one waiting. Why this restaurant felt justified in treating their customers in this way I have not idea but I will never go back. The food was OK but not worth a special trip and certainly not worth poor service.

I went to Tendido Cero on a recommendation from a friend at the Instituto Cervantes and can happily say that it is easily one of the best tapas restaurants I have been to in London…and I'm working my way through a few!

We tried the sobrasada pastries – which you don't often find and which were delicious. Tendido Cero has a ‘new’ take on patatas bravas too – rather than giving you chunks of fried potato in salsa rosa or aioli, they serve them cut into small cylinders, scooped out and filled with a creamy sauce – personally I wasn't keen on the texture but my two friends loved them. We also tried their fabada, which is done simply and elegantly, without morcilla or too much fatty ham, and their tortilla, which was cooked almost to perfection – a little runnier and it would have been spot on.

The wine list is extensive and offers something to suit most budgets. We tried the Elias Mora from Toro – which is a good choice if you want a nice mid priced bottle! The kitchen is bustling and there is an opening from the restaurant, which gives the place a nice buzz and demonstrates how attentive the waiters are as they chase up the next dish for their customers.

The decor is all appropriately themed around bull fighting, and we were sat by a large photographic canvas of a Torero's rear, almost exposed following a costume-destroying near miss with a bull!

The service was excellent (from our charming waiter from Salamanca) and our glasses were topped almost without us realising. Plates of food were brought at the perfect pace for us to enjoy each two or three dishes at our leisure, before proceeding to the next.

If you love Spanish food, this is definitely a place you should try (though please note that there were not a large number of vegetarian options)!

One of the most authentic and welcoming tapas bars in London thanks to Abel Lusa and his team. Always welcomed and as a result this has become my neighbourhood favourite. The food is more than traditional Spanish comfort food – it's great quality, good clean flavours and no compromises.