Review: Jose

On Monday night myself and date discovered a fab new restaurant which I've since seen everywhere (it was featured in today's Stylist and  Metro). Really I'm not surprised...probably the best tapas I've eaten. Anywhere.

Although it was a rainy Monday night and no where near payday, the place was buzzing. Really good atmosphere. We were stood (not seated, there are approximately 3 seats in the whole place...the standing really adds to the intimacy and atmosphere). The wine is well priced, starting at £18. We ordered a bottle of Rioja for a very reasonable £25.

The olives were the only food item that slightly let it down, they were all green and not very special, and the portion was very small. In the end it did not matter as our food arrived impressively quickly, considering how busy it was and the chef's are literally in a tiny galley smaller than my modest kitchen!

What we ate: Lamb meatballs were incredible, really distinctive tasting and although there was a lot of sauce it was not over bearing. The bread we ordered was not suitable to mop up this delicious sauce though. We had the tomato bread. I don't know why but I wasn't expecting it to be cold...still it was very nice and the tomato's were extremely fresh.

The prawns from the special board were delicious, there were 3 in the portion (and yes we split the third one!) They were immaculately seasoned with chili and garlic and tasted amazing. I wish I could have ordered take out.Sticking with fish the hake alioli was divine. The batter was light and fluffy and the fish flaky. The dollop of alioli made it very special indeed.

Chorizo in white wine was a hefty portion, but really well done. Another highlight from the board was the pea and poached egg salad, again with chorizo. Really the best way I have ever tasted peas. They were almost crispy with the seasoning (trust me, this is a good thing!)

Finally the patatas bravas were like no other potato in this style I've had. They also had a generous dollop of alioli and a kick of spice.

I would highly recommend this place to visit with friends or a date, probably not the parents if they are likely to want a seat!

Atmosphere 4/5
Food 5/5
Drink 4/5
Overall 4/5

http://joserestaurant.co.uk/