Ibérica Canary Wharf

Good food, service and good value.

Busy, fun, and great food. A taste of Spain, fabulous. Always good as the visit before.0.

Great food and excellent service.

The best of a small chain which have managed to raise the bar on authentic and high class Spanish cooking in London.

Must admit my expectations weren’t great, mainly driven by their constant reminders that there was a 2-hour limit on our table, which is guaranteed to wind me up, even when I had no particular plan to linger longer than the stipulated time in any case. As it turned out, we overstayed our welcome by around 10 minutes, and guess what, nothing bad happened…..In fact there were a number of empty tables around 8:30 on a wintry March evening, so perhaps it may be worth Iberica staff paying attention to the reservations it has over a particular service to see if it really is worth making customers feel unwelcome before they even step foot into the place! Gripe over, I have to say the food was very good, very good indeed with standouts being the chorizo lollipops (if you overlooked the bland pear alioli sauce that accompanied them), some very oozy croquettes and a quite exceptional mixed platter of cheese and cured meats; although it would have been nice if the staff could have explained what our selection comprised. Menu has lots of very good wines by the glass and overall the dining experience was very enjoyable. The only drawback and it is one that is fairly consistent among small chains at present, was that there was hardly any room at all between the tables. We had to grab hold of bottles and glasses on our table when the occupants of the neighbouring table left to use the facilities, for fear of items toppling over in their wake!

Not the first time I have been to this restaurant. Very disappointing this time around. Spoke to the Manageress when it came for us to pay and she apologised that we had not enjoyed our food. She wanted to put things right and took 50% off the bill and also invited us back for a free lunch / dinner. Probably not going to take her up on her offer to be honest. In addition, on day we visited, they had run out of a load of choices, including their mixed meet and cheese dish which I found surprising. Would probably give it another go at some stage but as there are other tapas restaurants on the Wharf, Iberica will not be my first choice. Such a shame really as I have had great food there before.

I can't quite work Iberica out. The heavy hand of the branding experts is obvious, with the big fat legs of prosciutto ham placed strategically at the entrance so you walk past them, with the bull image and the carefully researched “authentic” typeface on the wall-posters and menus, with the well chosen leather bucket seats and rustic tables and bright chandeliers; every element has been carefully thought through. It feels like a sanitised version of Spain, one which only exists in the English mind, because it doesn't look like any taverna I've ever been to in Spain. But then up the stairs, in a helpful play area which my godson sniffed out and which seems partly planned with stacks of toys and partly improvised with hastily pushed back tables, all the books are in Spanish, even Peppa Pig. And there are children running around on a Sunday afternoon, all over the restaurant and the staff don't seem to mind a bit and even bring some colouring pens over. Children being seen and heard? That's all rather continental, isn't it? As to the food itself, well we were in the pre-Christmas consumer fug and I was suffering from a cold so I can't really judge but we ordered a fair number of a wide variety of dishes, all of which looked good and tasted, to my muted palette, fine. The usual tapas suspects are there with, of course, iberico ham, some fried seafood things, patatas bravas etc etc as well as a few things you wouldn't expect (I recall some mini burgers). I don't think I'd rush back as, even though there are only 3 Iberica venues (currently, no doubt more coming to a Mall near you soon), it still manages to feel a bit chainy. However, it serves its purpose well, in particular where that purpose is to feed 3 hungry adults and a highly distracted child late on a busy pre-Christmas Sunday afternoon, so in the same circumstances, yes I'd recommend it.

This restaurant is amazing and everyone should go! I went to the Canary Wharf one as it's near where I live with my boyfriend – we went there to celebrate our 2-year anniversary, which just happens to be New Year's Eve so we were worried we might not get a table. But they had 7pm available… We were greeted by smiling friendly faces and shown to our table through a really beautiful, extremely high-ceilinged interior – quite awe-inspiring! Absolutely beautiful building full of wonderful old Spanish posters on the walls and impressive wine bottle installations up to the ceiling! The service was perfect – staff were around when you needed them but hovered politely at a distance so no sense of crowding or interfering. I've never seen such smiley and polite staff! Customer service is just excellent. The food is absolutely to-die-for; we're vegetarians and had lots of choice on the menu, not just one option like a lot of places. We chose patatas bravas (wonderful mildly-spiced sauce and beautifully soft potatoes), traditional Spanish tortilla (with soft caramelised onion in the middle – bliss!), and a slice of toasted bread that was a bit like baguette and was topped with cheese, asparagus, softened onion, and truffle oil (words cannot describe how delicious this was, the subtle combinations of the flavours has to be tasted to be believed). Dessert was a delicious surprise – my boyfriend had a combinaion of rice pudding and creme brulee, which he loved (I don't like rice pudding but I tried a bit of this and I could be converted!), and I had whisky cake (I'd never even heard of whisky cake before this!) with a little pocket of honey and almonds, a blob of vanilla pod ice cream and topped with loads of vanilla foam which was soft and creamy like the softest whipped cream you have ever tasted… Well, the phrase ‘food orgasms’ was invented for this place I reckon! The prices were very reasonable too, about the same as most good tapas restaurants (which was a very pleasant surprise for the heart of Canary Wharf), and we also had a glass of rioja (crianza) which was expensive but so very worth it – rich and full-bodied with a great depth of flavour. It was altogether an amazing experience and I urge everyone reading this to try it out, ASAP! We'll be going back there as soon as we can :)

Having eaten many times at Iberica Marylebone, I had high expectations for their new restaurant and these were exceeded! The decor is stunning and spacious with good acoustics: the tables are private and overall atmosphere is warm and friendly with an authentic Spanish vibe. The bull's head is a great talking point! Staff were friendly and knowledgeable and as per the original restaurant, all Spanish. Quite simply, if like me you do not consider yourself to be a particular fan of Spanish cuisine, dining at Iberica Canary Wharf will convert you. I am impressed at how they focus on the quality of the ingredients and importantly, did not oversell the quantity of tapas to have. I took my Mum who being from an older generation and as a former home economics teacher, is usually highly critical of more top end eateries as not being worth the money charged, however, she was bowled over by Iberca Canary Wharf and vowed to go back with her friends. Phew! I will happily entertain clients and suppliers there in future because I know that Iberica will be reliable: as a small business owner this is a value which is extremely important to me. The ‘wow factor’ is a bonus and one which friends will also appreciate.

From the warm welcome at the door to a wonderful selection of tapas and amazing desserts. Every dish was special and many unique. Its just a few steps away from the office but brought us back to the all the things we love when in Spain. Will definitively return.