Tapas related puns?

Yes, that is what I just typed into google, then I realised that plagiarising other people's dodgy humour is a new low. However, tapas seems to have been a bit of a theme of late in my dining experiences and, having failed to go near an oven for a few weeks, I thought I would wax lyrical about two incredible new tapas places I have been to recently.

To put it in context I would love to be some kind of tapas connisseur, but aside from one trip to Madrid, where I mainly ate a lot of ham and cheese at a place I thought was hilarious by virtue of being called the Ham Museum, I have not truly experienced the best of what Spain has to offer. In Oxford we were lucky to have a brilliant little place on the Cowley Road called Kazbar, which did some pretty tasty dishes, but we also had La Tasca, which takes tapas to a low it didn't know it could reach. I won't even hyperlink it for fear that someone gets tempted to go there.

Living in Brixton I've got used to everyone suddenly talking about how cool the place is and how amazing the culinary scene is in Brixton Village, and they are not wrong, these boutique pop-up style restaurants are fab, but I've often felt that Brixton was missing something grown-up. So, when the Scot sent round a link about a new smart tapas place with reasonably priced wine that had opened up on Acre Lane it sounded pretty interesting. Waking up hungover on Saturday I was furious to find out that she had already been the night before, without me. So I insisted we went. We sat at the bar for 3 hours and gradually made our way through the menu. This is certainly a place for grown up tapas, there are some incredible flavour combinations. In particular there was a fantastic dish of slow cooked pork with a small dollop of lemon sorbet, it was absolutely divine. Plus points also go to their presentation.

I have to say that Boqueria is well worth a visit to South London, even if you are not a native. If you don't believe me read the reviews, everybody loves it. It isn't a cheap eat but you soon forget that after some of their brilliant sangria.

Having felt very Spanish after Saturday lunch I was thrilled when one of our clients suggested an early dinner at the latest offering from Jose Pizarro, formerly of Brindisa. By this stage, having had one decent tapas recently, I had convinced myself I was an expert and was probably now officially Spanish. So we arrived promptly at 6.15, you won't get a seat without queueing after this point, and ordered a few glasses of sherry for the 3 of us. They have a comprehensive sherry list, but as I know nothing about sherry at all I just agreed with our client and had what he suggested while nodding in a manner I hoped looked knowledgable. My colleague remained unconvinced but I felt that it prepared me perfectly for the food ahead. This place has a different feel to the cool white interior of Boqueria, you get a sense of a bustling eatery where you come in for a quick drink, a chat and somthing delicious to eat. And boy did we eat, the food was fantastic with slivers of delicious ham, chorizo cooked so it burst out of it's skin but wasn't crispy and succulent prawns with garlic and chilli. You can't talk about Jose without a mention of the croquetas which are incredibly light and after the initial crunch just melt in the mouth. They alone are worth popping down to Bermondsey Street for.

I'm not normally a pudding person but I did venture into the world of Catalan cream on this trip and it was beautifully light underneath the sugary crust. Holly did have a complaint about her chocolate pot, it was quite large and a bit oily, it would have been impossible to finish. However, aside from that everything was brilliant.

La Tasca, never shall I be fooled by your deals again.