Mar I Terra•Southwark, London, SE1 0XH

Spanish•£26 to £40

A very Spanish restaurant in a very English setting, London’s Mar I Terra is mere moments from the banks of the Thames within reach of the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern and Waterloo station. Opened in 2000, Mar I Terra is in an imposing old building, formerly a pub built for Southern Railway Company workers but now popular with the hungry and thirsty for very different reasons. Everything here at Mar I Terra is inspired by the most traditional of Spanish tapas bars, from the simple, unpretentious interior with its clean, modern décor, to – of course – the food, which comes straight from the kitchens of Madrid and Barcelona, or rather La Coruna, the home town of Mar I Terra’s chef. Cooked to order with a great attention to detail, the kitchen’s tapas selection includes a great number of popular Spanish dishes ranging from fresh seafood to cured meats and numerous vegetarian options too. The drinks list not only offers a number of good Spanish wines but sherries and specially imported beer