Tollington's

FANTASTIC food - we had mostly smaller dishes and I think that’s probably the best way to do this menu. The bravas chips and the cod with curry sauce were my favourite, but we loved everything. The staff were very kind and attentive, food came quickly. My only gripe was that we were sat right by the front door and on a cold day it felt a little uncomfortable. Didn’t ruin the experience and of course part of the charm is the chippy vibe which I loved, but maybe just a warning if it’s a special occasion make sure you don’t book the counter near the door!

Exceptional food and service, neighbourhood spot slinging out some of the tastiest dishes we have had in a while! Will be going back for more as soon as we get a chance, the Chips Bravas, Pickled Anchovies, Garlic Prawns and Cod Cheeks you have to try!!! Thank you to Lizzie for looking after us and the rest of the team :)

+1

Wth this place is amazing. Absolutely delightful food, staff and vibes. I’ll be dreaming of these scallops for ever.

I’m still reeling from my dinner at Tollingtons. Definitely the best food I’ve had in London in a while. It’s the first time I’ve left a restaurant and wanted to immediately rebook; first time I’ve wanted to rebook after tasting the first dish 🥹; and more importantly, the first time in SUCH a long time that when the bill came we weren’t shocked in disgust — the value and quality matched the price equation 🤌🏾. Hanging on the walls is a newspaper excerpt from food critic Jimi Famurewa asserting; “the hype is mighty…” but boy is the food phenomenal. Since my visit last week, I don’t think I’ve stopped raving and showing pictures to friends, urging them to book ASAP. Star dishes ⭐️🌟✨: The scallops - so rich and moreish the sauce phenom; the omelette - simple, garlicky, yum 🙂‍↕️; least we forget the grilled prawns 🦐 just WOW. Oh and the patatas bravas tasted just like we were in Spain - more aptly, the atmosphere felt like we were in a small semi-rustic, very busy tapas bar at a seaside in Spain. We loved it. If there’s one piece of advice I’ll leave you with is, BOOK NOW❗️. Great for sharing meals with 6+ people. I’ve heard it’s easy to get a walk-in table too.. if you time it right.

+6

Great concept, excellent food and the beer was perfectly chilled! Having seen some reviews I was a little concerned but people must have had a completely different experience to us. Ours was excellent and felt like we were in a Spanish town. Loved the Chips Bravas and amongst other dishes we loved the Piri Piri John Dory. Highly recommend!!

+4

Lovely stuff, such a fun atmosphere and the best staff! Super attentive even though it was so busy. The food was unreal, genuinely felt like we were in Spain and it was fantastic. We were walk ins so a bit of a wait but it was such an efficient system. We will be back!!

Absolutely delicious and creative tapas Presented in an old fish & chips, totally adding to the charm and quirkiness of this unique restaurant. Counter searing in the front and tables in the back. Cannot wait to return to explore more of this fantastic menu!! What a find in Finsbury Park!!

+2

Had a great meal at Tollingtons. The food was really tasty, the waitress helped us with the menu and it's in a cool setting as well. Great for small plates sharing and a drink 🎣

+3

Food is amazing, cozy little space with laid back vibe. Only criticism would be that it’s a little pricey considering it’s small plates but equally well worth it as a treat! Seasonal ingredients so menu changes often!

Tollington's Fish Bar is a new restaurant. From the outside, it looks more like a British fish & chips shop, but as soon as you step inside, you feel as if you're in a tapas bar that's been open since the 1940s in Barcelona, like Bar la Plata. Yellow walls, terracotta tiles on the floor, wooden shelves, folk art pieces on the walls, and some abstract artwork – these elements create a rustic Spanish tapas bar ambiance. And of course, there's the team working like bees in the open kitchen and staff kindly taking orders, all of which create a warm, inviting atmosphere that instantly draws you in—especially if you're hungry. I had a tomato salad with onions, patatas bravas, grilled dory, and monkfish with girolles mushrooms. Everything was flawless. The dory was cooked just right, remaining juicy inside, and the patatas bravas were even better than some tapas bars in Spain. In the monkfish with girolles mushrooms, the ingredients were used in perfect balance, making the dish harmonious and delicious. Btw I paired the dishes with Cava, which complemented them beautifully. This is definitely a place I'll be going to whenever I have the chance, and I can't wait to try the other dishes.

What an absolute gem of a restaurant, especially pre football. Absolutely adored everything I ate. Those chips bravas are addictive! Especially loved the piri piri John Dory and can’t wait to eat it again!

I looooove Tollingtons. The food is gorge, the vibe is great and can usually accommodate walk ins(not the best seats in the house but hey). The right way to do small plates. It is pricy but at least you’re getting quality food!

Amazing food, scallops were mouth watering. I reordered one more… super friendly staff.

Tollington’s is an unassuming restaurant tucked away in Finsbury Park. You see a casual eatery initially, with counter tables and a strip of fluorescent butcher lighting. However a charming arched doorway gives way to an ambient seated area, transporting you to a warmth reminiscent of a fondly remembered Basque pintxos bar. We ordered abundantly: squid off the plancha, battered prawns in curry sauce, seafood rice, John Dory with brown butter, the list goes on. Everything was plated and seasoned tastefully. Portions were conservative but I like to think for good reason! You can try everything and leave room to try more. I left feeling satisfied, full, and not sluggish. Such a great dinner, and I highly recommend it.

Oh my! Came here today to give this joint a go. Blown away by the scallops. Was given bread to dip the sauce from the scallops and grilled asparagus in butter. Would definitely come back to try more food from their menu! Only down side is that the place is small!

Was super excited to eat here but wasn’t as blown away as I’d hoped! Some delicious dishes - the padron peppers with blue cheese is inspired, can’t go wrong with anchovies, and the chips bravas were lovely. Unfortunately didn’t enjoy the texture or flavour balance of the squid and thought the cod cheeks were very overseasoned. Some good stuff, would probably go back but quite pricey for a meal that didn’t wow me.

+1

It was very nice and the service was great! The only downside was the Cuttle Fish stew being £17 and it was tiny

+1

Great place for a nice fish dinner. Lovely atmosphere, great time and great to have so many fish choices. Everything cooked very well but it’s just too overpriced for the quantities you are given. Either come down a £ or two on the plates or add a bit more to them. We had bacalau dish and honestly delicious but barely any fish in it and it was one of the pricier dishes. Same with others. Honestly was rammed so unlikely will take my heed but just that smidgen overpriced

Tried this spot last night with a group of other foodies - overall the food was decent. It was good, but not exceptional. Quite reasonably priced though. Favourite item on the menu was the fried prawns with the chip sauce, that just hit different!

+4

Last week I visited Tollingtons as a walk-in late on a Saturday. I was excited to try this place after seeing great views, living local and being a Plimsoll / Four Legs fans. There were no tables inside so we sat outside and asked if there was a table to let us know. No one let us know but half way through we asked and were successful to find seats in side. The venue is very cool, however, it is small the bar away to eat. For me it added to atmosphere and was fine for a casual meal. The food was tasty, some a bit pricy. We had a pork loin, cod collar, chorizo and crisp, sea bass crudo and patatas bravas. This is most definitely a small plates restaurant. I’d come back just for the patatas bravas and a glass of wine. Not sure id come for a full dinner service, but enjoyed for light casual dinner.

+2

Service was great! Food was delicious! We had sardines, sole, patatas, scallop, bread, squid, peppers. They say it’s a “tribute to spain” but definitely at London prices. Prices are a bit steep for some things, like sardines or an additional order of bread or scallops which, like many things on the menu, are local to the UK. But! There is flavour, and seasoning, and the sole was exceptional and perfectly priced. They’re in the area and said they do a seasonal menu, so we’ll come by again and see if the pricing has worked itself out.

Was really excited about this place, having seen it on social media and walked past a few times. First of all, I can’t fault the food — everything we had tasted great. I loved the concept, inspired by pintxos/tapas bars in Spain, but the price compared to the portion size felt steep. It cost us over £50 for three small plates (one of them, the monkfish, was £20) and two vermouths. Just go in knowing that a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean a bigger portion.

Delicious food and a great atmosphere. Always crowded, which speaks to its popularity.

Amazing food, great music, lovely set up - in theory. Not accessible if you are disabled. Tollingtons are open about the bar and stool set up in the front and have tables in the back. I booked a table well in advance for various reasons. Arrived early. A walk in was seated in the back, I was given the bar, and this was reiterated when I queried. I didn't want to press and had been looking forward to the meal for ages. There were tables in the back throughout. Wait staff seemed distracted. A great meal, but uncomfortably consumed as a result. Make it clear when you book a table that you actually need a table, and maybe call ahead and rebook if they can't accommodate.

Was so excited to eat here after hearing good things. The whole experience was quite mediocre, the service was okay, the food was okay (nothing really stood out and there were a few items that tasted quite under seasoned). Overall a bit of a shame because I had high expectations but left feeling a bit meh about the restaurant. Scallops were good, slightly overcooked but tasted delicious. Prawns in curry sauce were overdone and a bit tough, curry sauce was delicious though. Chips were good but the sauce was quite wet and made the chips go soggy. Didn’t take a photo of the croquettes but they were a highlight. Seafood rice was very disappointing, lacked any real flavour or seasoning and the amount of seafood in this wasn’t a lot.

Service honestly average, bordering on “cool” rather than truly friendly/welcoming. When we visited there was no printed menu, only the blackboard and this was hard to read / not that clear. Food was decent, but slightly lacking in something (although I couldn’t tell you exactly what). Prawns were deliciously fat and worked well with the curry sauce. Maybe just went on a day that the menu didn’t jump out at me like photos of other people’s food did. We didn’t have a booking and actually didn’t think we’d need one but now I’ve been I would suggest making a reservation if you can. Visited after 6:30pm to allow us to park, on a rainy mid week winter day.

Bit overhyped, price to food quality ratio a bit off! Big fan of plimsoll burger and local so thought we’d stop by. You are better off going here for drinks and 1-3 plates not dinner is my thoughts. Had over 10 dishes - full details below. The good: chips bravas, devilled crab, scallops and chistorra. The bad: octopus overdone, john dory more bones than fish. The okay: prawns, hale pili, salad

Please can I order two of everything multiplied by ten + 1… paid well over a ton for a three man and definitely could or eaten the whole meal in 21 seconds. One of my mates actually thought he was coming to eat cod and chips. Then, to his relief, realised it was European style small plates. No one wants to be slotting a full fish and chip at 9pm on a Thursday when you have to operate on Friday. But in hindsight we could have done with a little side battered sausage for le tabla. Honestly Pinchy the crab would feel hard done by with these pinchos. First item on the menu is called ‘extra baguette’ and costs £6. We didn’t even recieved the initial baguette until after the main food had come. Kind waiter provided us with three whole extra slices of baguette for our troubles. Caneca Estrella were delicious… jugs too. Even had the rubbish little napkins on the table. Felt like holiday. Rice pudding for dessert with a crème brûlée crackly top and some hidden raspberries down low. But.. I am sitting at home writing this with a Twix Xtra in my hand. Romeo

Honestly the food is nice but it’s become a joke amongst my friendship group of tollingtons as the archetypical Hackney restaurant. Ultimately if you look through the hype it is good food in a bad venue with good wine. If you’re not local I’d look elsewhere

Amazing price, vibe and food. Legit madrid stuff. But i just cant go anymore because you leave stinking of old grease. Must be the old fish and chip extractor but surely worth sorting

Quite small restaurant. Very small tables, with metal stools. Didn’t really feel we had enough room for the three of us. Very very noisy Fish, squid, scallop dishes were very good. Not keen on the vegetable dishes (potato omelette too eggy and chips bravas too much sauce)

Our second visit to Tollingtons didn't live up to the first. It’s a shame because the menu is so inviting, but the flavors simply weren't there. All our dishes lacked basic seasoning and salt. We left feeling underwhelmed and won't be in a hurry to return soon.

I expected overpriced and small portions but was hoping they would be special. Sadly nothing was. Everything was acceptable but nothing better than that. Cod cheek had generous decent tartare but needed a slice of lemon. Bravas sauce tasted like jarred garlic and was just ok. We sat waiting for our cabbage for 15 mins having finished our food ages earlier so tried to settle the bill only to be told it was now ready and that’s just the way we serve food. I understand food coming out in stages but if you’re doing that you should do it so it’s enjoyable for the diner not just convenient for the kitchen. I don’t want to eat cabbage and pumpkin 15 mins after I’ve finished everything else. Indifferent service, uninspired and flabby food. A massive disappointment as a local who wanted to love it.

The restaurant was cold A blonde waitress was rude throughout. The guy waiter however was lovely. Food average and overpriced. High stools hard to sit on and no space on the bar to fit plates, so very awkward to eat the food. Wine very good. Definitely not coming back and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

Cramped and uncomfortable. Bottle of cava was warm. Portions are small, thin slice of skate wing. Chips bravas were delicious. Service was good, friendly, but could have done with them shifting the other people down as was a fight for space. Too expensive for the experience, San Sebastián can get away with it because it’s cheap but this was Stroud Green and was too pricey and we weren’t full. Had to go get more food elsewhere afterwards.

Loved Four legs, love the Plimsoll, but definitely not that place. Full disclaimer: we didn’t stay despite having a booking and left without trying the food. Please don’t take bookings for the bar area, there is no bloody space. There was no room to sit next to each other at the bar. The staff is too cool to be nice or have any politeness basics. I have never lefts a bar / restaurant after 5 min in. Love a hype, love a trend, not this one though!

I really wanted to love this place, but sadly, it felt fairly disorganised, overpriced, and not a particularly comfortable or joyful eating experience. I could put poor service down to teething problems, but at the moment, I simply couldn’t justify the price and am amazed anyone can in this day and age. The produce on the whole is good, so most dishes tasted as expected. But it was decidedly average. Unfortunately, the food came out one by one so slowly that it made for a very disjointed lunch and laborious to eat. For instance, I don’t really want to eat a plate of tomatoes and then wait 15mins for another dish to come out. The bread then arrives by itself with nothing. I guess that’s the nature of tapas but the dishes didn’t seem strong enough by themselves and all felt like side dishes without much satisfaction or heartiness. It’s not quite a bar but not quite a restaurant either, so it provides a fairly frustrating dining & drinking experience - I don’t really know what this place is trying to be. I’d like to say if you were in a big group it may be better for a casual hangout, but there are no tables. It’s all ledges attached to the wall so it’s actually not a particularly social layout either. It’s also incredibly hot as you’re basically sitting in the kitchen. We also had to keep reminding staff for water and food. I really recommend diners at least get served a jug of tap water on arrival, especially as the food and drinks trickle out so slowly. Having to grab a waitress to refill a little cup every 10-15mins is annoying. Errors were made on our order and it was rectified by the other waiter, but the dish we actually ordered was remade and took a very long time. So long in fact, that we thought they forgot it and we tried to settle the bill. We were given a complimentary drink for this though, which was very much appreciated. The prices are exorbitant and I understand fish is expensive, but £10 for a small plate of tomatoes? £18 for a small slice of turbot? The bread looked good on the counter and was a couple quid, but on arrival, it was a few small slices of a supermarket style French stick, plonked down with no butter or oil, and the quality of the bread didn’t justify it. It was dry. What we thought would be a nice relaxing light lunch ended up being a slow, expensive, uncomfortable, disorganised, very loud and hot outing. It was kind of a relief to leave to be honest and unfortunately we were hungry within an hour, which at those prices is insane. The queuing is staggering for such a place, and the slight pretentiousness and hype of it all made it all the more disappointing. I respect them honouring the original interior of the former chippy but it honestly made me just want a chippy rather than over priced, fussy tapas. Unfortunately - despite its promise - overall, Tollingtons seems more of an aesthetic place; another ‘instagrammable’ establishment which has adopted a faux-humble facade for well-to-do twenty-somethings to cosplay working class culture in an old British chippy. Tapas also has working class roots and even today is usually cheap or even complimentary in Spain. So I find it almost soul sucking to pay £18 for a couple mouthfuls of food.

Warm, friendly, knowledgeable service. Interesting menu. Pretty good food, with the eel salad and the cod cheeks being highlights... but we just couldn't get over the cost to quantity ratio. Small plates for large prices are nothing new in London but this tested the limits, particularly the fatty tuna - two thin slices for £10. After spending over £30 per head excluding drinks, we left hungry. No wonder the server had recommended we get some chips to share. Good advice... but they were £7.

We went there on a Friday evening. It was very busy and adorably lively. There are not a lot of tables for two people, unless you don't want to freeze outside, so we accepted two stools and a narrow countertop. It was charming but not the best experience one can wish for. We got a bottle of Cava for 30 quid which can be considered acceptable if compared to the 45 pounds asked for the Txakoli (in a restaurant in San Sebastian in Spain a bottle would set you back around 15 euros). The good: the scallops were good, the padron peppers with Beauvale (a very good British blue cheese) were genius and the patatas bravas were very nice with a rich sauce that remembered me the ones I eat every time I go to Logrono in La Rioja. The bad: the John Dory was small and bony but, more worryingly, it tasted off like badly frozen or badly kept, like one of those cheap salt fish that each of us has tried at least once. The monkfish was a few days over, it was tough like a steak that one forgets in the fridge after removing the packaging, all the magical taste and texture was gone together with the freshness and my hopes. The brill wasn't fresh either but was the least concerning. Now let's face it, this is not Madrid nor Milan nor Paris, quality of food is not the name of the game in London (and in all of the country really) so overall it was not a bad experience and given that seafood is a taboo on these isles (ridiculous, right?) and places like this are oases in the desert I'm going to even stretch it and say: I'll be back!

(Comically)small plates with indifferent staff and cramped seating, really make you question what you are paying a lot of money for. If anyone from Northern Spain came here they would be disgusted by the mark up on their traditional dishes. Fair enough that the owners of The Plimsol can make quick cash from stupid rich people who are looking for vibe coded experiences but for anyone with common sense this is a joke. Highly recommended for Australians.

Don’t get me wrong their food is cooked perfectly well and just simple cooking but overpriced. Price list vs the portions on the pics and I’ll let you be the judge. £16 for 4 prawns. £16 for the octopus 🤣🤣🤣.