Small World Tapas in Torbay

Fantastic restaurant- really good vibe, excellent host and interesting food

This cozy restaurant has a warm and welcoming atmosphere, offering delicious food and coffee. The staff was friendly, and I left feeling satisfied.

Absolute gem of a place! All of our servers were so friendly and helpful, the food was incredible. We couldn't pick a favourite, the food was super speedy and so so tasty. For such a small team the experience was unmatched. Highly recommend!

Great little find for authentic Tapas, glad I researched it and was the best meal I had in Torquay The restaurant can be found in the town , not far from the marina area but well worth a visit. Food was excellent as was the hospitality. If you find yourself in Torquay I would highly recommend visit g.

A gem of a restaurant Food excellent, service excellent Would thoroughly recommend

Delightful, friendly, rustic and authentic Spanish Tapas restaurant. Stripped wood floors and old stone walls, spacious and bright, but cosy at the same time. Food is delicious and priced as it should be, would recommend booking in advance!

Always incredible food. The best place in Torquay by far!

Lovely lunch today and a really warm welcome. The food was beautiful, atmosphere relaxed and friendly. Many thanks 👍

Fantastic food, perfect service. Great atmosphere, delicious wine and cocktails.....highly recommended!

Great little find. Really delicious food with a nice array of dishes of different styles. Top cocktails. Very reasonably priced. Loved it.

Fantastic food in a great atmosphere couldn't fault

The tapas was so delicious with lots of flavour and good quality ingredients. A very artistic touch with food too. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Very friendly service with advice offered on the dishes if you were unsure. The extra bonus is there's plenty of free parking outside after 5 pm so you can park close to the restaurant. Lovely independent restaurant would recommend 🙂

From food to staff to ambience, this place is phenomenal. Nothing is too much trouble, service is brilliant, food is always perfect. I cannot recommend Small World Tapas enough. I've been with friends with family and even had my works Xmas do & my daughters 21st there. Thanks guys for being awesome x

Had such a lovely evening at small world tapas, we were greeted so warmly and enjoyed a great atmosphere! We had trouble choosing between all the beautiful dishes but we were so pleased with our choices the flavours were amazing and the portions were so generous, we couldn’t recommend it highly enough! Thank you to Oliver and Kevin for a great meal and lovely evening.

We made a special trip to Torquay on Friday just to have lunch here, only to find it closed - despite the posted opening hours in the window. There was no mention of the closure on their website or social media - we purposely checked beforehand. If you need to close for any reason, that’s completely understandable, but at least let people know so they don’t waste their time!

Excellent service with decilous food, I could've sat here all night.

We went based on a friend's recommendation - and we're very pleased we did! It is a gentle setting and it clearly run with a great deal of love and attention to detail. When we looked at the menu, there was plenty of choice without it being vast. We took the advice of the owner with our food choices and he advised well. My sense of taste is limited but I enjoyed the nuances and details of the food in ways I had not anticipated. One example is the bread box - quite expensive, I thought on looking at the menu. How wrong I was. It was great value. Yep, bread. But this was B-R-E-A-D with hints of smoke, olives, peppers, spices. Everything we had was superb, with nods to very high quality local produce. Lovely guys. No pretence. Bags of commitment. Highly, highly recommend.

Perfect, so much passion and love put into the dishes. It really shows I and a few others in my party have tried all the dishes on a few different menu rotations and honestly can say this is the best restaurant in Torquay. 10/10 in every way. Dishes to suit all and wine is equally perfect :)

Fantastic food, great service, fabulous evening. Highly recommended

Amazing food and friendly staff.

The food is absolutely fantastic, so much care though and attention goes into every dish, a great selection of quality food, wines and good size portions. The service is friendly and attentive you don't feel rushed, it's a great atmosphere and the restaurant is really nicely decorated, clean loos and the restaurant is a good temperature. Excited to see what's next for Small World, great to see them open for lunch, wishing you in every success and can't wait to return. Small World is close to the town, with free parking after 5 and opposite a bus stop. Don't hesitate to book, you'll be a regular.

Loved it here. 3rd visit now and still new items to try. We shard 5 dishes. So full up but so good we had to eat it all!

This is a real gem! The food was fantastic and plenty of vegetarian options. The staff were welcoming and attentive and the restaurant had a cosy feel. Great value, plenty of mouthwatering options to choose from and a great evening all round!

A great atmosphere, super friendly staff and the food was amazing, .... probably....the best Tapas in the UK or even the world ..... thanks

Fantastic food and service, cannot fault the evening from start to finish! Will absolutely be back, thank you

Some of the best tapas I have ever tasted

Great food, lots of little bits, good if you like variety and trying so thing new. Presented and served well.

Tapas with a little twist. We love our tapas restaurants but we've not come across one quite like this little gem. Whilst searching online we came across this place. The menu looked interesting with some unsual dishes. They also had a midweek offer of 2 tapas and 1 side for £20. Plus 2 for £14 cocktails. So we thought,lets give it a try and booked a table. The restaurant is located in the town, about a ten minute walk from the hotel we were staying at. On arrival we were shown to our table in the window. Whilst deciding on the menu we ordered a couple of cocktails. We had to kick off with the Bread Bag. Homemade bread served in a bag,which you have to rip open to release the smokey scent of roasted garlic and rosemary. Followed by Brixham scallops served with Spanish beef black pudding. Then grilled padron peppers hung on a tree with a side of allioli. The next dish was Asian brisket croque monsieur. That's not very Spanish is it? Slow cooked beef brisket marinated in an asian inspired sauce,sandwiched and fried in beef dripping with gruyere cheese served with a mushroom and marmalade dipping sauce. OMG.This was absolutely insane. The flavours were incredible. A knockout dish. After that a book was placed in front of us. We had totally forgot we had ordered the Book of meat - alicious. It's literally an anti-pasti book filled with some of the most delicious meats sliced fresh and placed in the pages.As you flick through,theres different delights from Spain,Italy and Devon. Served with homemade bread and oil. We finished with an affogato and coffee. This was a tapas with a difference and a great find. Front of house Ollie was very charming and the chef dished out some exceptional food. We shall certainly return next time we are down this way and would urge anyone to give this small independent the support it deserves.

The food was excellent, loved the patas bravas and the twists on classic tapas.

Absolutely lush.... Highly recommended. The calamari and pork belly was particularly nice.

Excellent tapas. Really tasty.

The most gorgeous food, lots of choice and great service, would highly recommend.

Had a wonderful meal here last week. The food was excellent but the squid 🐙 was some of the best that I've eaten. Lovely, friendly attentive service. All in a great evening.

I had a dream once where books were made of meat. Small world has come the closest to making it a reality.

Great food,service was amazing great atmosphere.

Excellent place, nice food and service,

Every now and then you stumble across a little gem - Small World Tapas is certainly one of those places. Unobtrusively sited just off the Torquay main shopping drag, we visited on a short break to the town a couple of weeks back. We found the restaurant online as we had vegetarian and vegan family members with us, the plant based selection looked great so we booked in for Saturday evening dinner. We were warmly greeted by Sara and seated at along bench table near the window. The menu is so good it was difficult to narrow-down our choices (even though the octopus and chorizo was sadly not available) even for the vegans, however we managed to select two to three dishes each and oh boy were we all very impressed. The dishes were beautifully presented, with the Book of Meat-ilicious Treats (definitely the best book I have ever read) and Vegan Tower being the stand-outs for presentation - all of the dishes were delicious and as a carnivore the Aubergines with Molasses really stood out for me and the Sweet Potato & Coconut Curry was a big hit with everyone. I could not resist the Mystery Dessert Egg Box - what an absolutely brilliant idea, fabulously presented, sweet and delicious....and I did guess most of the ingredients! I would highly recommend this place - and we will be back - armed with a bottle of Cuarenta y Tres! A huge thank you to Sara and the team for a truly unforgettable culinary evening. See you soon.

If you come to Torquay, give this place a try for food that tastes nice.

Always a great experience, food never disappoints. Sarah and the team are amazing and so welcoming

Went here for my wife’s birthday dinner and they had a little hand written Happy Birthday sign up at the table. The staff created us really warmly and service was with a smile at all times! Food was simply epic, it’s a beautiful menu of Spanish classics and some fusion dishes mixed with Asian flare. No wonder this place was fully booked out!

A fabulous restaurant..Oliver our waiter was so lovely...food was fantastic..for a comfortable dining experience we would highly recommend 5* Thank you

Excellent place to eat. Came here on spontinaity and so glad we decided to give it a try. One of the highlights was there being proper vegan food, and not just a meal with the meat swapped with a veg

It was so good we went back 2 days later..back home in Glasgow now and raving about the place.

Excellent food, good service Reasonable price.

I'd heard this was supposed to be the best tapas restaurant in England. I wouldn't argue with that. Stunning food (we had the taster menue), so tasty. Excellent service and great value for money. 10/10 from us. Highly recommended Byron

Always very enjoyable here. Been doing great small plates since before we ever heard the phrase 'small plates'!

Excellent selection of tapas, some traditional Spanish dishes and others which had an Asian influence. Pork belly and the molasses aubergines being the highlights but everything was lovely. Great puddings, coffee and Sangria too, all at a very reasonable price.

So here we are in Torquay, running around the harbor bay and finding places to eat by the plenty but somehow not showing the X-factor. So we left the harbor area and stumbled upon this little place just 5 minutes walk away past the shopping mall and we were immediately captured by the calm atmosphere. Not expecting too much we ordered a few nice looking dishes and were surprise by what we were served. A bag with smoked bread(!), an actual book with finest meat from the Mediterranean and some really tender and well seasoned pork belly were definitely highlights but all was up to par really. And if you like a guessing game, go for the mysterieus dessert and guess the ingredient in this eye misleading presentation of not an egg. Best in Torquay in its price class for us and you would be selling yourself short not to visit it and enjoy the tastings.

Well what can I say, this is the only place we eat out when we visit torquay. The food is amazing down to the chef. Also Sara is such a lovely lady. Sara we will see you beginning of August. Love The Wigley's from Melton mowbray Leicestershire xxx

Maden er virkelig lækker. Så mange forskellige smage. Vi var i alderen 16-50 år og alle kunne lide maden. Kan virkelig anbefales. Peber-rouletten var sjov

Lovely atmosphere and friendly service. Food was fun and tasty.

As it’s a little out of town, the restaurant was fairly quiet, but still had some atmosphere. But we were there for the food, and it definitely delivered on that! The portions were a good size - 4 tapas and a bread bag (which was lovely in itself) and we were full! The quality of the food is excellent, and we liked the way the dishes came out in pairs, so that you didn’t have dishes going cold on the table. Really tasty, and refreshing to have a different take on tapas by including flavours from around the world

Absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous food, so many options! Lots can be made Gluten free which is a bonus. The owners are absolutely lovely, Couldn't do enough. Can't wait to come back to try the rest of the menu. <3

We chose this restaurant based on reviews and they were not wrong. Food was fantastic, from mixed origins and very tasty. Fun presentation too Hosts were extremely nice and the whole place had a great vibe.

Cool service, great ambience, very good tapas👍👍

Sublime Tapas, a fabulous food experience. Lovely people and great service. We would always come back here.

Really like the range of food on the menu and tapas style. There was a really good atmosphere and the staff were so friendly!

Delicious food & great service. Highly recommend

Great service from the minute we walked in from Sara. We didn't book but we was able to get a table however I would recommend booking ahead. We could not fault the food and wished we could've tried all the other dishes, everyone was looking at each others tables with food envy. We'lll be back in a few weeks to try out the rest of the menu.

An amazing little restaurant and so unique. The dishes were incredibly creative, and the service from Sara was personalised and friendly. The desserts were a welcome change with them being much lighter than the norm - the tipsy oranges were surprisingly delicious for a simple dish and the egg box was totally unique and tasty! A bombon is now my husband’s new favourite way to have a coffee, and I enjoyed a wonderful espresso martini (decaf, which I’ve been told no to elsewhere, and Sara asks how sweet you’d like it making).

An amazing little restaurant and so unique. The dishes were incredibly creative, and the service from Sara was personalised and friendly. The desserts were a welcome change with them being much lighter than the norm - the tipsy oranges were surprisingly delicious for a simple dish and the egg box was totally unique and tasty! A bombon is now my husband’s new favourite way to have a coffee, and I enjoyed a wonderful espresso martini (decaf, which I’ve been told no to elsewhere, and Sara asks how sweet you’d like it making).

We had the 9 course tasting menu. The food was lovely and tasty, my criticisms would be there was too much for two, so we didn't get to eat the churros dessert which was a shame. We did get the option of a doggy bag, but didn't want to carry food around with us for the evening. Some of the portions could have been smaller and the croquettes, although tasty, needed to be smaller too as they ended up too runny inside and disintegrated when eating. I would recommend going however as all the food was tasty and the service was lovely.

Had the testing menu here recently and it was really tasty! A good selection of dishes and we really struggled to finish it all, the portions were fab! Timings were spot on too. They were slightly short staffed (owner told us this) so I think it could have been a bit more personable/atmospheric with extra staff on hand but that really wasn't a problem.

One of the best restaurant in Torquay. Food is amazing.

We loved Small World. The service particularly stood out, especially catering for one coeliac in our group. The food was delicious - we particularly recommend the sweet potato and coconut curry, as well as the octopus and chorizo. The Sangria was great! We would definitely go back if in the area again. Really convenient location near to the town.

The reviews told us to try this place out when we went to Torquay for the weekend! And it definitely didn’t disappoint! The food was out of this world and everything was cooked fresh! The drinks were delicious and the service was amazing! Everyone was so happy and warming. One of the highest levels of service I have encountered when dining at any restaurant! It’s a small restaurant so make sure you book in advance! You won’t be disappointed! Will definitely visit again when we head down next!

Excellent. Large "small" portions. All freshly cooked and delicious. Meatballs, prawns and calamari especially tasty.

Wonderful! Delicious. Large portions so ate too much! Freshly cooked food arrived when ready. We shared 6 dishes, all splendid.

From the moment we walked in we were treated to the very best attention. The menu is small but delightful and brilliantly executed. Stunning dishes, superb service and great atmosphere. Thank you all so much

Greeted by a friendly bubbly Sara and Quieter Alex . She was efficient , knowledgeable and chatty . The food chosen was superb . The restaurant was light bright and clean . Everything was perfect . Not cheap but very tasty . Thank you Sara for an enjoyable evening x

Friendly service, delicious food and funky music! We had the vegan tower, miso ribs, ham croquettes, potato curry, brisket skewers, gordal olives, churros and ice cream. All tasty, plenty of vegetarian options.

The first time we visited the small world restaurant and it won't be our last . Food very good ,staff great .

We came here on Wednesday night, 4 adults and 2 children. I can’t say with any real justice quite how good this restaurant was. The food was amazing, each dish seemed to get better and better. The service also was second to none. Friendly and helpful and they make the whole experience wonderful. Bit of theatre with the food and tastes to match. 5 out of 5 stars without a doubt. Thank you guys so much.

It is a fantastic place to dinner, the food is spectacular and the service is unbeatable. I want to return here as soon as possible.

Wonderful place to eat, casual dining vibe but with fantastic food. The service from Sara & Alex was exceptional, and they were both super helpful when it came to helping us choose our dishes. The brisket skewers and miso ribs were especially good. We can’t wait to return to try out some other dishes.

This was our second visit, having been very impressed the first time a few months ago. The food is excellent, Kevin works wonders in his kitchen. Sara creates a warm, welcoming ambience. If you enjoy Tapas you will love this place. Highly recommended.

Really great tapas place and excellent value Food is great and we were well looked after

Great atmosphere as soon as you walk in. Varied menu. Service is 10/10 from a great team. And the food, oh the food. Delicious! The brisket melts in your mouth. You have to try the box of eggs dessert. In summary, a great meal!

Fabulous find. Amazing food, every dish was superb and the service from Alex & Sarah was first class. The value for money was outstanding. Thank you for a great time we'll definitely be back.

Our first ever visit on Good Friday. Quite a cosy restaurant with 11 tables so booking definitely advised. We saw some people turn up hoping to get a table that had to be turned away. We were greeted by Alex and shown to our table. The menu was explained to us and we were given a sheet with the specials on there. We ordered our drinks and perused the menu. Sarah then came over and said that we should order 2 dishes each. The trouble with that is there were more dishes we wanted to try. We ordered Berenjenas con miel, Albondigas, Asian brisket skewers, Patatas Bravas and a special black pork burger. First out was the Bravas, Albondigas and the aubergine, after a while out came the brisket and finally the burger. The dish portions are more like raciones than tapas. Sadly we had no room for a dessert. Every dish was fabulous, some were better than we've eaten in Spain. Service is personal and fun but not overbearing, Sarah is particularly charming. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable experience

A great find. Delicious food, especially the brisket and churros for dessert. Friendly staff and reasonable prices. Will definitely return

Really enjoyed my first time at Small World: delicious food, friendly service, a nice atmosphere and reasonable prices.

Amazing night again and the specials blew our minds! The fish was fresh and the brisket blew our minds 😋 can’t wait to be back

Been a couple of years since my last visit, but SO happy to say nothing has changed. The food blew us away and the staff are just awesome. I cannot wait to come back again!

Been a couple of years since my last visit, but SO happy to say nothing has changed. The food blew us away and the staff are just awesome. I cannot wait to come back again! Go go go!!!

We discovered this place completely by accident and I'm so glad we did! It has some of the most interesting and delicious food I've ever had. I have to say all the pictures on Google definitely do not do this place justice because I was initially a little skeptical but that was soon dispelled. Definitely recommend this place if you want to try something new and interesting.

What’s a great place heard about this for sometime and never made it. I suggest if you read this review then you go try and sample some of the great delights and delicious items on the menu.

Absolutely amazing food, and the service was exceptional. I HIGHLY recommend coming here!

A damp grey Torquay tuesday was brightened by Small World Tapas. Beef skewers / perfect langoustine sized garlic prawns/patatas bravos with aouli / octopus and chorizo/ padron peppers on a clever metal tree mound with a fine glass of Merlot. A great addition to Torquay. Sara from near Alicante was attentive and warmly Spanish as was the decor- characterful shabby chic.

Visited last night and haven’t been able to stop thinking about this place, absolutely impeccable. As a whole experience, this is hands down the best place to dine in Devon.

100/10 the best restaurant in Torquay! Service is amazing and the food is delicious!! Thank you so much for being the best local around for food ☺️😋

A great place to dine. Lovely staff and great choice of delicious food

Wonderfully cosy place with absolutely great food.

Tapas at its best. Great little independent restaurant. It’s what’s eating out is about.

It's not the first time here and won't be the last. Great atmosphere and service along with absolutely delicious food! I could have plates of the pork belly. it's outstanding!

Really great evening. Small World is a small but bold restaurant with a big heart!!! The menu clearly labelled for Gf and vegan including wine with Sara explaining everything. This was a refreshing change as normally, being a vegan I just feel such an inconvenience!I really appreciated the attention to detail and the clear labels. The olives were HUGE with fresh orange and almonds inside; a taste of the sun whilst it rained continuously outside. Interestingly, everything is made fresh on site and the homemade bread was delicious. They even provided GF bread which was lovely. It’s served in a ‘bread bag’ which when opened, reveals this enticing smoky smell. Nice touch! We all loved the authenticity of the potatas bravas ! The vegan tower was beautifully presented with roasted artichoke and clever corn ribs - creative! Meat lovers also loved their meal and the Mahou beer from Madrid was such a surprising and refreshing treat. The roulette game of peppers was a cool touch and a bit of fun. I would love to see another option regarding vegan protein; maybe a chick pea stew or a veggy albondigas with soy mince and almond sauce ?! Happy to be a taster ;) thanks again Sara and team. It really is an amazing restaurant and I can’t believe I haven’t been before ! Thank you all! Oh and the churros were sublime - took me right back to the market on a Sunday morning in Alicante!

Excellent food and helpful, friendly service. Great to know that half portions are possible, allowing for even more experimentation. All dishes were delicious.

By far the best restaurant I have been to in years. The food is divine. The service is outstanding. I'm so lucky to have this amazing restaurant on the doorstep

A very nice experience, great food that's carefully thought out. We ordered four dishes and some sweet potato fries which was enough for the two of us. It's a fun place with some great ideas. The octopus and churioso was a tiny bit disappointing being a little over oily. However the scallops were great although they could be a little more generous with the morcilla which is delicious. The only negatives were the prices, I would love to see cheaper beers as it is tapas and should be enjoyed with beer. (compared to Spain or abroad in general it's expensive - but I blame the Brexit idiots for that!). The service was excellent, Sarai's a star ✨ My only other comment, which is a little superficial, is the decor is a little weird and doesn't exactly add that too much to an otherwise amazing place that is the number one place in Torquay.

Was really looking forward to some authentic tapas and was not disappointed. We were able to just order a couple of dishes at a time which we really liked. Good service and reasonably priced