Spanish duo Pablo Morales and Maria Fernandez opened Paripe in 2021, after struggling to find a place in Sydney that accurately captured the tapas culture of their home country. Today they’re delivering one of Sydney’s best-value tapas experiences at Chippendale’s Kensington Street precinct, rubbing shoulders with top Sydney venues including Longshore and Gin Lane.

From cured meats and cheese to conservas (tinned seafood), Morales and Fernandez source a range of imported Spanish foodstuffs for the menu. Expats will be pleased to find tinned Catabrian anchovies, razor clams, and Iberian pork and duck pate. Jamon Iberico, the king of Spanish charcuterie, is served with crunchy campesinos (bread sticks).

On to tapas, one of Paripe's stars is its tortilla – a potato, onion and egg omelette made from a family recipe. There are also prawns bathing in garlic oil (which Maria confits for hours), grilled txistorra (a coiled Basque pork sausage), and octopus paired with mojo verde, inspired by a recipe from the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.

Look closely at the warmly-lit bar in a room of pastel blue walls, and you’ll notice a range of strictly Spanish spirits, wines and liqueurs on the shelves. If you’re not sampling a boutique vermouth from Barcelona, it might be one of Pablo’s signature cocktails. Try The Old Pedro Ximenez, a twist on an Old Fashioned mixing PX '99 (Spanish sherry), rosemary-infused bourbon and barrel-aged bitters.