You’ll find Bar Topa on Palings Lane, the same venue-packed laneway that takes you to the Ivy complex. Unlike its upstairs neighbour, this is a small and narrow place, looking very Spanish with jamon hanging from the ceiling and charcuterie and cheeses on display in the glass window cabinet.

You won’t find any tables, but instead high stools against the wall and a long bar to sit at. I really love the set-up; a team of two, one chef working away in tiny but practical kitchen and one waiter/bartender behind the bar. A couple of blackboard menus hang from a wall, one listing half-sized cocktails for $8, plus beer, cider, sangria and wine, the other advertising about 20 tapas that vary between $3 and $24. All come with a couple of slices of fresh baguette.

We order jamon, jamon and spinach croquettes, morcilla (Spanish blood sausage), chorizo, mushroom and yolk, and pipis.

The jamon serrano is thinly sliced – all salty, fatty and melt in mouth. Just a great start to wake the taste buds. The croquettes arrive as crispy golden nuggets, filled with oozing bechamel.

The morcilla comes pan-fried. It’s got a slight smoky flavour and the pork fat leaching out is quickly mopped up with bread. The chorizo is bursting with flavours and juices, and again I need to sponge them all up with bread. “Damn bread!”

The mushroom and yolk is my favourite so far – sautéed button, field and oyster mushrooms with a bit of garlic and parsley, topped with a raw egg yolk. All mixed together, the result is absolutely delicious.

Our last savoury dish is the pipis, and it leaves me tossing up whether this is my favourite dish. Steamed in cider with few pieces of potato and a generous dollop of aioli; fabulous. More bread? I can’t… I need to leave a bit of space for dessert.

There is only one dessert on offer and today it’s creme Catalane, the Spanish version of a creme brulee. It’s creamy, unctuous, silky and sweet. Lovely, but the caramelised pane of sugar topping it is a little too thin and crunchy for my liking.  

No matter, I’m officially stuffed and satisfied.

The verdict

I really love this place. Great simple and delicious food, and an awesome sherry list. With a bunch of mates, it definitely has the recipe for a brilliant night out.

Best seat in the house: the place is tiny; I would suggest you come early and sit at the bar. With the waiter right there, you’ll get looked after quicker.

Best drink: the wine list is limited, but made up of great Spanish wines. Best though is the list of sherries, and my favourite is the Delgado Zuleta ‘La Goya’ XL En Rama.

Date safe: I do think it is a really cool place to bring your date if you can’t afford to fly to Spain.

X-factor: feeling like you’re on holidays in the Basque country for the night.