Chato – so named after little tasting glasses of wine – is the latest in a string of openings along the top end of High St that’s turned this section of Thornbury into the north’s most interesting eat street.

Opening its doors mid-year, Chato has quickly found a firm following for its authentic Madrileno colour, whether toasted baguette rubbed with tomato, drizzled with olive oil and topped with a chunk of manchego for breakfast, a crunchy-edged chicken and seafood-packed paella for lunch or chatos and tapas after dark.

And thanks to owner and chef Maria Echevarria-Lang (a founding partner of Caffe e Cucina) that food is seriously good, perfectly priced (though generously proportioned) for ordering with abandon.

Sardines – grilled whole, simply served with a spritz of lemon – will have you straight back to lazy days on the Costa del Sol, while a bowl of excellent morcilla, humid and cinnamon sweet, topped with chunky lardons and crisp potatoes, is exuberantly big hearted and naughtily delicious.

There’s bracingly pickled octopus, brilliant bacala and perfectly cooked quail served with a sherry and chocolate sauce that sounds so wrong, but tastes so very right.

To finish, there’s churros and crema catalana, of course, but the leche frita gets our vote – a glorious square of fried custard, served with excellent vanilla ice cream and finished with orange syrup.

Service is endearingly chaotic, the package very Spanish in temperament, very Thornbury in looks, the lot welcoming, generous, proud.

And as for those chatos? The wine list is authentically interesting, with a good showing of complementary locals, and there’s sangria, of course, for when the long nights are warm.

There’s lots of Latin love in the room, and there’s lots to love about this little slice of Spain.

Tel: (03) 9484 8554

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