Our pro says…

One of the most exciting openings of the year, this regional Spanish restaurant is as predictably brilliant as you’d expect from a pair that have been the driving force behind Barrafina’s success for the past decade.

We queued for 45 minutes before opening and then were let in and seated (happily) in front of the draft Estrella (there’s vermouth on tap, too) and open kitchen. *I wasn’t recognised – but Nieves waved on our way out.

The all-Spanish wine list begins with txakoli, the lightly effervescent Basque wine that’s poured from a dramatic height. Our unusual bottle of rosé was fresh and zingy with a touch of red fruit and, along with a couple of saline fino sherries, were a welcome foil to the rich, fried food to come.

Plates are small and come when they’re ready. First for us, camarones fritos (from the bar menu) – tiny shrimp, deep-fried, and served with a crispy, paprika-dusted fried egg, whose molten yolk acted as a natural sauce. Crisp, golden prawn croquetas were as good as any I’ve ever tasted in their homeland, and rich with that roasted shell, holiday flavour.

A crimson carabinero the size of an adult hand, its antennae tickling the edge of the plate, was tender and spankingly fresh. Table etiquette fell to the floor, heads were sucked. Chubby mussels ‘a la Bilbaina’ slurped up a light sauce of tomatoes, sherry, sherry vinegar and herbs.

Sobrasada, the soft paprika sausage from Menorca, came in a rusty rubble on top of lightly crushed new potatoes, bobbing in a garlic cream, which we learn is formed of thrice-blanched garlic (sweet, mellow and nutty) blended with chicken stock and cream. It was explicitly good.

Desserts ticked every box – chocolatey bombas, sharp and creamy rhubarb and mascarpone tartlets, and an inspired goat’s cheese ice cream with a liquorice sauce rounded off a perfect meal.

THE BOTTOM LINE

To dine at the heart of the action at Sabor, you can’t book, and you can’t sit in parties bigger than four, but it’s worth any first-come-first-serve frustrations. Exemplary ingredients, soulful cooking and a uniquely warm Spanish buzz. Sabor is everything you want it to be, and more. Total for two, excluding service: £118

FOOD: 10/10 SERVICE: 9/10 VIBE: 10/10

TOTAL 29/30