What's the draw
While the standard of classic Spanish tapas is exceptionally high in London these days, there's always room for newcomers looking to create competition for the tried-and-tested venues and offer inventive plates inspired by the country's distinct regions. While the Tapas Room group is a relative newcomer, its founder isn't – Paul Belcher had spent much of the 2010s running Donostía Social Club, a pop-up-turned-permanent in Pop Brixton that specialised in food inspired by San Sebastián and the Basque Country. At his newer ventures, he's quietly built a reputation as a fine setting for upmarket and seasonal tapas with a seriously good wine list across The Tapas Room's five venues, with Peckham, the newest, having opened in a great location on Peckham High Street earlier this year.
What to drink
There's a short but expertly curated list of wines and sherries, with a few cocktails thrown in for good measure, overseen in Peckham by general manager Max Delaney. We kicked off with a punchy, vinous Basque Negroni, made with sloe-infused patxaran liqueur, while a Biografico 'rosado' – a biodynamic blend of tempranillo and graciano from Toledo with enough skin contact to be darker than a Beaujolais, served chilled – was a bracing and tannic but lively and refreshing pairing later down the menu, and a Bodegas Gutierrez Colosia pedro ximenez provided everything you'd want from a dessert sherry – rich, unctuous and full of dried fruit and nut flavours.
Nic Crilly-Hargrave
Nic Crilly-Hargrave
What to eat
Most of the best tapas menus are short, and that's certainly the case here, meaning ordering almost everything is doable in a group and food envy can be pretty much nonexistent. If you're having trouble making your mind up (food- or wine-wise) you can ask the team to throw some plates at you, and with every dish under a tenner (and most closer to £5) it should stay relatively affordable, too. The approach to wine is also evident in the sourcing of charcuterie and cheeses, while croquetas were crunchy, pillowy and butter-soft. A beautifully charred octopus tentacle served on herbed oil with samphire on top was delicious, as was botifarra sausage – a Catalan sausage of pale pork meat, gently spiced and served with fat, happy in-season broad beans. Meanwhile, gamey presa ibérica, seared and served rare with fresh garlic, fondant turnip and wilted spinach was Spanish with a decidedly modern British flavour, and the kind of deft seasonal dish that suggests, along with a regularly changing menu, that you could come here ten times and never have the same meal twice.
Tapas from £5, wine from £5 by the glass. 119 Peckham High Street, SE15 5SE; thetapasroom.co.uk
