Bar Pepito

Across the courtyard from its larger sibling Camino, this boxy bodega is so persuasively styled, you’d swear you’d landed in Cádiz not King’s Cross. Elegant sherries are the thing here, and Pepito has helped overturn the common perception that this fortified wine is only fit only for vicars and maiden aunts. If you don’t know your Manzanilla from your Moscatel, Jerez’s finest come in flights of three and as part of a ‘road trip’ – an eight-dish tapas menu with suitable pairings: try wafer-thin hams off the bone with a dry Oloroso Alfonso or blue cheese croquetas alongside a Palo Cortado Apostoles. Friendly staff ensure you won’t go wrong, but if you want to go it alone, the menu's failsafe advice runs thus: ‘If it swims, drink Fino. If it flies, drink Amontillado. If it walks or runs, drink Oloroso.’ Gutsy Iberian wines too.

Sharing a courtyard with its sister restaurant Camino in King’s Cross, Bar Pepito is the result of several research trips to the Spanish sherry region in southwest Andalucía. Its vision is to overturn stuffy stereotypes of sherry drinkers and to bring the fortified wine to the forefront of 21st century London dining.

Tucked away in Varnisher’s Yard, Bar Pepito is brimming with Spanish flavour. The dark interior, exposed brick walls lined with bottles of sherry and immersive atmosphere mean that you could be forgiven for thinking you’re in a cellar in Jerez or Cadiz rather than in the bustling heart of King’s Cross. The high tables and chairs are situated closely together, giving the venue the cosy and intimate atmosphere of an Andalusia bodega. While the smaller size of the venue does provide a degree of authenticity, it means that Bar Pepito is unsuitable for larger dining parties.

The menu is heavily reliant on elegant sherries, but there’s no need to feel intimidated if you’re no Frasier Crane. Bar Pepito’s sherries are served in ‘flights’ of three accompanied by a suitably paired tapita, or as part of a ‘road trip’; eight sherry samples also accompanied by carefully chosen tapitas, including Marcona almonds, manchego and wafer thin Jamon Iberico.The menu is ideal for sherry novices and connoisseurs alike.

It’s not just sherry on offer at Bar Pepito. There’s also a range of carefully chosen Spanish wines, for which the Camino brand is famous, as well as spirits from Scotland and the West Indies with a Spanish twist.