The lights shine too brightly at Fino Par but the the food and cocktails are not left wanting under their glare.
Fino Par
111 Goulburn Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Australia
(02) 8272 3300
Monday-Sunday 7am-midnight
3 stars
Fino Par
Sherry, sangria, chorizo and churros.
Yes, the Spaniards have bought many great things to this world.
At this new tapas bar, the sherry is mixed into decadent cocktails, the sangria is ageing in barrels down the back, the chorizo is served plump and juicy in hot pots and the churros are made in house.
While all the hype in Sydney has been on the American speakeasies and Mexican street food, Spanish bars have quietly been bubbling away in the background.
It's been a hit and miss market. The success of Tapavino, Manly's Jah Bar and northshore fave Delicado has been followed by the closure of the Carrington and the more South American-leaning Foley Lane.
But Foley Lane chef Nelson Burgos and bar guru Brett Harris (from El Topo and Hello Sailor) are giving the sherry trend legs by joining forces to open a bar downstairs at the Vibe Hotel.
The biggest, and probably only, problem is getting you in to this bar in the first place. The lighting is so bright and the vibe so non-existent that you'd be forgiven for turning around at the doorway, mistaking it for a school cafeteria or, well, a hotel lobby.
When you have industrial-grey tiled floors, grey concrete walls, minimalist communal benches and no music, the last thing you want it fluorescent lighting. Turn it down a notch, please.
Hiding under those harsh lights is some delicious food and innovative cocktails.
A barrell of ageing sangria looks (and tastes) impressive but it's sherry that takes centre stage. There are a dozen to choose from - dry, light, nutty-flavoured, sugary sweet - as well as four cocktails based around the Spanish fortified wine and a handful more that incorporate it in some way.
The staff unfortunately have little knowledge about the sherries on offer (or the beers or the food or the wine, for that matter) but the cocktails are well-made and use dizzying combinations of flavours to riff on the traditional sour.
The Grape Dividing (pisco, sherry, lemon, grapefruit, orgeat, egg white, pimento bitters) and Sherry Cobbler (Fino sherry, angostura bitters, lemon, mixed berries, agave syrup, $15) balance sweet and sour perfectly.
The non-sherry cocktails, like a lush Strawberry Fields Forever (strawberry-infused gin, lemon, apple, mandarin and rosemary tincture, egg white, sugar syrup, $16), are just as smooth.
There are Spanish wines aplenty, starting at $10 a glass and including some interesting cava (sparkling wine) and rose that go down a treat on a summery eve.
Follow it with some chorizo and churros, both highlights on a menu of tapas divided into small, medium and large plates.
Crispy pigs ears ($12) and a delightfully unusual plate of cold octopus carpaccio with paprika and olive oil ($17) were standouts too. A flavourless sherry-braised beef cheek with confit potato ($17) didn't take away from Burgos' whole offering - colourful, bright, fresh, authentic Spanish food.
And it wouldn't be a true Spanish bar without some tapas on the counter. The little morsels are switched every night and make the bar the best spot to be in this cavernous room.
It's decadent and exciting food and drink that couldn't be more out of place in its surrounds.
Between the few lonely hotel guests drinking at the bar and the blinding lights of the main room, this is not the place to settle in for the night and get freaky with a bottle of sherry.
If they can get a bit of continental charm happening here it may be a different story.
YOU'LL LOVE IT IF... you've fallen for the Spanish sherry/tapas culture
YOU'LL HATE IT IF... you like the lights down low
GO FOR... barrell-aged sangria, sherry cocktails, octopus carpaccio
IT'LL COST YOU... sherry by the glass $10-$13, cocktails $15-$18, wine by the glass $10-$14, small tapas $4.50-7.50