One more for the beach bums at Una Mas

Justin Hemmes won't reveal how much money he spent on Merivale's new fitout for Coogee Pavilion's middle level, but judging by the amount of marble, it's a lot.

The kind of moolah that might buy a collection of small Greek islands, most of Liechtenstein or a bedsit in Woollahra.

Certainly, some of those costs are absorbed by the dish prices at Mimi's, Coogee Pav's flagship fine-diner, where salt-baked mud crab can weigh in at $180 a kilo, and a caviar trolley laps linen-clothed tables.

I'm all for push-the-super-yacht-out dining on special occasions, but a journalist's wage means Mimi's neighbouring wine bar, Una Mas, is way more in my financial comfort zone. I dare say most Sydneysiders will have similar feelings.

That isn't to say Una Mas is Mimi's for plebs. Far from it. The classroom-sized bar opened in January and it's a beautiful space where house-made charcuterie swings above bowls of fresh peaches and handsome earthenware frames an island kitchen.

Luxe bodega vibes are enhanced by natural light, and a walnut-brown banquette is the best spot to sink chilled red and cop a sea breeze since Sean's Panaroma.

Thanks to the price of those chilled reds, you can drink well at Una Mas without haemorrhaging cash. From a list of 35 minimal-intervention drops, many wines are priced between $50 and $60 a bottle.

Combine a juicy 2018 Animale pinot noir ($55) from the Macedon Ranges with garlic-heavy fried potatoes ($12) and whole roasted snapper ($38), and hey, presto – you have a cracking supper for any night of the week.

Coogee Pavilion executive chef Jordan Toft channels the Mediterranean at most opportunities, but particularly at Una Mas, where tapas-style plates burst with sun-kissed flavours.

Take the knobs of Italian buffalo mozzarella ($8), for example, served on lemon leaves with the perfume of a holiday in Cinque Terre. Meanwhile, a bowl of plump pipis, pancetta and karkalla ($20) is exactly what you want to eat with wet sand still between your toes.

When Toft isn't about, Andrew Wandless leads the kitchen and a smoked ham hock terrine is the head chef's own creation. Also starring pork neck, parsley, allspice and thyme, the terrine is part of a $30 house charcuterie plate and I would like it served at every picnic from this day forth.

The Catalan coca ($12) is my new post-Coogee-swim snack, featuring happy tomatoes softened by a Josper oven and finished with oregano on a springy sourdough base. All the better with a house spritz ($16) that splashes spicy sherry vermouth about with fizzy pet-nat wine.

The same drink also lends itself to a lemon ice sorbet licked by olive oil ($12) for peak summer refreshment.

A note to the noise averse: Una Mas can be loud, particularly on a weekend evening when synthy music is cranked to soak a sound bleed from the nightclub-style bar upstairs.

Unlike Mimi's, Una Mas doesn't take bookings either, so you'll need to mount a campaign to score a window table and aim to arrive about 5pm.

These are small grumbles, however, and Una Mas is a welcome addition to the east. Coogee has long needed a great wine bar with interesting pours, and sommelier Adrian Filiuta's 600-bottle list from Mimi's is also available on request for anyone keen on grand cru chablis or Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.

For the rest of us, chilled Australian pinot is not just a very nice time at Una Mas, it's bloody good value, too.

If you only eat one thing: Catalan coca ($12).

If you only drink one thing: House spritz ($16).