Salt House Tapas
David Lloyd
Share the love (and a sherry or two) at this urban tapas bar in Liverpool ONE.
It’s all about the food at this surefooted tapas house, situated in a restored, bow-fronted building – once a storage depot for sea salt – at the entrance to the Paradise Street district of Liverpool ONE. Within, white tiles gleam, legs of prime ibérico hams hang from hooks in the ceiling, and teetering racks of Rioja are crammed into a small bar area, where you can sip a fino sherry and enjoy a plate of plump and peppery olives while you wait.
The dining hall, split level and buzzy, is simply furnished with 1950s school desks, window seats scattered with cushions and oversized windows, and an industrious galley kitchen, busily churning out fabulously authentic bowls of tapas, charcuterie plates and house specials. The crowd? Liverpool’s ladies who lunch, revellers en route to a night on the town, and friends and families are all drawn to Salt House’s pitch-perfect Andalusian-inspired sharing plates.
Try the morcilla black pudding (a Spanish take on the version us Brits know and love), the baby chorizos drizzled in orange honey, or the pan-fried seabass with shaved fennel, orange and black olives. And don’t leave without enjoying a slither or two of Salt House’s superb acorn-fed ibérico hams. Vegetarians are well catered for too, with hearty wedges of tortilla, deep-fried Monte Enebro (Spanish goat’s) cheese and roasted baby aubergines. And while the food might be inspired by the sultry south, the wine list focuses on northern Spain’s fruity garnacha and tempranillo grapes, which reach their best expression in the rich, red berry fruits of Salt House’s excellent range of Riojas.
