Parapicar, Shipley: The tapas bar of dreams which is more like Seville than Shipley

There’s a cheery babble rising in the cantina-like room, full of folk eating and chatting over cool Mediterranean tunes. Every now and again he leaves his kitchen with a dish of food and delivers it to a table before he whips back to finish a plate of fried sardines.

It could easily be in Seville but actually as I glance through the window I’m reminded it’s Shipley and the lunchtime traffic is roaring along the A650.

Peter Oljanuk is that chef and from his tiny kitchen he’s serving up some of the tastiest tapas I’ve had this side of Barcelona. Gambas pil pil reminds me of perching at a fish stall in La Boqueira (on that day we were necking glasses of chilled Manzanilla.

Today it’s sparkling water, although the all-Spanish wine list is exemplary) and I suspect that he’s been there too, and possibly a number of other bodegas, bistrots and bars.

It turns out he’s spent a fair amount of time in Bilbao and San Sebastian, and unlike the rest of us who pledge to recreate the dishes we’ve enjoyed abroad and then somehow forget to, Oljanuk has actually done it, harnessing his considerable skills to make the genuine article on his return.

The ‘daytime’ menu looks good enough, with sandwiches featuring the likes of Serrano & Manchego and goat’s cheese and piquillo pepper, ‘brunch classics’ with eggs Benedict and Florentine and beetroot rosti with avocado, spinach, poached egg and chilli jam - and I only spotted this when it was too late – smoky butter beans on barra gallega, a sort of rustic Spanish baguette made from rye and wheat flour.

As appealing as these are, we’re going to work our way down the tapas list - there are three of us and we’re not too shabby on the ordering front, so off we go.

Sobrasada on sourdough toast with a crispy fried egg and padron peppers is first up followed swiftly by asparagus tempura, which is an absolute stunner – the batter light as angel’s wings, and a proper kick to the Nduja aioli. I had a similar dish in Bristol’s Brava which instantly went into my top ten – but I think this trumps it.

There’s a spinach, feta and piquillo filo pie in a puddle of fabulous, blood red spiced pepper sauce with astonishing depth of flavour, closely followed by huevos rotos - fried spuds with crispy egg and a full-throttle bravas sauce.

All these dishes come in between seven quid and a tenner: bear in mind this is Yorkshire tapas and would at any other time make a decent main course. Second best dish after the tempura is the croquetas: fabulously light, crispy outer shell giving way to soft hammy cheesy loveliness.

We finish with pollo paprika – chicken fillet in white wine and double cream and there’s no way that luxurious sauce is going to waste so some barra gallega arrives to soak it up.

Oljanuk’s path to Parapicar is a winding one. After college in Bradford he worked at Leeds Bradford Airport for a couple of years before landing at Dick Hudsons ‘the busiest pub in Yorkshire’.

He was head chef at the Cosmopolitan in Leeds via Napolean’s Casino in Bradford, then as covid struck made dine-at-home boxes, and when restrictions lifted ran pop-ups in and around Bingley. When the building he’s currently in came free he jumped at it, having always wanted his own place.

He’s a self-confessed ‘food obsessive’; so am I but the difference is that he can properly cook and I only think I can.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Burnt Basque cheesecake is having a moment. It’s on almost every menu I’ve looked at in the last couple of months. I’m not complaining, it’s a wonderful thing when it’s done properly – but often it’s too solid, or fridge cold, or both.

Oljanuk spots us browsing desserts and says ‘I don’t usually boast about my own food, but I made it this morning and it’s fabulous’. No further endorsement required. For good measure we have a clementine and Cointreau posset too and it’s perfectly good but the cheesecake is sublime; soft but structured and yet crumbles at the fork, and the killer add-on is a pool of Pedro Ximinez-soaked raisins which launches the dish into the stratosphere. It reduces us to nodding muppets.

If you happened to be passing with a hunger pang, pop in and have this and a glass of Do La Mancha Montefrio Airen – the floral hit of this will be sensational with the cake. Talking of which, the wine list is short but impeccably chosen: along with the Montefrio there’s a white Rioja, a Verdejo and Pulpo Albarino.

Three reds include a Tempranillo and Altos de tamaron ‘full aroma of cherries, plums, red fruits and toasted oak with coffee and chocolate’.

There’s some really good cooking going on here. Oljanuk’s experience, travels and enthusiasm have come together in this modest little room in a less-than-glamorous location but I guarantee you’ll have a great lunch or supper.

These are honest, delicious dishes executed with heart and soul, and at the risk of sounding soppy: love.

I’ve long had a retirement dream that finds me resident in a small Spanish town with a handful of tapas joints and a bar stool to glue my backside to. I can’t think of a better waste of time. Croquetas. Tortilla. Jamon Iberico. Manchego.

A glass or two of Oloroso, decent company and a good book. In the meantime, Parapica will do nicely.

Parapicar, 93 Kirkgate, Saltaire, Shipley BD18 3LR. Tel 07340 483407.

Open: Sun, Mon, Tue, closed. Wed & Thu 10-3.30, Fri & Sat 11 7.15

Welcome 5/5

Food 5/5

Atmosphere 5/5

Prices 5/5