Tapas to die for in culinary heaven

Everyone raves about Fino but they rarely mention nearby Salt Yard in the same breath, which is just as well.

For me this Goodge Street tapas bar feels like culinary heaven - even if my guest and I were sitting at a makeshift table under the staircase by the mops and beer crates.

I have been here half-a-dozen times and had never until now been able to get a table downstairs, because it's so popular.

The 7pm sitting on Saturday night meant we avoided the rowdier hen parties that followed. The owners used to work at Brindisa and their wonderful food is from Spain and Italy. It's an intimate venue catering brilliantly for its relaxed regulars.

This is delicious food in unpretentious surroundings. The only danger is you are likely to order too much because the tapas are so reasonably priced.

The grazing dishes range from sherry-and-paprika-cured foie gras and morcilla with figs (£7.50) to acorn-fed Jamon Iberico cured for three years (£12.95) which, inexplicably, we had never tried before. "That is the best ham I have tasted in my life," said my guest.

The ham's intense, nutty flavour slowly works its way round the roof of your mouth like some savoury narcotic. It was similar to tasting a fine wine.

Courgette flowers stuffed with Monte Enebro cheese and drizzled with honey (£5.75) were as mouth-watering as I first remembered them. Ditto the aubergines with garlic, chilli and mint (£4). The beef suffered by comparison with the ham but there's so much to choose from you will not be disappointed.

Salt Yard would appeal to vegans and vegetarians alike, but if you taste the ham you will become a carnivore for life.

Salt Yard
Goodge Street, London, W1T 4NA