Traditional Spanish restaurant hidden beneath the streets of Huddersfield

Meson La Pepa is a hidden secret that remains hidden to the last.

The warmth and the smells and the chatter are sunken below the corner of Church Street and Wood Street in Huddersfield town centre and the ground floor windows only offer a scan above the heads of those inside.

The sign is part of the disguise. ‘Meson La Pepa’ in tangerine orange above electric blue contact details hints at a tanning salon or a travel agent specialising in budget packages to the Costa Del Sol. If you look for long enough your mind might actually conjure up a little neon palm tree and beach scene to sit alongside it.

Push open the door though, descend a few steps, and emerge in a traditional Spanish tapas restaurant of the kind you might discover in the last days of your holiday - the kind all the locals go to.

The bar, backed by countless bottles of wine and fronted by a table-for-two where bar stools might be, faces you across the intimate eatery as you enter. A handful of tables line the perimeter of the first room which opens away right into a second, slightly raised, section of the restaurant. This is where we were offered a table, in the depths of the windowless second room against the back wall. It sounds dark and dingy but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels secret, like you have to be there so the rest of Huddersfield doesn’t find out.

The walls, some deep red, some yellow, are littered with old posters and pictures depicting black bulls and matadors or decrying slogans in Spanish. Pot plants and background salsa music bring the place to life and complete the illusion you are actually in Spain.

Meson La Pepa

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I went with my girlfriend on a Friday night and found the place about three-quarters full - lively without being crowded.

As a Yorkshireman I’m naturally wary of tapas. You can sometimes not get a reet lot for your money. But prices looked decent so we got some bread and olives and a jug of sangria filled with orange and apple to share (£12.35) and set about perusing the wide selection.

Ordering tapas is a team game and we had only just decided our tactics when the waitress hovered over for the first time. This was down to our lack of focus, brought on by the burgeoning realisation we had found a very good restaurant and made worse by the childish novelty of fruit in a drink. The waitress was actually extremely efficient and friendly throughout.

Eventually we decided to share a mixed paella tapas (£6.85 for tapas or £16.45 as a main course for two people to share) and four tapas dishes, each choosing two. Hannah ordered pollo con tomate (chicken with tomato; £5.15) and patatas bravas (fried potatoes; £3.95) and I plumped for gambas fritas (fried prawns; £5.85) and patatas pobres (baked potatoes, onions and peppers; £3.85).

The tapas, each in its own clay dish, arrived quickly on a rotatable wooden board that was placed in the middle of our table next to a deep bowl of the mixed paella.

Our intention had been to dine as true Mediterranean socialites and casually order additional tapas as the meal progressed but this plan was immediately shot by the quantity of food just brought to our table.

Each tapas was the size of a large starter and the paella, containing chicken, chorizo, calamari, king prawns, swordfish, peppers and peas, would have made good sized main course for one.

Not only was each tapas a decent size, they were all clearly lovingly cooked and each offered something different.

The prawns in the gambas fritas, lightly wrapped in flaky batter, were huge and juicy so the flavour burst into your mouth when you bit into them.

The pollo con tomate was cooked in tomatoes and paprika giving it a heartily spicy aroma and ensuring the chicken remained succulent. The patatas bravas had been fried in paprika as well and the crispy skins, encasing soft potato, were absolutely coated in the warmth of the spice.

I regretted ordering two potato dishes at first but I needn’t had been. Patatas pobres was as much onions and red peppers as it was slices of potato so complemented the patatas bravas well.

Hannah and I agreed the paella was a bit too salty for our tastes, which was a shame because behind the salt you could just begin to taste a dish rich in flavour. The meats were once again all cooked perfectly.

After a bit of introspective tummy rubbing, I decided I could probably manage a pudding and chose a chocolate fudge cake (£4.95) from the chalkboard dessert menu. What I got was the gooey, chocolatey doorstop to the Black Gate in Lord of the Rings. The huge wedge was accompanied by a jug of cream, a slice of melon and some popcorn. Only the cake was on the menu as far as I could remember but the rest was a pleasant surprise and I struggled it down greedily. Hannah went for another glass of sangria instead (£3.45).

By 10pm we had outstayed two hours but not our welcome. The staff were happy and attentive but never invasive and it was another nice surprise when the bill came to £51.25.

Considering we were both stuffed, having spent a lovely evening in what by now we had convinced ourselves was genuinely Spain, it seemed a very fair price. Needless to say I would absolutely go back again.