Tapas is one of my favourite foods…ever! Leave me on a sunny terrace with a limitless supply of croquetas and a bottle of wine, and you won't hear a peep. Pinky promise.

I certainly won't have to travel far for the pleasure next year, with authentic tapas bar, Taberna Saltpeter, having just opened in Felixstowe.

Maddie and David, best known for previously running Saltpeter Wines in Woodbridge, say they've wanted to have a food offering for quite some time, and that the offbeat, kooky and (crucially) busy setting at the ever-growing Beach Street complex, has proved an excellent fit for their shared ambition.

Taberna Saltpeter in Felixstowe

Maddie and David

Find the petite taverna above The Waffle Shack (hook a left after the shack and head up the stairs). There are just a few tables (more outside for warmer days), and bar seats with sea views. Racks along one wall groan under the weight of the couple's carefully chosen wines, which will change regularly, following the ethos they initiated in Woodbridge - ie, everything being organic, biodynamic, natural or sulphite-free.

Above the bar, a simple menu of bites is chalked up, ranging in price from just a few pounds up to a maximum of £15 for the prime jamon Iberico. 

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You can expect all the classics, bringing holiday memories flooding back. Marinated anchovies. Croquetas. San Sebastian-style gildas (that irresistible bite combining green peppers, anchovies and olives), patatas bravas, fresh grilled squid, chorizo on toast, and grilled lamb cutlets. And, say the couple, where possible they are sourcing produce on home turf - with seafood, for example, either landed in or near Felixstowe, or bought from local fishmongers.

David, who hails from Malaga originally, has cooked from a young age, and is clearly at home in the open kitchen, preparing every dish to order.

David's tortilla

Blue cheese and spinach croquetas

As he tends to the bar's signature dish of paella (£12pp, minimum two people, weekends only) for me, he preps a few of his other favourite bites. First up, the ubiquitous Spanish tortilla, which I've eaten so many different versions of over the years. Cooked in a cute little individual cast iron pan, David's version uses slices of softened potatoes and onions, tossed in a perfectly seasoned mixture of tumbled eggs, and cooked so the outside is evenly crisp, yielding to a creamy, slightly oozy centre. It is beautifully done. A tortilla to be proud of - and with food this simple, there really is nowhere to hide.

He follows with a quartet of spinach and blue cheese croquetas. I've eaten the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to this classic dish - the worst having a thick crust better suited to coating a bargain bucket chicken nugget. Not here. Somehow, David's delicate touch has resulted in croquetas with the thinnest of 'jackets', collapsing under a knife into a melting, thick, luxurious roux with a tang of blue. 

Iberico presa

Iberico presa is a thing of beauty. The 'wagyu' of the pork world (certainly in flavour and body) this succulent cut is a 'cobweb' of muscle, marbled with fat that seasons and moistens the meat over flames. It needs nothing more than David gives it - a sprinkle of flaked sea salt, and a little mound of sweet roasted peppers.

Seafood paella

Around 20-25 minutes later, David's showpiece paella is ready. Served in a traditional dish, it is the result of many hours of work - much of which goes into cooking down the shellfish stock. While meat and vegetarian versions can be ordered in advance, I heartily recommend beginning with his seafood-filled variety, where sunshine-bright, tooth-tender short grain rice, flavoured by an umami, savoury, homemade broth, meets sweet prawns, mussels, baby squid, and a centrepiece humongous crevette. With a twist of lemon over the top, and a glass of something chilled and white on the side, there's little more you could possibly want or need on a lazy weekend afternoon. 

Crema Catalana

It takes hardly any effort on Maddie and David's part to convince me to try their only dessert - crema Catalana. When I last ate this pud (elsewhere) it was a disaster of epic proportions. Not here. Another example of restraint equalling beauty. Imagine an ethereally light, cooled custard, scented with orange, lemon and cinnamon, finished with a veil of burnt sugar - which smells alluring of candyfloss and fairgrounds as it arrives at the table. This is not an overly sweet dessert, but it cleanses the palate, soothes the soul, and will absolutely put a smile on your face.

What's on the drinks list?

While Maddie and David, of course, want to feed you, Taberna Saltpeter also stands alone as a bar, and Maddie's eyes light up as she talks about the wine offering. The word 'natural' can be offputting for some, but forget everything you know (if you've had a poor experience before) and allow yourself to be educated here. In the right hands, and poured by those with knowledge and strong relationships with vineyards and growers, natural, and biodynamic wine can be very enjoyable.

I try a jammy Rinsotte from Domaine de Bois Moisette, followed by El Petit Carlania, made with Trepat grapes. Maddie warns me this one is a bit 'funkier', but it turns out to be one of my favourites on the day. An almost effervescent drop, with a perfume of cocoa and cherry that lingers, but never overpowers. A nice one to have slightly chilled with pork or charcuterie.

The house Tempranillo from Paso a Paso, is a touch dry, and rammed with those floral, vanilla, Parma Violet notes you'd expect.

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And I'm completely surprised by the natural, vegan wine, Mas Candi Baudili Blanc, which is super heady with the scent of just-cut ripe pears on the nose, opening out not with fruitiness, but rather a flinty, off-dry minerality.

I never say no to dessert wine, so when Maddie pulled out a bottle of Bodegas Malaga Virgen Pedro Ximenez, I was all-in. It is possibly the most spectacular Pedro I have ever, ever sampled. Sumptuous and full-bodied, the essence of dried dates, sticky figs and sultanas in every indulgent sip. Go and try it. And order a bottle! Incidentally, all bottles are available to buy and take home from the bar.

Taberna Saltpeter is open from 12noon until late, Thursday to Sundays. Walk-ins and bookings are available, and you can also book out the whole bar for small gatherings and parties. Get in touch here.