Surtopia was until pretty recently the only place in Madrid with what you call a “sherrylist” (even if they were mostly manzanillas) and although now it has more competition in some respects it has no rival for lovers of all things Sanlucar.

The wine list has always been excellent and the food just seems to get better and better – the ensaladilla de langostinos and calamares sin tocar above were just superb, as were the huevos rotos that I forgot to take a picture of, and we washed them down with some manzanilla (the lovely atomatic 11540 from Sanchez Ayala), fino (La Panesa) and medium (again 11540, with a nice touch of manzanilla freshness). 

Throw in a few laughs with Jose and the top service of Ruth and the team and a fella can’t have any complaints – as good as it gets.