“My earliest memory is watching my mum in the kitchen cooking crème caramel. She was a great baker but a terrible cook, I took over the helm as soon as I was old enough.”

This was the start of Omar Allibhoy’s journey. Later, when he came to the UK, he was “shocked by the lack of Spanish restaurants.”

The chef and founder explains: “I decided it was time to do something about it and so my Tapas Revolution began.”

I went to visit his east London Tapas Revolution restaurant, and it was quite unlike any other Spanish establishment I have visited but definitely traditional of his hometown in Madrid.

I went along with a friend on a Wednesday evening at it wasn’t too busy, which allowed the staff to be very attentive. We began with a bottle of red wine, the Pez de Rio Tempranillo from the Spanish village of Cariñena which shares its name with the grape it is famed for.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

The wine, only £16.95, was beautiful with subtle blackcurrant and forest fruit flavours that matched each dish perfectly.

We chose eight dishes between the two of us, which may have been one or two too many but with such an extensive tapas menu it was quite the struggle to whittle it down, even to eight.

Our first choices felt like necessities – ham and cheese. Out of a healthy selection of dishes for both we chose Ibérico mixto (£13.75) - a platter of both hand-carved jamón and chorizo Ibérico, and queso mixto (£8.95) - a selection of Spanish artisan cheeses. The flavours and combinations of both dishes were simply celestial.

We then went for an almost mandatory, in my opinion, choice of croquetas de jamón (£5.75) - deep-fried Ibérico ham and béchamel croquettes. These were much richer in flavour than any I have had before, utterly sumptuous.

Next, a choice my friend was less convinced about than me, alitas de pollo a la miel y limón (£5.75) - marinated crispy chicken wings with a lemon and honey dressing. One bite and she had changed her mind, they were wonderful.

The gambas a la plancha (£8.50) - peeled large pink prawns cooked on the griddle, were another stand out dish because they were beyond “large”. Our eyes widened in excited awe and the flavour met our heightened expectations.

The berenjenas fritas (£4.95) - crispy fried aubergine with a spiced honey and thyme dressing, was one of the stand out dishes. A difficult feat considering I cannot criticise a single one, but the honey brought out the wonderful sweetness of the aubergine, a vegetable which can be bitter, and it was a revelation of flavour.

To accompany the dishes we went for pan con tomate (£3.50) - toasted bread, garlic, tomato and olive oil, a classic Spanish dish often eaten for breakfast, and pan de la casa (£4.75), which was similar - toasted bread, tomato topped with garlic sauce and serrano ham. It is a delight to sink your teeth through the succulent ham on the later, followed by the softness of the tomato and crunch of the bread found in both.

I’m sure I have made it rather obvious, but I cannot fault Tapas Revolution – nor can I wait to return.

To restrict myself from ordering too much again in future I think I’ll visit for the Northern vs Southern Spain lunch menu, which allows you to explore classic regional dishes. The restaurant is then calling on patrons to vote for their favourite tapas taste. Menus are priced at £9.95 and include three tapas from either the North or South of Spain.

Tapas Revolution can be found in Shoreditch. Details: tapasrevolution.com