Bar Rioja

Good to know

Cuisines
Bars, Spanish
Ambience
Cosy, Traditional
Food Occasions
Late night dining

About

Boasting a reputation as the UK's only dedicated Rioja bar, this unique spot showcases the very best of every style of wine produced in the region, alongside a pincho and tapas menu. The interiors are distinctly bodega-esque with wooden bar stools, shelves upon shelves of wine bottles and a display counter where you can pick out tasty morsels to accompany your Rioja. Located just a stone's throw from Kings Cross St Pancras, this is a great destination for catching up with a friend, having a quick nibble, or to stay a while and sample all the varieties of wine produced in Spain's best known wine region.

Promising an insight into 'pincho' culture, Bar Rioja aims to transport diners to Calle Laurel, a street in the Rioja region famed for its wide selection of tapas bars. Literally translating to 'spike', pincho is a traditional way of eating in Northern Spain, where light snacks are served on cocktail sticks. At Bar Rioja, you'l find a display of various pinchos, as well as a lengthier tapas menu if you'd prefer something more substantial. Expect to see traditional dishes like arroz negro with cuttlefish and alioli, slow braised ox cheek with oloroso sherry sauce, and grilled octopus tentacle with smoked pimenton and saffron mashed potato. There are also charcuterie and cheese selections if you'd like to try some of Spain's most notable exports like Manchego, jamon iberico and more.

The award-winning extensive wine list shows just how many different varieties of wine are produced in the Rioja region, from oak barrel aged classic labels to new vineyards pioneering modern methods, so there's something for all taste preferences. All wines are available by the glass to allow guests to try their fair share and see what they enjoy most, with the finest wines available using the Coravin system ensuring they stay in optimum condition.


FAQs

Can I buy wine in the bar to take home?

Yes, bottles can be purchased to take home.

Helpful? 0

This venue also offers

Camino King's Cross
Restaurant

Camino King's Cross

Location

3 Varnishers Yard, The Regent Quarter, King's Cross, London, N1 9FD

020 7841 7331 020 7841 7331

Website

Opening Times

Bar Evening
Mon Closed
Tue 17:00-23:00
Wed 17:00-23:00
Thu 17:00-23:00
Fri 17:00-23:00
Sat 18:00-23:00
Sun Closed

Reviews

Share your thoughts with other diners

Write a review


3 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Alex G

05 December 2019  
Food & Drink 3.5
Service 3.5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 4.5
Sherry supreme; sceptics surrender

Sherry is cool. Few people fully appreciate this and so not only can geeks revel in their superior knowledge, but there is also a wonderful satisfaction derived from converting previous sceptics to the cause. If you want a venue in which to do it, look no further than Bar Pepito. The owner behind the venture (and also the Camino mini-chain, one of which sits opposite, in the trendy King’s Cross quarter) has been a backer of the sherry cause for over a decade. Bar Pepito is his effective love-child, a tiny space modelled accurately on the bodegas of southern Spain. Low lighting, mood music and wonderful wall decorations all add to the authenticity. Your reviewer has been an intermittent visitor for the last ten years but was lucky enough to spend an evening at Bar Pepito recently tasting through a full flight of sherries paired expertly with tapas. Things kicked off with a Spanish sparkling that is not allowed to call itself Cava, partly because its grapes sit outside the formally denominated region, but also because sherry (rather than sugar) is added by way of dosage. The effect is a bone-dry drink with a nutty subtlety. With this to whet the palate, the bar was set high. Next up – and a similarly virtuoso piece of drinks theatre – was a sherry-based cocktail. Take the concept of whisky sour, add oloroso and – hey-presto – you have an exciting drink, garnished beautifully with a maraschino cherry. Onto the sherry, and we sampled seven, from the bone dry with barely any oxidation through to the richly decadent Pedro Ximinez finisher. What makes sherry work in general terms is its sheer versatility. The acidity inherent in the drink cuts through both fatty and spicy flavours. Perhaps most inspired was an amontillado paired with a flavoursome morcilla (black pudding) accompanied by algería peppers. Oloroso was a superb match for ox cheek and probably the most structured and least sticky Pedro I have ever sampled served as a perfect foil for a blue cow’s cheese. Each dish was competently executed and beautifully presented. If the above description is not incentive enough, then consider that sherry is arguably the most undervalued alcoholic drink in the world. You can eat and drink well at Bar Pepito at a reasonable cost. What’s not to like, especially if you can impress your friends into the bargain too.

Elle E

31 October 2012  
Food & Drink 4.5
Service 4.5
Atmosphere 4
Value 4.5
We met at Pepito on a cold Monday evening, the bar was quiet to say the least but it didn't matter, I had good company. As I was late, the wine had had time to breath and it was delicious. The French waitress was friendly and still non intrusive. I wasn't hungry but was convinced by my friend to try the smoked steak tartare (smoked tartare, really ??) and we stood by the tiny cooking station behind the bar to watch the magic. The cook/chef/guy sliced thin piece of beef and started mincing it by hand and smoking it with burning oak. Pretty special. It arrived at the table under a glass dome and looked pretty cool. It had an interesting oak-y and citrussy flavour. I'll come back hungry next time !

Richard E

21 April 2012  
Food & Drink 5
Service 4.5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 4.5
Tiny, cramped with magnificent sherries, Bar Pepito is as fabulous a place to grab a slice of jamon, some quesos and a manzanilla or pedro ximinez as you will find in London. In fact, it wouldn't be out of place in Catalunya. So there are only three tables, but do the Spanish thing and stand up, grab a nibble and a glass of something chilled and have a great time.
Book a table

Find a table

Sorry, you cannot spend SquareMeal vouchers here yet.

Other restaurants we like near Bar Rioja

Check availability