Paripé — Restaurant in Sydney

Kensington Street in Chippendale is filled with wonderful bars and restaurants. I've been to a few, but this was my first time at Paripé and it was a fun experience with great food and drinks to match.

Paripé means to 'put on a show' and that is what owners Pablo and Maria have done. Originally from Madrid, they have migrated to Sydney and have showcased a venue serving up authentic Spanish Tapas in the most perfect little spot.

We started off with the 'Jamón Ibérico' which was beautiful. I could have eaten the whole board to myself if I'm being honest but that would have been rude.

We then were served 'Pa & Tomaquet', which were these slices of toasted bread with seasoned, natural freshly grated tomato on top. Loved the flavour of this one, as it was like a bruschetta but without the mess of diced tomatoes falling all over the place.

The 'Croquetas' came out next. Golden and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside!

It was my first time trying a 'Spanish Tortilla'. This was a potato, onion and egg omelette. I loved this dish so much, especially when I put a little of the omelette onto some bread.

Another little snack we got to try was the ‘White Anchovies’, which were served with ali oil and piquillo peppers. You guys know I’m a sucker for anchovies, so yes, this was definitely a favourite.

Let me introduce you to some of the best 'Garlic Prawns' I've ever had. So good that I wanted to eat the tail. We dipped our bread into the oil and my god, chefs kiss. We also had 'Garlic Flat Mushrooms with Parsley' which are great for those who can't eat seafood.

We tried the 'Meatballs' in the signature Paripé sauce which was so good! These meatballs were soft and very flavourful.

Of course we had to order the 'Spanish Chorizos' which were cooked in apple cider. These were divine and I loved the apple cider taste that came through. This was perfect alongside the 'Patatas Bravas' which were these spicy, crispy potatoes served with ali oil & spicy Paripé brava sauce. I was so full at this point but I am so glad I tried the potatoes because they were amazing.

As well as delicious tapas, we ordered some seriously spicy margaritas and a delicious jug of classic sangria!

Ladies night was a great success thanks...

I booked this table the morning of dining and had to cancel last minute due to 3 members of my party testing positive for covid and feeling unwell. The manager Pablo was incredibly unsympathetic. Given that 3 members of my party are anaesthetic doctors and have implications beyond missing a booking (to the healthcare system and exposure to sick patients) Pablo was only concerned with his business. He lost money from my booking and therefore sickness and emergency extenuating circumstances do not matter. I had provided my card details in the full expectation of fulfilling the booking but obviously things changed.

I offered him the option to charge me for 1-2 people (which was rejected) but how can he blame people for being covid positive and acting responsibly to isolate??

So unprofessional and such poor customer service. Also he was incredibly rude and angry on the phone! As if sickness/covid exposure can be helped!!!

A very unpleasant place and person! I’m very glad to never see this person again. Even if he doesn’t charge the full amount (which he stated he would) I would never recommend going here to a place where humanity clearly comes second to money.

Edit in response: Thanks for that very biased response Pablo. I respectfully disagree. You did not call me back and your words and tone could definitely use improvement. You charged me $75 despite me cancelling in enough time for you to get more diners to your restaurant.

Ultimately the bad karma you will get for being so unreasonable and only money-orientated during this difficult time (for healthcare workers especially) is enough...

well gosh couldn’t recommend this “restaurant” to my worst enemy… A quick last minute birthday plan resulted in booking a table at the trendy ‘paripe’ restaurant, the evening started and we were met with outstanding service and quickly shown to our seats. We started off with a round of drinks to get the buzz of the evening going. With a gorgeously presented with the cocktail ‘El beso de paripe’ which unfortunately was the only highlight of the night….. the food later arrived with comically devastating appearance and portions so small we couldn’t help but laugh considering the price of these bland depressing dishes. We understood the element of a fancy restaurant having small portions and high prices but the element left out here was any form of taste, decor and an alarming lack of temperature control on the food ….. the soggy bread paired with tomato rings a bell ….. the broccolini diss was another laughing point of the night as it was the worst presentation and tasting of the night ….. the octopus was the most random thing with bland tones and again presented poorly…. And a quick trip to the bathroom so I could see what other tables food looked like and it was absolutely no different to our … such a disappointment for Sydney food!!!! Just because you have the location of Surry hills , a place of amazing food and culture, does NOT mean it equals quality you actually have to put in the hard labour and work to improve your food and taste!!!!!! Anyhow rant over don’t go here their are a million better places to go in Sydney that actually care about...