First look inside Sunderland's new eat all you can tapas restaurant

Papa’s Tapas will open above the Ship Isis pub in Silksworth Row on Monday, offering a mixture of Spanish and English small plates.

Dishes are cooked to order with diners being able to tuck into as many as possible for a set price of £14.95.

The restaurant, the only one of its kind in the city centre, is the brainchild of head chef and owner Chris Young from Ryhope.

He briefly ran the venture above Varsity in Green Terrace and says it’s already proved to be a popular concept.

Chris said: “I have a friend in Great Yarmouth who I often visit and she runs an eat all you can tapas place called Champagne Charlie’s that’s really popular. I knew it could work here too, and that’s where the idea came from.

“I used to live in Spain which is where I learnt about tapas.”

He added: “I ran Papa’s Tapas for three months above Varsity and, although the food was popular, the venue wasn’t right for us because of the loud music from the bar downstairs after 9pm. I’d had my eye on the Isis for a while and approached Camerons (the brewery who operate the venue) who thought it was a great idea.

“They serve real ale which works well with tapas. It’s a sociable meal designed for you to take your time over.”

The former function run was successful in its former guise as Barnett’s, which moved to Frederick Street, and was also briefly ran as Italian restaurant La Familia.

Chris has done little to the room which already has its own character in the Victorian Grade II-listed building.

Tapas, which includes patatas bravas, Spanish tortilla and albondigas (meatballs), will be served everyday from noon until 9pm with Sunday lunches served from noon until 4pm.

It will launch with a VIP night tonight before opening to the public on Monday.

Chris said: “We already have that customer base from Varsity and people seem really happy about the move, it’s a great site with a lot of history to it.”

Asked about whether he’s worried someone will eat into his profit, he said: “I know it’s eat all you can, but I’ve never seen anyone eat any more than six tapas dishes. There’s four potato-based dishes on there and it’s impossible to finish patatas bravas and chips as well as other dishes. You also get bread and olives when you come in too.”

For those who don’t want the eat all you can option, they can order three dishes for £10 or individual dishes for £3.50.