Dean B.
Yelp
So, I went to Barcelona tonight. Not the city, but the restaurant. While there's still La Corrida in Spain even today, this restaurant is no bull.
It's a tapas restaurant (careful how you say that...so watch your diction), thus the proper way to eat is to order a bottle of wine, take your time, and graze. So that's exactly what I did. All for you, dear reader. Nothing selfish about the experience at all.
I ordered a lovely Chilean wine right away and got to work. First up was the Patatas Bravas. The potatoes were crisp, flavorful, and fluffy inside - just like me. The bed of salsa was a simple but tasty tomato sauce. The dressing was a killer garlic aioli. It was "lick the spoon good." And be careful who you say that to!
Next up was the chicken canelones. Wrapped in a delicious crepe, it had foie gras and a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg or something autumnal that I couldn't quite be sure of, but it was delicious. There was more spoon lickin' (and that's not a euphemism).
I followed that with the flank steak in chimichurri. It was a little chewy, although it definitely seemed marinated which would tenderize it. The chimichurri was as good as I had in Argentina (RIP Evita). They could have tenderized the steak a bit more though, so maybe they should pound their meat (and that's definitely a euphemism). But I'm a harsh critic. It was a great dish and the flavor was awesome.
Side note, they brought bread to the table early on, which I neglected. I ended up having it with the flank steak and that was perfect. No spoon licking here, but I sopped up the last of the chimichurri with the bread and I'm glad I did. I felt bad that the bread was as lonely as I was for most of the evening, although I'm glad it was saving itself.
Also, I asked about the bread and it is locally baked in Arlington. Delicious. So, don't let your bread loaf. Eat it up!
Other than the potatoes, the hot dishes were a little cool when they came out and the music was too loud...this ain't a night club! There was a lot of over the top "boots and pants" over the loudspeaker. It was unfortunately a bit too much. If I had been on a date, I would have needed to use sign language to communicate with my beautiful lady.
Other than that, great ambiance. Perfect lighting, nice decor, very tasteful, natural materials.
Speaking of boots and pants, the white collar people watching was highly entertaining. Full of DC intrigue and wannabes. There was some real House of Cards action going on. And I can neither confirm nor deny that they were filming "The Real Housewive of Reston" while I was there.
Anthropological considerations aside, make sure you get dessert, too. I had the Olive Cake and it was exquisite. Ever so slightly crisp exterior, moist and flavorful inside, toasty warm, a little sweet but not overly sweet, great texture and mouth feel, absolutely perfect execution. Paired with a Dulce sherry which was great. My only recommendation would be that the olive cake would have been well complemented by a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream or even a little
Crème Fraiche, both for taste and presentation.
But, I niggle, as I do. They use obviously very high quality ingredients all the way around in all the dishes. And every dish was extremely well conceived and designed. Great flavors from end to end. My compliments to their Executive Chef. Chef's kiss!
It's also worth mentioning that they have a fabulous wine selection with over 400 bottles. Also, my server, Emily was totally awesome. She was very pleasant, attentive, and helpful.
The kitchen is open late, which is great. I'd come back for happy hour, dinner, or just late night drinks. Highly recommended.