Sam L.
Yelp
Understanding that this place is new and popular, and doesn't take reservations, my wife and I came at 5:30 on a Friday evening. We were seated immediately at their limited bar seating, and the place filled up quickly after that. There are no tables for two with the space made up mostly of tables of four.
Our server was friendly and knowledgeable and we ordered a bottle of Spanish red wine which was quite good. We sipped our wine while deciding what to order. We chose the patatas bravas, a staple of any taperia, as well as the chicken livers, Galician octopus and steak with peppers. The food came out promptly, starting with the potatoes which were delicious. Perfectly fried and topped with a smoky, zesty sauce, as well as a creamy mayo-like sauce. Very yummy.
The rest of the dishes came out quickly after. The steak and peppers was good - the steak had a nice flavour and was perfectly grilled, but a bit tough, probably hanger steak. The peppers were nice, I think shishito, and a nice flavour. The octopus was quite good and very tender, which is difficult, so the kitchen staff know what they're doing. My complaint would be that it tasted overwhelmingly of smoked paprika without much seasoning. A few drops of hot sauce remedied this. My least favourite dish was the chicken liver, which is more of a personal thing. It was large chunks of liver and I've just never been a fan.
Wanting something else to nibble on, we ordered the anchovy stuffed olives which were actually the star of the meal. They looked like your typical green manzanilla olives yet more mellow and savoury in flavour thanks to the anchovy imparting their flavour. I could have eaten another dish of these.
A setback came as I went back for more patatas bravas and encountered something hard. I pulled what looked like a staple out of my mouth and realized it must have been a bit of steel wool used by the dishwashers. An honest mistake and they were very apologetic, offering us a couple glasses of sherry to make up for it, and would take the potatoes off of the bill.
Finally we asked for the bill, and when it came, they had overcharged us for the wine and the potatoes were still on the bill. Not wanting to seem like a needy customer I only pointed out the discrepancy with the wine and they quickly brought us a new bill.
Overall, minus the mishap with the potatoes, it was good but pricy, even with the bottle of wine. Still, it was good enough to warrant another visit to try some more of the menu items.