David C.
Yelp
I love a good tapas joint, and this is a very, very good tapas joint. The food is spectacular and fairly priced. It is located on a strip of hot, trendy restaurants surrounded by the standard Detroit mixture of urban blight and restoration. As I was just a visitor to Detroit, it's strange to see a mix of 5 star restaurants surrounded by abandoned buildings in various stages of decay. Kind of sad if you love that old northeastern architecture. Anyway, the only reason I'm taking a star off is because of the snooty host. I had gone to the Motown Museum, and called to see if we could get in. He said he could accommodate us in an hour. So, I asked if he wanted my name for the reservation. What ensued was an Abbot & Costello "Who's On First?" routine about what a reservation meant semantically. See, after much obfuscation, it turned out he wasn't telling us we could get a reservation in an hour. He was saying come in, and he'll try to get us in if he can, but it would most likely have to be at the bar. I explained that I had a 13 year old with me so could not legally sit at the bar, and he said that we would indeed need a table, but to come in when he said and maybe we could get in. It was a needless run around. Thankfully, when we showed up, the guy was slightly nicer while still being kind of stuck up and did get us a table in a reasonable amount of time. Would have been better if he just made a regular, normal reservation for us or said there are no reservations so you can come in but it could be thirty minutes or 2 hours wait. At least then we would know what we were up against.
Anyway, on to the food. Everything we had was delicious. Service was fast and friendly. The TG Pollo al Ajillo or garlic chicken was excellente! The TG Sabor de Espana charcuterie Board was good & filling. We like charcuterie boards but rarely order them, as they are usually large and costly, but this one was reasonable and fit nicely into the meal. We got the two steaks. The Steak con mojo and the steak pimienta. They were ordered medium well but came out medium to medium rare. Of the two sauces, we liked the pimienta way more, but both were good. We ended up getting a second pimienta, which was cooked to the proper ordered temp this time, after we stressed the cook we wanted. The TG Gambas al Ajillo, or shrimp in garlic sauce, was okay but surprisingly kind of bland for a garlic sauce. Never had it at a tapas place or Spanish restaurant be this boring. Would not get that again. The Calamares Fritos was excellent; not greasy or oily. Finally, it was all paired with an $18 carafe of sangria. If four people were dining, you could each manage one glass out of the carafe. It's not expensive and it's not large. It also could be made with a stronger wine. It needed more of a kick or you need to drink a lot more of it. Considering I drank all four glasses alone, it clearly was weak. But, you have to have sangria with your tapas. They also supposedly have a paella night. I believe it is Tuesday, but you should check on this. I wish they offered paella every night, as I would've ordered it for sure. Then again, I guess they don't have the manpower for that every day. Shame!
Still, I highly recommend this place for the food. It's also good for a first date kind of place. Kind of romantic though not terribly so. Just go early or late and otherwise expect to wait unless you can get a real reservation. I still can't tell you whether they take normal reservations and didn't have one available or whether it's just first come, first serve for everyone. Either way, it can get busy. Strong recommendation. Check it out.