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| - I can't help but feel the same sentiment as Nathan S. - I sort of feel bad giving this place only 3 stars with all the other rave reviews.
Let me start with the positives -
I love love that the place is so small and intimate. Especially in comparison to most Valley restaurants that are just cavernous. And with the European-style seating you have to get friendly with your neighbors. Both of these things make this feel like a good NY restaurant.
I also love the atmosphere and decor in general. Very authentic Spanish, very laid back, not all hip and modern like most restaurants try to be these days.
The service was extremely friendly, from the hostess to all of the waiters and waitresses and bus boys that came by.
My husband really liked the Sangria (Tinto) - he said it wasn't very strong but tasted great.
Indeed, all of the food tasted very good. Our two favorite dishes happened to be the daily specials - the Eggplant Barcelona and the Turkish Custard dessert. But the Tortilla Patatas and the Gambas and the Spinach with Garbanzos were all great as well.
Now to the negatives -
Firstly, selection was dreadful all around. The wine list was very minimal, and the very limited bar didn't help. And there were only about 8 dishes to choose from. When I go for Tapas, the whole point is having a wide variety of small plates to choose from!
Every dish was DROWNED in oil. Literally, bowls of oil. The food just sat in my stomach afterwards, and I felt like I needed to take a shower to rid myself of all the grease.
The sizes of the dishes were very inconsistent. I know it's tapas, and I love me some tapas, but generally at tapas places I find you could likely split each dish three ways. The Gambas and the Spinach were both huge piles that could have been split up to 4 ways. But then the Tortilla Patatas was barely large enough to split two ways, and then our two favorite dishes - the Eggplant Barcelona and the Turkish Custard - were both smaller than a deck of cards and splitting them just two ways left us each with a single forkful of food. There was a party of 4 next to us that put in 1 order of the Pork Tenderloin and the waitress said, "You should really get 2 or 3 orders of that so everyone can try some." 3 orders for 4 people to try it?!
Then, right along with the food size is the price. $90 (incl tip) for the 4 tapas mentioned above, plus a glass of sangria, 2 glasses of wine, the dessert, and an espresso. 2 of the tapas were one bite per person. Yikes.
The food, while good, was nothing outstanding. There was no dish that made me stop and say "wow, now that is well done." They were solid but not amazing. (As opposed to the Lomo Embuchado at Cobras y Matadors in LA that I was ready to marry and make babies with).
So all in all, I'd say a 3.5 star experience, rounded down because it just wasn't a 4 for me. I can't help but compare this place to my favorite tapas place in the valley, Sol y Sombra in the DC Ranch, where they have a huge selection of fantastic wine (and a full bar) and a huge selection of delicious and much larger portioned tapas for the same price.
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