rev:text
| - Second time dining at Carmen and it was even better than the first time!
Had a table for 4 at 8:30 on a Friday, and we were seated promptly.
We tried the cocktail menu (only 4 drinks but such great drinks they were)!
Favourite was Frederico - the flavours hit me unexpectedly..sour, spicy, sweet, herbs, tequila. I took a sip and said: WHOA! And then everyone at the table had to sample it.
Seriously, I could drink a pitcher of this stuff and happily wobble home :)
Carmen (the drink) is sweet, fruity, frothy, delicious..such a girly concoction.
We ate:
Patatas Bravas - crunchy battered morsels of fried potato drizzled with this delicious sweet, savoury, creamy sauce. Heaven!
Jamon Iberico - Spanish prosciutto but drizzled with oil, to be enjoyed with baguette slices. Ok but it's simply prosciutto.
Grilled Shrimp with heads on. These were like mini lobsters (langoustine, I believe). Butterflied, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and a bit of heat. Hands down the best dish on the menu!
Green Fried Tomato - battered, fried, 4 thick pieces, layered with red pepper chutney & feta (on each layer). Second best dish on the menu.
Honourable mentions: sardines, Catalan pork sausage.
Indifferent: Pimientos (Shisito peppers)..underwhelming, not much flavour.
We loooooooved the food and were patting our full bellies.
However, the service was a little off. Our server was MIA for most of the night.
Never cleared our plates and since this is tapas style dining, we were running out of space. Our shrimp shells were overflowing and it just looked messy!
There was a food runner whom we used as our server to order more food or drinks..He was polite but not overly vested in us.
We weren't too offended but only because food/drinks came out pretty quickly and given how good everything tasted.
(Dinner for 4, 2 drinks each, ran us $230 plus tip)
Definitely will return!
|