I've heard so many good things about Tapeo and have many times tried to get a reservation and found them to be booked solid. I finally got lucky a few weeks ago and managed to get a reservation for last Friday.
I must say that my expectations where high and the experience fell short. First the pluses. The service was terrific, the maitre d' charming and the decor and feel of the restaurant was great. Sadly it was some of the food that was disappointing. We ordered a pretty good number of items considering there was only two of us (see the list below) and many of the dishes were disappointing. Given the reputation and cost of the restaurant I found that the food was not nearly up to par.
Here are a few of my issues. We ordered the tapas of the month which was a grilled bread dressed with tomatoes and sardines and spices for seasoning. Spaniards are famous for their combos of toasted bread and fresh tomatoes so I was really looking forward to this and it was a big let down. The bread was a bit soggy and the tomates very sour, we didn't even finish the plate it was that distasteful. The sauteed mushrooms, a house specialty, also fell flat as they were strangely sweet and the Icelandic Cod fish & black rice was extremely salty. For dessert we had the Chocolat Churros, a real favorite of ours, which was also a disappointment. It tasted as it had been fired in oil that was due to be changed as the flavour and texture was less than ideal.
Some of the dishes did hit the mark: the cod fritters were excellent and the salmon tarare was very good. However, overall I must say for an establishment that has such a good rep the cooking really fell flat last Friday.
Here's a list of everything we had:
- Salmon Tartare
- Cod fish fritters
- Sardines & whipped goat cheese
- Tapa of the month
- Sautéed mushrooms
- Icelandic Cod fish & black rice
- Jamón ibérico
- Chocolat Churros