After traveling to Southern Spain, I went to Torito in Kensington seeking authentic Spanish tapas. Carmen is Luis Valenzuela's newest venture and I was excited to eat here!
I was surprised at how large the space was. It was elegant and vibrant and still casual-cool-hipster.
We ordered a bunch of small plates while we waited for the paella (you have 45 minutes to kill, about 5 plates did the trick).
The vegetarian items were much better than expected.
The fried artichokes were especially memorable. I didn't know artichokes could be that good!
Fried Green Tomatoes were also a favourite. Crispy and flavourful, the slices were stacked on top of each other. Cute presentation!
The sardines were also fantastic. I like how they include the can on the plate.
The paella was unique and great for sharing (we shared it amongst three people). The Paella de Montaña ($30) has snails and rabbit. The snails were ginormous and tasty morsels, the rabbit was tender and juicy. There was a lot of rice which needed a bit more fat to bring it all together.
The dinner items were good but the desserts were disappointing.
(disappointed face)
The charred pineapple with pine nuts seemed like a health snack.
We didn't finish it. It needed more charring. More seasoning. More anything.
The creme brule ... was completely boring.
The milk dessert looked as exciting as the creme boringness.
As for cocktails, I had the signature cocktail the Carmen... $14 bucks for 12 oz. mixed drink. It was expensive and not really worth it.
Overall, I had a good experience at Carmen, but when I compare Carmen to other tapas restaurants that have sprung up in Toronto, I can't say the food is stand-out.
But Carmen is worth a visit if you haven't been there, just leave room for dessert, somewhere else.