ottawa foodies

There's a variety of tapas to choose from here and everything sounds wonderful - and they are very reasonably priced ranging from $8-14. The waitress let us know that two of the tapas plates there are equal to a regular sized meal. So my date chose the grilled shrimp and I chose the chicken al pajillo (or al parillo?).

The grilled shrimp was succulent, not rubbery. They were perfectly flavored with garlic lemon and salt. The shrimp comes with the shell on and if I hadn't been using my table manners I would've eaten the shell too - it was that good! I think there were about 6 large shrimps which I think was a great value for $8.

The chicken was excellent too. It was like it melted in my mouth lol. I don't remember the main ingredients, I know there was prosciutto ham and...oh damn I dont remember. I do know there was no peppers in it b/c my date didn't like peppers. And the sauce is perfect for dipping your bread in. yumm

Next time I will try one of the squid tapas and the shrimp with peppers.

Recalling a visit a few months ago... the food was great and the service very friendly. I remember, though, wanting to suggest to them replacing light fixtures as, particularly at the bar, the lighting is overhead and harsh. A visit to Home Depot would improve ambiance.

This was the Tapas Flamencas appetizer plate for two ($22). It was truly memorable and consisted of two each of:

* Grilled shrimp
* Slices of grilled Chouriço sausage
* Fried Pasteis de Bacalhau (cod cakes)
* Fried Rissois (shrimp turnovers)
* Fried Calamari (more than two of course, and really top notch)
* Slices of hard cheese
* Hard-boiled egg halves
* Slices of cucumber
* Slices of carrot
* Tomato
* Pickled artichoke heart
* Pickled pepperoncini peppers
* Wedges of deli-style pickle
* Assorted cold beans (yes, more than two)

The Tapas Flamencas appetizer plate is very delicious!

Stopped in here late this afternoon for lunch.We arrived at 2:20pm to an empty resto with several servers-and they let us know no more food after 3 pm. No problem, we ordered wine and 4 tapas for 2 women.Wine great, first order was duck poutine($9).This was enough for 2 women for a meal! Delicious but very rich and large. We brought half home.
We ordered the beef tenderloin wrapped with bacon with fois gras.Full from the poutine we each tried one--delicious but they were well done and we would have preferred rare-lovely presentation with greens.
We ordered the large cheese plate-cheese selection excellent with nice breads, great date puree, cherry chutney and quince jelly. 5 generous servings of cheese were served at a proper temperature, breads were great but they did serve withered blueberries and grapes past their prime. They should have thrown the fruit out.
We also had the grilled vegetables with a garlic ailio-this was delicious and beautifully presented. We were stuffed by now and each sampled a couple of veg's-very good.
The tapas servings are quite large so don't order too much unless you like leftovers! Food was good, service friendly and very casual.
The servers did not rush us at all as the last patrons and I appreciate that. For the amount and quality of food, friendly service and general ambience this was great.
I think the whole place would be nicer with a tidy up of clutter (especially where you first walk in and where you pay, and near the restrooms). It isn't a large space so I appreciate you have to walk by trays of food to reach the rest rooms but it would be nice to not have the food exposed to patrons (curtains perhaps?).
Overall very nice but a few tweaks and this place could be great.
We were happy because we arrived late, were not rushed and the food was hot (cheese right temperature) and the service was friendly and attentive.
A bit of clutter removal and organization of the limited space could make this place a 3* destination.