| The Tapas Lounge - Port Warwick | | Print | |
| Written by Robert Hodge | |
| Thursday, 08 June 2006 | |
 The Tapas Lounge is one of the trendy food venues in Port Warwick. A small establishment that could be categorized in a number of ways. It is a restaurant, but it is also a nightclub, and a bar, and a live music venue, and an eclectic space, to be sure. In the words of owner Rebecca Overby, it is an "ethnic fusion tapas bar and restaurant."
For those of you who have not yet entered the world of tapas, let me bring you up to speed. La Tapa, so as to be meaningful, has to be eaten between main meals as food that allows the body to survive until lunch or dinnertime. Some authors assert that the tapa was born when, due to an illness, the Spanish King Alfonso the 10th, the Wise, had to take small bites of food with some wine between meals. Once recovered from the disease, the wise king decreed that no wine was to be served in any of the inns in the land of Castile , unless accompanied by something to eat. This was a wise precaution to counteract the adverse effects of alcohol on those people who, through lack of money to buy a nourishing meal, drank alcohol on an empty stomach.
So, The Tapas Lounge, which boasts an unusually large and diverse selection of wines, also serves a nice variety of tapas, or small meals to accompany the many beverages available from the bar. I ventured into The Tapas Lounge on a Wednesday night, just after they had switched over to a new menu. Out on the town with two friends, we sampled a number of their offerings ...... Wild Mushroom Quesedilla, Cured Duck Salad, Honey Mustard glazed rack of lamb, Antelope (yes, I said Antelope) with potato and onion wrapped in pastry dough, Butternut squash soup, Tuna Sashimi, and for dessert, we tried both the Chocolate Fondue with fruit and the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. The food was delivered to our table after a rather lengthy wait, which was attributed to the new menu. Our waitress told us that it simply didn't print out in the kitchen, so I surmise that the new menu was not correctly programmed into the old computer, or something to that effect. However, once the food was on the table, we each sampled and shared so that we all got the full experience. High on the list of favorited was the Antelope dish and the mushroom quesedilla, both of which were prepared skillfully and served with a beautiful presentation. The Antelope was served with a handful of mixed greens, uncaccompanied by any dressing, so I made a non specific request to my server, who returned with smoked paprika dressing for my salad. I have to say that in my years as a true gormand, this was my first encounter with smoked paprika dressing. I am surprised to have found such an unusual condiment here having dined numerous times in Budapest, the paprika capital of the world! High marks for the Tuna Sashimi and the two sauces presented with the medallions, and in general, the portions of these tapas was substantial. The six entrees fed the three of us adequately. Dessert was rich and definitely geared to the chocolate lover in all of us, though they did also offer a NY Cheesecake which we did not sample. Six tapas, three desserts and 2 cocktails came to a grand total of $91.00. A bit pricey perhaps, but consider that you are dining in an atmosphere of ambient art, color and lighting, which is designed to have a very metropolitan feel. This is definitely a place to soak up the atmosphere, but don't plan on having any serious conversations with your companions. The ambience suffers because the place gets very loud just from the combination of voices coming from various tables. Add to an already noisy atmosphere, one very hip jazz fusion band, which started about an hour after we arrived, and all possibilities of meaningful verbal exchanges disappear until the band takes a break. On this particular night, the group was called U Turn. A very proficient group of young jazz musicians, who played as if they were playing a concert for a major jazz festival instead of performing in a very small room. It was at this point in the evening, that The Tapas Lounge had definitely switched from Restaurant to nightclub! All in all, I would return to this establishment. I celebrate those who dare to be different, and try to support those who are attempting to wider the cultural horizons of their communities. I congratulate the owner on having the dedication it takes to have live music on various nights instead of just the weekends.
The Tapas Lounge |
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I was not a fan of this place. It was loud in there even before the band started playing. They need curtains or rugs or *something* in there to soak up the sound. Once the band started playing, I was just miserable, simply because of the volumn. I have no idea if the band was any good or not, beacuse I just wanted them to shut UP! The food was decent, but slightly over-priced. I feel like I probably could make most of those things at home, cheaper, and exactly to my tastes. But I'm a little more kitchen-literate than most. I might go there again, but only for drinks or an appetizer, and *never* again when a band is playing. |