Tapas to Tango

This weekend brought more culinary exploration. Hubbie and I tucked into a Friday night dinner at Tango, at the foot of Capitol Hill (click on their website with the sound up just to get a litle dose of Ritmo Latino). This hot tapas spot was recommended via a food writer friend of a beloved food writer friend and was touted as "better tapas than Zarzuela's" in SF's Russian Hill area. Which, by the way, if you have not been and live in the San Fran Bay Area, log off and run like the wind. So I thought it best to check out this claim for myself.

Stunning modern glass architectural windows, exposed brick and iron accessories warm up what could be a very cold industrial space. It's like quaint Spanish taverna meets Dwell. Although the Seattle Metro Magazine's describing it as "Antonio Banderas' bedroom" frightens me. We had a reservation via Open Table but went much earlier due to my need for a Friday evening cocktail. The host was amiable and tried to seat us early, so we killed time at the bar and ordered a Queso Fundido, which was a delicious fondue blend of baked Majon and Idiazabel cheeses with herbs, smoked venison sausage, apples, crostini. I was surprised by how much I liked the venison sausage: spicy and dense, it was lovely. While the cheese was delicious, it was a tad on the greasy side.

The place was jumping but then cleared out after we got seated for dinner - must be a theatre crowd. But it still had plenty of buzz to make for an enjoyable night out. We tucked into the Ensalada Verde, which consisted of organic mixed greens, tomato, grilled hearts of palm, topped by a lemon-pumpkin seed vinaigrette. It was delicious. We had ordered a salad with heirloom tomatoes, which we thought was odd to still be on the menu this late in the year and, sure enough, they were out of it.

I dove into three Oysters del Mercado, a selection of Northwest oysters, which I have to say tasted a bit fishy to me and were drowned in salt. But we very much enjoyed our Croquetas de Papas, which were Crispy horseradish-potato croquettes served alongside smoked tomato jam, and Cotija cheese. MmmMMM! This is what Tater Tots want to be when they grow up and inherit large sums of money. These were so delicately crispy on the outside and supple on the inside....delish.

The main dish was the Puerco Asado: Marinated grilled pork loin served with hot berry compota, roasted corn and mashed yams. Oh my gosh, this was gorgeous. Perfectly grilled and moist, the jammy berry topping made it melt in your mouth. Wonderful dish. We cleaned the plate.

I tried a Spanish Red Wine special Tempranillo which was good, but grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me a round a little bit. Too strong for an appetizer choice. For dinner, I had the Rioja (not sure which one) and it was just the right choice for our pork dish. And for dessert? I opted for the Valencia Canutos: Orange spiked cannolis filled with espresso mousse and served with fun chocolate dipped candied orangettes. If only I had paired with with a lovely brut champagne, it would have been perfect. This was delicious and "light" if you can use that word to describe a decadent dessert.

The tapas were all good sizes meant for realistic sharing. I didn't get the chance to sample the impressive cheeses or ceviche, but I have not been to a restaurant for a while where there were too many options I wanted to try, so this was a good thing. While not quite as up to snuff as Zarzuela's, it held it's own quite well and was a perfect out on the town dinner spot. A return visit to Tango to try the other delights is definitely in order for this tiny dancer.