I Don't Get It...

I've been waiting to try Bar Isabel for months...no really, it was a 2-month wait! You can probably imagine how delighted I was when the day finally arrived. First impression: the decor reminded me a lot of Enoteca Sociale - dark, old school, tavern like with a very lively atmosphere. So we had brought our own wine, which was sitting prominently on the table, but alas neither the hostess nor the server noticed the bottle until we mentioned it. Pay attention people...it goes a long way. Anyhoo, minor hiccup aside, we ordered the pan con jamon iberico de bellota, which is cured ham from a special breed of pig, the black Iberian pig found in the south of Spain. Verdict: it was no prosciutto. It didn't have the melt-in-your-mouth feel that I expected and the bread was way too hard. Sigh. I hate not loving cured meat.

We then tucked into the spicy fried squid, crispy tongue and kale. Sweet mother of god - this was so extremely delicious that I wanted to cry when it was done. Probably, the best squid I've had - great combo of crispiness, spice and batter.

As with most Spanish restaurants, I always try the patatas bravas - this was ok. For someone who loves potatoes, I could walk away from this. Too much focus on the garnishes and not enough love for the potatoes. What a waste!

Same with the smoked sweetbreads, raw tuna, spicy pickled green tomato and brown butter. I had amazing sweetbreads at Niagara Street Cafe (now Edulis) so this wasn't my introduction to the dish, but it was just bland and boring. I have nothing nice to say about this...oh wait, it's a nice plate.

At this point, it can only get better right? So, I brace myself for the steak. Really well cooked, but the garnishes were unnecessary because they didn't enhance the dish at all. It was just a good cut of meat.

We got two desserts to end the night because we figured both of them couldn't bomb right? Right! The leche frita with dulce de leche was delish. Fried food so far has never let me down. The second was an absolute fail: the basque cake with sherry cream. There was so much bloody sherry that I couldn't even taste the cake; also the sherry had a weird unpleasant flavour to it. Maybe, get better sherry? Just a thought.

I just don't understand how Bar Isabel is in the top 5 on many blogs and restaurant lists - it wasn't particularly innovative, flavours didn't go together, more misses than hits. Pure. Utter. Disappointment.