Estadio

I had dinner here with girlfriends on 1-18-2017. Everything was good but nothing was remarkable. The ambiance was nice enough: I don’t remember hearing music but I didn’t notice a lack of it, the temperature was fine and the decor was visually appealing if not super comfy. The host was super nice but the waiter, while helpful, seemed a little bored with us.

Atmosphere: 3 of 5
Food & Drink: 3 of 5

The drinks were honestly a little confusing (so much sherry!) but after having each one explained to us we ordered. Ruth’s bourbon lemon drink was SO GOOD, which is surprising given that I’m not a brown liquor gal. My wine was almost salty but not bad. My main interest in Maeve’s was that it was served in a coupe.

The food was good but I was still kind of comparing to Boqueria, whose tapas I honestly preferred to this.

Croqueta de jamon (pickles). We started with this, which was good in the way anything fried is kind of good. I will say the pickle was a nice contrasting flavor.

Fava bean and almond spread (fava bean, almond, pimenton, picos). This was sort of like hummus. It was good but surprisingly large and we didn’t finish it all.

Fried globe eggplant (eggplant, aioli, raw honey). Oh man was this good. Like the croquetas it was good in a sort of “fried food tastes good” way. And yet that being said I’d still eat it all day everyday.

Montadito with jamon de Serrano and Manchego (grilled country bread, jamón Serrano, Manchego, tomato, olive oil, salt). This was good but sort of tasted like bruschetta with ham on top. I wanted more of the jamon and manchego taste, less tomato.

Seared scallops  (scallops, cauliflower, salbitxada sauce). For some reason the cauliflower and sauce were my favorite parts although the scallops were delicious. Not pictured: the crispy pork belly bocadillo (pork belly, pickled shishito pepper aioli), which I would highly recommend!

Sautéed shrimp (shrimp, garlic, parsley, red chili, lemon). This was good but not as good as Boqueria. The lemon flavor was nice but Boqueria had a much more intense garlic flavor overall that I really liked; Estadio’s were too subtle for me.

Hangar steak (hanger steak, patatas riojanas, valdeón sauce). While this tasted fine it was definitely rare when we ordered medium rare. I think I would have liked it more had it been a little more done.

The pineapple tart was quite good. I really enjoyed the crust, which I think was almond based.

Overall Estadio was solid and felt authentic but I couldn’t help comparing it to Boqueria.