Spanish Taberna

Today was a rather less than fabulous day,  food wise.   I had a successful early meeting with some clients, and my associates and I decided to celebrate by going out to lunch.  We decided to venture into a new place called Spanish Tavern that advertised tapas. As a Latina, I love tapas.  Well… Spanish Taberna is definitely not new. From the decor,  it appears as if it has been around for about 40 to 50 years, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And the service was excellent, probably the best I’ve had in the area.  Also,  the place was spotless, with rather formal place settings.  We were served fresh bread immediately.  All good, yes?

Well…

Prices were rather high considering we were there for lunch.  No lunch menu. Entrees ranged from $15 to $40.  Fine, I’ll gladly pay for good food.  Hmmm…  My associates seemed fine with their selections. From the chocolate mouse, to the Ham & Cheese platter. For whatever the reason, they only ordered appetizers and dessert.  Makes me wonder now if they knew something I didn’t, because I was the only one that ordered an entree. Cappellini Primavera.  Should have been easy,  right??

Worse I ever had! Presentation was poor.  Sauce should have been a white cream sauce, I was served a red sauce. Sent it back. The white sauce was worse, no flavor.  It should have been a simple angel hair pasta with vegetables in a  basic alfredo sauce.      What were they thinking????

If the owner/chef ever reads this, please allow me to make some suggestions:

• Please create a simple and reasonable lunch menu.  Your restaurant is in midtown Manhattan and you should take more advantage of the lunch crowd looking for  a decent place for a business lunche.

• Please learn to make the simple dishes well… seriously…

Until my suggestions are considered, I think I’ll pass on future visits.  You might want to do the same. If your experience was completely different from mine, please share.  Maybe I missed something.

Spanish Taverna (a/k/a Spanish Taberna)
203 West 38th Street
(between 7th & 8th Avenue)
Midtown Manhattan, New York
212-221-6458

www.spanishtaberna.com