ox bar de tapas

friendly service.foodportions were small, but i guess that's the point of tapas. and super salty, which isn't a bad thing for me. it's good if you go with a bunch of people so you can order more.

on his birthday, i took my husband out for dinner at ox and angela. if you go there, do yourself a favour and get the ‘spanish table’ meal. you won’t regret it (and you won’t have to look like a fool not knowing what you have ordered, since most of the items on the menus are tapas). unfortunately, i do not have pictures to back it up – thefoodwas great, the ambiance was perfect, and we were having a great time, so there was really no time to think about taking pictures. now, a few words about the spanish table ($45/person): what you’ll get is various rounds of tapas. if you have not had tapas before, then this is what you should know: they are small bites. really small. the type offoodyou eat in one (maximum two, if you are into savouring your food) bite. now, i know this may sound problematic to some. stay open-minded and remember that a good meal is one where you enjoyed thefoodwithout stuffing yourself – there should always be room for a few more bites. in my case, i can say w

tonight. my friend and i stumbled into ox & angela after unsuccessful pursuits of other restaurants on a saturday night (all booked up). i'd wanted to come in here for a while, and i'm glad we came into ox & angela tonight!

our server was excellent; he continuously refilled our waters, had a good eye, and was very accomodating.

thefoodwas great. i ordered esparragos (sp), $7 almonds , and the angela (cocktail). it was all delicious. the cocktail was fairly strong, and i think that added to our experience at ox & angela. the $7 for a handful of almonds was a bit excessively priced for the amount served...

all in all, my friend and i had a fine time here, and we will be back!

had a reservation for 4 at 8:30pm on a friday...called to say we'd be 15 minutes late and it wasn't a problem. the cocktails were wonderful and extremely well-balanced...and definitely rivaled the drinks at a michelin-starred restaurant in san francisco. we shared tapas and everything was delicious: fried artichokes with pimenton aoili, salt cod, tuna, clams, olives, and the ham. desserts were the churros and creme brûlée...also delicious! our server was attentive, fun, and overall wonderful! all of thefoodcame out fast yet well-timed. this was one of the best dining experiences ever had in calgary...drinks, food, and service were all impecable and we may just have to become regulars.

i got carried away here. between four of us our bill was around $300. we did drink wine and a lot of estrella. thefoodwas really good and the service was average. our waiter seemed to be struggling with the number of tables he was serving (it was busy). the scallops and fritters were definite standouts. i'll go back when i'm not intending to have a large meal.

classy place, great ambience and service andfoodtaste and presentation was fabulous. we stuck to the tapas and the appetizers and all were good. especially good were the grilled albacore tuna, patatas bravas (fried baby potatoes) and the filete a la parila (grilled steak with anchovies) but not a single bad dish. a must visit.

greatfoodbut fixed menu is a rip off. excellentfoodand drinks, but as a part of four we felt ripped off by the spanish table fixed menu option; it would have been much cheaper to have ordered the dishes separately. noisy by great decor. fast friendly service.

like it. went this weekend, greatfoodand service

it saddens me that i have to give this place a low rating, because it used to be one of my favourites before the renos and rebrand. we came here for the opening night for the local media. we did not have a reservation, so we had to sit at this new high-top section that makes you feel like cattle. the top shelf used for servingfoodby the waiters simply gets in the way - we kept awkwardly moving trying to avoid hitting our hands on it while eating. the actual space for your plate is really tiny, plus the waiters and customers keep rubbing against your back when walking, because there's simple not enough room to walk. during the happy hour, everything is half-price if you sit in that area, but i'd rather pay full price than deal with so much inconvenience.

thefooddidn't get any better either - it seemed like they were trying to cover up mediocre ingredients by loading on buckets of sauces. patatas bravas were a burnt disappointment and had very little left from the authentic spanish recipe.

like i said, a shame, considering how much i used to like this place.

our waiter was nice but very scattered. was the only server during a rather busy lunch so i thought i'd cut him some slack.foodwas good but not stellar. my patience finally ran out when it took 15 minutes to pay. won't go back.

great service, pricey for sure. great service, very professional.. thefoodis a bit pricey for a tapas menu. great selection of wines and lovely presentation.

good ox & angela, good.. i finally had the opportunity to try ox & angela. a close friend works for the restaurant and booked us a reservation for five this past weekend. i wasn't sure what to expect because i am not that familiar with spanish cuisine and was concerned not having a reference might make it difficult for me to review given my inexperience. this wasn't the case, it's easy to praise this exceptional addition to calgary's restaurant scene!

i was so impressed with the entire experience, from the aesthetic of the restaurant, the high energy clientele, and of course the beautifully presented, delicious food! we sampled many of the tapas items on the menu and shared a couple of entrees which included the duck and the paella mixta. the duck was probably the most perfectly cooked duck i have eaten in recent memory, the paella was also delicious though i did feel there wasn't enough protein in the dish. the price is a little high for certain aspects of the meal but in the end i felt that it was money well spent given how lovely ourfoodwas.

i would not necessarily recommend ox & angela as a place for a quiet, romantic dinner as it is quite loud and made for a bit of a struggle to have a conversation without yelling (good thing i love yelling). i would however recommend it for a night out with friends!

i hope if you haven't paid a visit already you have the pleasure of doing so soon, you won't be disappointed!

thefoodwas tasty and well done however the service our party received was mediocre. our server was quite standoffish and snooty and he was very unprofessional to a guest in our party when he realized she was a non-drinker. i realize that these types of establishments have a high markup on alcohol, however respect needs to be shown to all guests whether or not they choose to consume alcoholic beverages.

went for dinner with my husband and two other couples last night. the server was extremely rude in the beginning, but somehow turned around and was more polite and friendly about half-way through our dinner (bad day?). thefoodwas just average, and the paella was unbearably salty and had to be re-made (nice that they offered to do this). it also had chorizo in it, which is a big no-no (my husband and i have had paella in valencia, which is where it originates from). the prices were very high for what you get. 

the six of us will not recommend to others, nor will we be returning.

went there for apps and drinks to start off our ladies' night with some girlfriends on friday. first impression when we walked in was that the place was decorated well but it was dark. i looked around as were waiting to be seated and we noticably one of the youngest groups there ( we are all in our early 30s so not that young).

service: horrible, our server did not smile once as he was serving us and was kind of aloof the whole time. everyone at the table thought it was probably because we were younger and he figured he wouldn't get tipped well and this becomes a vicious cycle because of his poor service we did tip him poorly. he didn't even finish with us some lady came and took our payment as he was hanging out at the bar! he just totally put a damper on our mood.

food: not good. the cod croquettes were oversalted and i am a person that needsfoodto be salty. the seafood rice was way too lemony but the spanish tortilla was good. the sangria was good.

all in all this is yet another overhyped and overpriced place in calgary where you will definitely not get your money's worth.