ox bar de tapas

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 – the food was 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 hadtapasbefore, then this is what you should know: they are small bites. really small. the type of food you 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 the food without stuffing yourself – there should always be room for a few more bites. in my case, i can say w

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 sharedtapasand 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 the food came 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.

one of the few places that has culinary experts who really take pride in what they're doing. ox&angela offers an amazing blend of romance, culture, and contemporary aroma's to an evening.. it's a must try! i'm not sure if they planned it, but it seemed as though their timing of bringing out thetapasis dialled down to a science. the dishes are quite savoury, so have an appetite ready, and don't forget to try their signature cocktails - the ox and angela (i know, cliche) doesn't disappoint.

classy place, great ambience and service and food taste and presentation was fabulous. we stuck to thetapasand 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.

noisy, expensive and overworked waiters. went with a friend for dinner. had to go to starbucks down the way to have coffee after because we couldn't hear in the restaurant. sound bounces all over and way way too noisy.
two dates on a board for $7, need i say more?
othertapaswere average to very good. very skimpy for the price.
everything was expensive and the waiters were just trying to sell the big platters, not interested in explaining anything about the dishes.
would i go again? not ever.

tess, alex, mike and jena go to ox and angela and eat way to much.. i have a very boring job and i actually spent part of my day on the website, making a list of what i would be eating here, and boy i did not miss one thing on that list. first we had a few of the pinchos, just a few.. the delicias (persian dates stuffed with serrano, manchego, walnuts and pomegranate molasses) are my favorite! i would go to ox and angela just for them! they are sweet and salty and tangy and just delicious. we also munched on the aceitunas (marinated olives) throughout our meal and they would make a perfect bar snack anywhere. the queso was just like a blue cheese and was bitter and creamy the way a stinky cheese should be. there's nothing like a potato pie and the tortilla espanola (potato omelette with red pepper, and sour cream) was great. it's a big slice so there's lots to share. the pan con tomate (basically a bruschetta) was a favorite with my friends, and was fresh and full of flavor.

next we had thetapasverduras. i thought it would be nice to have a fresh salad and the ensalada ( lettuce, walnuts, apple, manchego, and sherry vinegar) was a nice palette cleanser. the apples added a fresh crispness, but it was a little underwhelming and felt like something i've made at home. however, the esparragos (asparagus with manchego, truffle, fride egg and orange) was a huge hit. the perfectly cooked egg and the truffle was a perfect sauce for the asparagus and the orange gave it a nice hit of zing to brighten up all those rich ingredients. the champinones (mushroom toast with egg and truffle) was also rich and creamy with yet another perfectly cooked egg to soak everything together. (my friend and i took turns on breaking open the eggs, there is something very satisfying about that feeling) the boys loved the patatas bravas (crispy baby potatoes with pimenton ketchup and garlic aioli) and i'm sure would have ordered more if we didn't have a whole third course to get through. perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, like an upscale twist on french fries with ketchup and mayonaisse.

lastly we had thetapaspescados y carnes to seal the deal on our already full tummies. i love scallops so i usually order them anywhere i go. the veiras (scallops with potatoes and spanish chorizo) were good, but a little over cooked for me. my boyfriend loves meatballs and sausages and the albondigos (chicken and pork meatballs with spices, tomatoes and manchego) and the merguez (lamb sausage with apricot, sherry and mustard) were right up his alley. they were both meaty and had refreshing accompanyments to balance everything out. last but not least we had the pato asado (duck breast with pomegranate, mint and pistachio) was perfectly cooked and the tangy sauce made my mouth very happy.

wewf. just reliving that made me full all over again. it was a wonderful meal all around andtapasstyle is always fun. the restaurant is very nice and the staff are very knowledgable about the food. go.

great service, pricey for sure. great service, very professional.. the food is a bit pricey for atapasmenu. great selection of wines and lovely presentation.

meh. not worth the money or wait.tapaswas disappointing, duck was okay. maybe it's because i had eaten duck at alloy the week before which was beyond delicious. service and management was excellent apart from the hostess who forgot about us twice :s . the tiny block of cheese for $9 was lame. better of going to farm for cheese pairings and wine.

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 thetapasitems 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 our food was.

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!

we had a reservation for 8 pm. the male host sat us down and explained the $25 paella sunday special and said that our waitress (cassidy) would be over to take our drinks order.

our drinks order was taken. we asked if the small plates come out first and our waitress said they just come out as the kitchen has them ready.

for the small plates, we had the croquettes, broccoli, scallops and the steak. i thought that all of the dishes were over-salted but my husband enjoyed them. these small dishes were all taken out to us within 5-10 minutes of the other being finished.

when we had finished our small plates, our waitress came over and took them away and asked if we wanted anything else. we mentioned we had another dish coming (the paella)... it seemed she had forgotten.

30 minutes since our plates were taken away and still no paella. i should add, that the restaurant wasn’t busy when we ordered our food. we flagged down our waitress and she said that she didn’t put the paella order through until we had finished our last small plate.

we decided we just wanted the bill. we tried to get the waitresses attention while she was walking by and she ignored us twice. the male host came over and we told him we wanted to cancel the paella. he went and spoke to the waitress and she finally took the paella over. we tell her that we no longer want it, after waiting 40 minutes without anything and no prior warning.

she said “if i punched the order in, it would have been ready in the middle of your small dishes.” this contradicted what she said earlier, where she said the dishes come out in whatever order they are ready. if a dish takes 40 minutes, it does not make any sense to put that order in, when you are taking away the customer’s last small dish away. cassidy seemed to disagree and was rude. 

we have been to other restaurants, where some dishes take longer to be made and we have always been told prior. if we had been told, it would not have been a big deal. i have also been totapasrestaurants in europe and never waited 40 minutes in between dishes.

the male host came over and gave us our bill - he was very courteous and handled it well. 

we only left a tip because the kitchen staff should not be impacted by the waitress being incompetent.

ox bar does it right! stop in for a creative cocktail or a glass (or pitcher) of sangria. thetapashere are fresh and tasty. plenty of variety to please everyone. cute little patio area to enjoy on 17th ave. delicious patatas bravas, croquettas, and churros! yummy :)

intimate atmosphere. went on a weeknight, the place was busy but not crowded. our server was knowledgeable and attentive. he timedtapasto arrive as we finished them so the table was never crowded. the food was fantastic, our favs were the fried chicken, flank steak, house salad and potatoes. definitely recommend going as a group to try severaltapasfrom the menu.

came here as it was highly recommended and it was big taste calgary.  i honestly gave it an optimistic approach and here's my findings:

location had difficult parking (it is 17th, so not a huge surprise here). 

resos for 8:30 had us waiting for close to 20 minutes by a drafty door.  they had a server bring us a round of prosecco which was nice, and having to wait is a good problem for this place, as it means they were busy, and had a lot of people enjoying.  not a negative point in this writeup.

we were seated and there was five of us total.  4/5 got the big taste at $35/pp.  the 5th person ordered from the regular menu three items (but did not look at the big taste menu).  

when our food came, the 4 of us dove into a small portion of each course, and it was demolished quickly.  each course was simply tiny, maybe it was just the waytapasare meant to be?  small portions, shared, long delivery time in between courses means you get full faster?

the fifth person who ordered full items got an order of the steak (7oz), and an order of the potatoes of which we dove into with her to share.  now keep this in mind, one order of steak for one person was about $15 or something.  potatoes, a full plate, also about $15.  

to our surprise, those same items were on our big taste menu.  and between the four of us whom all ordered the big taste, a duplicate of one steak plate and one potato plate came out.  we had a good laugh at the fact the the 5th person ordered the same items, and then reality set in. 

if each of us was paying $35 and they brought us one steak and one potato to split between four people, the portions are clearly wrong and therefore gouging us who were duped into trying the big taste menu.  didn't leave very happy with the experience overall.

the sampler plates were literally just a small bite for everyone, of which, we were better off ordering off the menu.  this wasn't a good showcase of the hype we were geared for here.  

maybe we should have just had two of us do the big taste menu, as clearly the portions wouldn't have been really effected?  

service was great,

tapas is one of my favorite ways to dine out.  i really enjoy being able to taste multiple dishes in one sitting.  ox and angela didn't disappoint with the food.  we tried the kale salad, mushroom toast, meatballs and flank steak.  all were very tasty.  however, i have two negative points regarding service.  the first is with the order in which we were served.  we were brought two of ourtapasplates before our drinks arrived.  when we mentioned this to the food runner he made sure to try and up-sell us on bread before checking on our drinks.  second, we had to ask for clean plates.  i have hadtapasin spain and in turkey.... the wait staff just bring clean plates when necessary.  given the cost at ox and angela, i would think that this would be done without having to ask.  again, the food runner gave us a blank stare when we requested this.  i suppose, she doesn't know this was common intapasrestaurants.  possibly some training should be in order.  i won't be rushing back to ox and angela any time soon.

had a great time at ox & angela on friday night. definitely have to make a reservation!! and if it is cold out, ask to sit away from the door because it can get quite drafty. the food was incredible! we shared a few (quite a few)tapasplates between the four of us. it did work out to enough food, but would have been better to share between two instead of four! the portions are quite small, but delicious! next time i would love to try the paella for the table, which would be more of a meal! will definitely be back to try more dishes.