tapavino

after reading the rave reviews about tapavino, i was excited about sampling themenuwhen friends and i arrived for our 7pm reservation on may 3. unfortunately, my experience was underwhelming.

to say the place is bustling on a friday night is an understatement. when at capacity, the acoustics of the confined upstairs dining room make it difficult to converse with your companions without raising your voice to a ridiculous level.

during the meal, i sampled the crab, avocado and chilli tostado ($14), the stuffed piquillo peppers with smoked mackrel ($13) and the jamon, baby beetroot and goat's cheese ($16). i personally found the flavours a bit bland and unbalanced, but the dishes were far more enjoyable than my salty dessert experience. i opted for the chocolate terrine, olive oil and salt flake ($12) - a decision i can still taste 12 hours later. basically, it was far too salty and akin to indulging in a chocolate lick block.

on the liquid side of the equation, my three friends and i all agreed tapavino's red sangria lacked any real punch, which was disappointing after a long day at work. that said, the winemenuis exhaustive, and even the most hard-to-please wine buff will find something to tickle their fancy.

it was impossible to fault the service we received during our tapavino experience. our waiter was friendly, attentive and extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of themenu- something that makes life easy when you and your friends are struggling to make selections.

would i go back? probably not.

havalar yavaş yavaş ısınsa da artık sahilde denizin havasını içimize çeke çeke otursak keyfimize baksak. i̇şte sizler için öyle bir mekandan bahsedeceğim. i̇zmir mekan rehberi' nin davetiyle mekan gezginleri olarak i̇zmir güzelbahçe de henüz 6 ay önce açılmış olan yeni bir mekanda menü tadımındaydık.

güzel ortamın arkasında eksik bir servis, gelişmesi gereken bir mutfak var. menü zenginleştirilebilir faka öncesinde menünün hakkını vermelisiniz.

went to tapavino last about twelve months ago and absolutely loved it, but our recent visit feels like something has changed and it’s not for the better!

the service was excellent, fairly prompt and checked in on us regularly. sadly that was about it for the good.

firstly the menu, where’s the spanish staples? where is the albondigas? the croquetas? why am i being offered lamb skewers with zatar and lubna? is this el jannah in granville or a tapavino restaurant in sydney cbd?

themenuon the website does not reflect what you’re given in the restaurant and is really the focus on why it was a negative experience.

the jamón was ok, but not sure of the quality, was not a nice dried and lightly oiled cured meat as expected, but more squashed together, somewhat soggy, and thrown in with burrata and spanish onion mixed in to perhaps mask the flat yet overbearing taste of it.

the mixed olives, not really sure what you guys did there, three very large olives and a bunch of very very small olives.

overall - sad to see the direction this place has gone and i hope to see it improve in the future!

while working in sydney cbd 2 days a week, my friend and i always scouted new places to eat. tapa vino was on the list for a long time and we finally went. 

tucked away in the lane in circular quay, it's got outdoor and indoor seating with lovely staff. they had some good vegetarian options. i don't remember the names of the dish and i am too lazy to look them up in themenubut they were delicious, especially the sweet potato dish, amazing. 

would definitely go back.

used to go to tapavino regularly when i was in the area, it has been about 4-5 yrs since. went there in march for dinner expecting the same level of food and tastiness. was disappointed they took the lamb off themenuas that was one of the best dishes. we ordered a good selection of food and was still tasty as i remember

yearning for spain again - we really do love it there - we felt like some tapas for dinner so decided to go to tapavino near circular quay in sydney. we weren't the only ones! the place was busy. choosing the later sitting suited us as we could stay longer. from the tapasmenuwe had the crispy potato skins, zucchini pisto, goats curd pisto.  this had really nice flavours, the potato skins were lovely and crispy and the zucchini and goats curd pisto combined well.

staff were overall friendly and food quality was above average. couple of fatal flaws -

1) we had to have the setmenuas we came in a big group for a birthday and the portions we had to share were very small. for example, we had to share two slices of cakes between 6 people for desert. despite paying $59 plus an additional mandatory service fee of 8% pp (price of 3 dishes), we were required to share 3 main course plates between 6 people.

2) we had a cockroach on our table. the waitress initially dismissed it as a non-event as she considered that the cockroach must've come from outside because the window is open and hence does not affect the food. only after some pressing, the restaurant acknowledged our concerns and provide a discount on the cake fee ($4pp).

in short, don't come in a big group. don't sit upstairs close to the window because a cockroach apparently should not be unexpected if the window is open. don't order the set menu.

4/10. would only come in a small group. avoid the tables upstairs close to the windows.

a memorable hens party dinner celebrated at tapavino. we had quite a number of dishes to share but there were some crowd favourites.

smoked paprika popcorn was buttery, spicy and addictive. duck liver pate was not too overpowering and had more like a parfait texture, so that worked very well for me. chicken, truffle and asparagus terrine was one of my favourite dishes of the night as the hint of truffle was just enough to tickle your taste buds and the crunch of the asparagus added texture. boquerones were just nicely salted, not mushy but soft and went really well on toast. i don't see it too often in spanish restaurants, so that was a nice treat! a visit to tapavino is incomplete without some jamon, which we gladly obliged with the jamon iberico. it was soft layers of ham which melted in your mouth.

there are a lot more exciting things on the vastmenuthat i would want to come back to try. also, a massive thanks to the waiters for the evening who were very attentive and accommodating to our every need. i like!

tapavino is the best spanish restaurant i have visited in sydney. we came this restaunt on a busy saturday night, even though it was busy the service was top notch. the waitstaff were very attentive; filling our water glass, checking if drinks were needed and explaining the menu. the somellier was very good, explaining their wine list and recommending wine according to our preferences. the service was professional without being pretentious. the staff were relaxed, friendly and personable.
we were impressed by the fact that we didn't have to wait long for our meals, even though it was busy. a well run restaurant. we chose a few options from themenuto share, which were all very delicious. using quality ingredients with good flavour combinations.
to start we ordered the warm cow cheese, walnuts in vine leaves a la plancha. warm melted cheese, need i say more and add walnuts for texture. we also had the yellow fin tuna cruda crushed spiced almonds and sherry dressing. a nice fresh starter to share.
next was the jamòn pickled beetroot and goats curd. a classic flavour combination. our last savoury option was the melt in your mouth beef cheeks braised in vermut served with chickpea puree and gremolata. the braising liquid giving the beef cheeks a nice sweet flavour. definitely recommended.
having read the dessertmenui was taken by the dulce de leche tart with pedro ximinez cream. they had me a at dulce de leche, thick caramel and short crust pastry tart and omg pedro ximinez cream. so decadent in a good way.
an all round great dining experience and will be back to sample more of the menu. their other restaurant balcòn is definitely on our hit list.

hidden in a laneway in circular quay is tapavino, a charming spanish restaurant. as i stepped in, for a moment, i felt like i was in one of the tapas bars in barcelona or madrid. everything on themenusounded delicious so it was hard for my friends and i to decide what to eat. the wine list is extensive to say the least so we asked the waitress to help us with our selection.

to celebrate the completion of our mooting submissions, the team and i travelled to tapa vino in circular quay. built on the culture of ‘sip-a-little-bit-of-this-and-eat-a-little-bit-of-that’, tapa vino’s entiremenuis designed for groups and sharing which was seemed like a perfect way to begin the evening.

last minute finding a place in sydney with so much choice means grab the urbanspoon ap, search and map it and then follow your nose to this busy laneway restaurant buzzing and packed to the gills. couldn't read themenuas it was too dark so i trusted the friendly waiter. the three tapas dishes he chose were delicious ( jamon beef ribs and tuna) the sangria refreshing but the bill was somewhat pricier than expected. the main negative was the drain smell that occasionally waffed as the grease trap needs clearing. terrific place for the younger set but as a mature lady i think something more relaxing next time!

themenufeatures a whole section dedicated to the heavenly food item that is jamon served in various forms, this particular dish is a mushroom truffle tart topped with delicious jamon and shaved manchego cheese. i’ve found that i prefer jamon over prosciutto for both taste and texture.