tapavino

came here for a team lunch and loved the vibe !! food is amazing and the servicestaffis attentive. their wine collection is pretty good. lovely place to get away to for a work lunch.

i booked a table at tapavino for my birthday because i’ve heard good reviews from my friends. thestaffwere extremely friendly and we were served really quickly too. i still can’t get over how good the food is! my company and i left feeling absolutely satisfied and wished we could’ve stomached more food. i’ll definitely have to come back to try more of their food and drinks menu.

hidden gem at circular quay. really good place for date night with your s/o or just a catch up place with your girlfriends.
the place is really small, ambience reminds me of what you would find in the alley ways of paris or rome type of feel.

pros
- when we ordered the charcuterie, we thought, oh is that all? but we actually enjoyed it. it wasn’t too salty, it had an element of sweetness, salt from the salami, sour from the pickles and the cheese to combine it all.
- ambience is nice, cosy
- my boyfriend really liked how thestaffwas attentive and continued to pour his glass of water
- stuffed chicken thigh was nice
- the pate!!!! so goooood

cons
- it’s very intimidate, close to other tables - if you like you personal space
- tables are small
- the individual servings are average, nothing wowed me
- tuna tartare was meh, thought it would be better

arrived early thinking that we could have a drink at the bar while waiting for our table, were told that as we had children with us they couldn’t come inside until our table in the restaurant area was ready, had to wait outside which would have been okay if it wasn’t so windy and cool. very noisy in restaurant area, could barely hear the person next to me. took the waitstaff30 mins to take our order for food and drinks, we had to call them over. food came out relatively quickly, food was very good. good food, shame that the restaurant was cramped and noisy.

being tucked away in a cobbled lane helps to set the scene... if lucky enough you may score a table outside and enjoy some alfresco dining... just as you might on a summers evening in spain.

the wine list is well chosen and spanish, and thestaffknow their wines.

the food was delicious and servings generous. we had the:
- jamon with burrata. the burrata was the hero of this dish, delightfully creamy and subtly flavoursome. - sardines - fresh and bursting with flavour.
- braised chorizo - my favourite dish of the evening, as i've never had chorizo prepared in this way. it was slow cooked and literally melted in your mouth. the tomato based sauce was rich and juicy and not too tart.
- beef cheeks - cooked to perfection but slightly lacking in flavour. the chickpea purée however was delicious and the better half of the dish.
- shaved cabbage salad - would recommend adding to your meal, to balance the intensity and heaviness of the other dishes.

overall delightful. my only negative of the night was the rather brusque way in which we were made to leave, as they wanted to seat the next lot of diners.
in saying that i would happily go again (with a second seating booking) to try the desserts and other dishes.

excellent place for a drink and snack when wearing the pin-striped uniform and want to remember younger days in barcelona ! just had some glasses of an excellent tempranillo with a few tapas plates. manager was great but waitstaffa bit haphazard and the food (while delicious) was a bit rustic. however great atmosphere in the otherwise soul-less city in the evening and a genuine spanish feel to it. not cheap but worth it - however go the bottle not the glass ! the red is delicious and after our group drank 9  reds by the glass we worked out we should spend more time planning our evening ! really nice place to go "of a tuesday" !

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. thestaffwere 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 the menu to 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 dessert menu i 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.

excellent service; each round was served on time and thestaffhad a great sense of humour. the food was above average but i would recommend it just on the ambience and the quality of the service alone.

was planning to have dinner on the harbour before seeing a show at the opera house but found tapavino instead. this place is quite small but full of atmosphere.staffhere know exactly what they're talking about and can recommend wines to match any plate. the food here was fresh, fast and delicious and if you're tossing up between different plates, just get them all definitely worth it.

i heard this is one of the best spanish tapas restaurants in town so we gave it a try during my stay in sydney. you could straight away smell the strong olive scent as soon as you walk in. thestaffhere are really friendly and helpful. not having tried many spanish tapas places before, we just opted for the main meats. the pork belly, eggplant dip, and salmon tartare are simply delicious. the jamon is a stand out - the proscuitto tastes so bomb and goes well with the pickled onions and cheese! however, i didn't really enjoy the chicken as the sauce just tasted like a tomato paste and the lamb shoulder didn't have enough punch to it. overall, a great spanish tapas experience.

great food and wine. went in a group of 6 (larger group better) last monday and thoroughly enjoyed it. second time and wasn't disappointed at all. one of my favorite restaurants. huge selection of wine, with extremely helpful waitstaffto give great selection advice. some of the dishes i'd recommend are the jamón, mushroom & black truffled tart, shaved manchego, crab, avacado, & chilli tostado and the yellow fin tuna 'cruda', crushed spiced almonds, & sherry dressing. the only negative would be that this place is closed on the weekends.

the positive about this place was the service. despite being quite busy as it was a friday evening, thestaffwere attentive. sadly, this place was quite disappointing. nonetheless, it was quite nice trying something different. there is always next time!

horrible service. it was my birthday and i was super excited to eat at tapavino because the reviews were really good. the start of the night was ok and thestaffwere polite. but as the night went on, it got worse. the food was not amazing and for the price, clearly not worth the money. when my friend asked if we could cut a cake, one particular waitress was really rude. if she had said, sorry we don't cut cakes in this restaurant, that would have sufficed. but she decided to be really rude by saying "no restaurants allow you to cut cakes", "would you bring food to a supermarket?, would you bring drugs to a doctor? would you bring clothes to a store?" by way of comparing cutting a cake in a restaurant. this was said in a rude tone as if to say my friends and i were beneath her. when we got the bill and paid, we waited 20 minutes to get our $18 change back and only got it back when we asked the staff, obviously we weren't going to leave them an $18 tip for their horrible service. this experience has ruined my expectations of this restaurant.

amazing sherry. love the sherry selection here - very knowledgable and i love the way thestafftry and recommend different wines to their dishes - really excellent place - if you can get in!

delicious and plentiful. walking around the rocks and looking for something light to dine on we found this fantastic place. food was fantastic, flavour explosions in your mouth, simple and enjoyable.

worth the wait for a seat and thestaffare attentive and friendly.

we will definitely be back