Saturday, September 25, 2010

Tinto

Tapas for three (or more, or less) in Philly? Look no further. Tinto is the place to head for an intimate dinner of shared tapas plates and very strong sangria. Josh, Sam, and I treated ourselves to one more night of restaurant week at this dark, candle lit, restaurant/wine bar decorated with unique wine keys, wine racks full of already enjoyed bottles and their corks.
To begin with, they won major points with our table when they comped our pitcher of sangria (that I couldn't really afford anyway) to make up for our wait and for an incident in which a little bit of dessert was spilled on Josh's pants. A good manager is key to any smooth dining experience, and this guy knew what he was doing.
Then, our waiter was really patient with us, our many questions, and, well, with us in general. In typical tapas fashion, he kept the dishes coming and we were very infrequently without some sort of tasty morsel. He even brought Sam a spicy dipping sauce upon request while we waiting for the cascade of taste to begin.
What we loved:
We went crazy for the Chorizo Pamplona. I've had my fair share of chorizo in my day, but this was by far the tastiest one. It was literally bursting with flavor. We all decided that we would come back just for this juicy item. The assorted cheeses were good and served with honey. Even better though, were the various charcuterie. The jamon serrano was everything Josh could have hoped for, and the saucisson sec was perfect when piled on a crunchy piece of bread with honey and blue cheese.




The Duck was intense, topped with a black cherry that played nicely with the richness of the duck. The Pulpo (octopus) a bit rubbery for me, but this was made up for by the crisp salad of arugula, jamon serrano, mission figs, and fried goat cheese. After all this flavor packed food the bomba rice seemed a bit plain in comparison but it had a lovely texture and plenty of yummy morel mushrooms.
Dessert was a little disappointing, but the coffee and tea we ordered was all I really had room for at this point. The chocolate cake was delicious but so rich I could only eat a few morsels, and the second cake was dry and forgettable.


Would I go back? Yes! However, I would order far less that we were allowed for our $35 fixed menu next time. The food is so rich that a only few dishes would really have sufficed. Anyway, less food leaves more room for the sangria, right?

2 comments:

  1. Sounds so yummy, Jules! I want to try it! And I can afford the sangria, so it's on me!

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  2. So glad you tried Zama and Tinto! I love them both so please next time take me on one of your culinary adventures!

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