Open just a few weeks, Tapas,24 is the 2nd Montreal
new opening that piqued my interest. Ok 3rd, Gema probably comes 2nd but
I haven't made it there yet. Soon. (1st being Majestique).
So Tapas24. The launch was a pretty glitzy affair, based on their instagram pics, red carpet and everything.
Chef Carlos Abellan chose Montreal for the 2nd site of
Barcelona restaurant Tapas,24, never made it there on my trips to
Barcelona so I'm extremely pleased to have the opportunity here. And
it's a 5 minute walk from work, score. It's been quite tricky to get a
reservation so far, but things should have calmed down a bit now, they
also have a terrasse and save some tables for walk ins.
We were a large group so each wrote down what we wanted
to try and ordered everything. Tarmy took care of the wine, ordering a
magnum of red. The wines were great but I have no idea what they were, Spanish, most likely.
Things arrived is a steady stream beginning with the
patatas brava, one topped with egg and chorizo, very good, simple, but pleasing.
The bikini Comerc 24 was a
disappointment. I didn't taste any truffle, the cheese was pretty bland
and it's really small. Not a great sharing option. Wouldn't order it
again. Fried aubergine was nice. They provided plenty of veggie
options for the veggie at the table.
The ham croquettas were also not up to scratch, potato
based, not much ham, obviously not a patch on the Barrafina versions.
But I'm fairly sure these cannot be topped, I should stop eating any
others really. Pan con tomate was also a huge let down, barely any
tomato, I guess it was authentic to Spain, akin to the one Bel and I
tried at Cal Pep. (Do excuse the arm, below).
The iberico ham was good, as were the boneless chicken
wings with alegre sauce. What I really liked was the salmorejo cordobés, a sort of thick gazpacho, which we
hadn't actually ordered. Topped with croutons, bacon, feta and olive
oil, it's a puree made from tomatoes and bread, smoothie consistency, nobody else was
convinced, which left pretty much the whole thing for me.
We had a couple of portions of the watermelon, laced with sangria, strangely refreshing arriving mid meal.
My
highlight of the meal was the fideua with aioli. We ordered this and
the arroz Barcelones, essentially paella. They market this as surf and
turf, but ours had no turf. Still good though.
Onto desserts, I knew I'd love the chocolate based on these pictures of it. Crunchy bread and olive oil with a sprinkling of
fleur de sel (Spanish sea salt) sitting on top of a rich chocolate
mousse. So so good.
There was also doughnuts, I didn't eat these obvs, and more booze infused fruits. Very pretty.
In
all, I suppose I let my excitement run away with me, I was also
jetlagged for this meal and the whole thing is a bit of a hazy red wine
blur. I'll say it again, for me Spanish food doesn't get better than
Barrafina, but when I get a tapas craving, Tapas,24 is where I'll head in
Montreal. This is as good as it gets here.
We had all this, and a shit load of red wine for $85
each. We were all pleasantly surprised when we got our bills. So it's
great value and the atmosphere was great on a Tuesday night, they were
full and service was lovely. I'll definitely be back.
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