I've just been loving Chelsea lately. The club scene is upscale and vibrant, Chelsea Market and the High Line go together like peanut butter and jelly, and the most interesting restaurants have been expanding the New York food scene.
If you're into real estate, this is prime time. Just sayin'.
In an area known for converting abandoned warehouses into art galleries, it comes as no surprise that you would find one of the best Spanish tapas places in the city along a quiet, broad avenue just a few steps from the High Line. It's a small but uncramped space featuring high tables and bar stools on which you perch to sip sangria and sample tapas in the glow of candlelight. Romantic? Intimate? Warm?
You bet. Tables are just far enough apart from each other for you and whoever you came with to hear each other talk, and you feel inclined to lean in closer every time you're on a bar stool. I'm a huge fan.
Let's get right down to food and service, yeah?
My friend and I had the pleasure of being waited on by a waitress and a trainee. No, that is not sarcasm. It actually was a pleasure, because the trainee's downplayed discomfited exuberance of courtesy combined with the waitress's solid knowledge of menu choices made for very careful and informational service. Good luck, trainee, although I'm sure you won't need it.
Well, with any tapas place, sangria is a most - if not the - important factor to making it or breaking it. The sangria, in this case, foreshadowed what the rest of the meal would be like. Strong but not lethal, and flavored by the obvious time and thought that went into its preparation. The beginning was bright and fruity, and the finish was dry. Good stuff.
We started with the "ensalada de alcachofa," or artichoke salad. Fresh, slightly bitter mixed greens with fried, almost deep-fried, artichoke hearts and white asparagus. Wonderful contrast between the fresh and the fried, with the clean sweetness of white asparagus tying it all together. They may have been a little heavy with the sherry vinaigrette, but personal preference.
A plate of jamón serrano with tomato purée is staple, and in Spain they are served free with tapas. But of course, this is New York and you have to pay $15 for it. We didn't mind, because the jamón was thick and flavorful, a cut closer to the bone than usual, and when you lay it on top of fresh, toasted baguette (nice crust and good elasticity) drizzled with just slightly sweet tomato purée and heady olive oil, you can feel your body and mind relaxing as you - gently - slip into that timeless European tradition of the slow enjoyment of food and company.
Our food came out quite fast considering that we weren't eating fried junk. Perhaps just a little too fast, because every time I have a glass of sangria in front of me I'm already in the mindset of having a three-hour-long dinner. Keep in mind that the place is, of course, popular with the locals and waiting space is limited.
Then our much-anticipated squid in ink with rice came.
Don't you just love those shallow clay bowls on wooden coasters for tapas? It came piping hot with crusty white bread for dipping and, oh yeah, you want to dip. I can say with absolute honesty that this is the first time that I have ever had squid ink in New York that wasn't tragically deemphasized (okay, Da Andrea wasn't tragic, but still). You go through the trial of wondering whether or not you should order squid ink - since the possibility is high that you will end up looking like one of the Japanese geisha of old (they blackened their teeth because they considered teeth to be unattractive) - so when you DO order, you want squid ink in all its squid-y glory.
A tip: Make sure everyone at your table eats it too so that you're not the only one following an old Japanese standard of aesthetics. A tribulation.
In this case, you don't have to worry, because the ink absolutely does not adhere to your teeth (so it was still tweaked with a bit), but I'm happy to say that the taste was not compromised too much. You can subtly taste that oceanic flavor of seafood before your mouth is coated with a light creaminess, and the squid legs are soft and tender. The moist little cap of large-grained rice mixed with delicate greens made this dish such a comfort food. Our globs of bread came back again and again to the little bowl until we had wiped it clean.
Next came our "lengua a la plancha," or grilled veal tongue. I apologize for not having taken a picture of it before scarfing it down, but that's testament to the fact that I literally couldn't resist the temptation of the taste of buttery, slightly gamey grilled veal tongue against the sharp, pungent acidity of pickled red onion atop thinly-sliced toasted baguette. I was afraid when reading the menu that the incredible flavors of veal tongue would be disrespected by an overabundance of pickled red onions, but the kitchen at Tía Pol knows what it's doing. They allowed the veal tongue to shine by minimalizing and refining the pickled red onions and baguette. Simply wonderful.
Finally, our dessert came. And really, just by looking at it, can anything really go wrong?
What they calle the "leche frita" is something of a cross between A Voce's bomboloni and Colonie's doughnuts. In other words, a cross between substance and delicacy. They are described as "basque style fried custard with drunken cherries." Can you really go wrong with cool custard enveloped by slightly crunchy fried batter sprinkled with powdered sugar, all nestled atop a light syrup of brandied cherries?
Nope. I agree that there are different levels of goodness associated with this dish, however. I would've preferred for the dish to be lighter in the sense that the batter and custard could've been airier, and the amount of syrup was insufficient for every bite to have a good combination of crunch, cream, and kicky fruitiness. But can you really go wrong?
We left happy, and more than ready to go back and try their brunch menu.
Experience...4.25 outta 5.
If you're in the mood to nibble and sip with someone whose company you truly enjoy, then Tía Pol is one of your safest bets.
205 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(212)675-8805
Between 22nd and 23rd Streets
