Last night was a special evening for all of us as Samuel, Will and I joined our friend's Phyllis (yes, she is a Phyllis-teen too!) from Naples, Florida here in St. Petersburg, Florida for the afternoon and evening. We met them almost 8 years ago cruising in Costa Rica and have stayed in touch ever since. It was a great reunion (their first time meeting Sam) capped by a wonderful meal at CEVICHE Tapas Bar and Restaurant with other locations in Orlando & Tampa as well (www.cevichetapas.com).
I called over a month ago and they said they don't take reservations except for parties of six or more, but upon arrival we realized they have no tables made for 5 people, so we could not get one for 6 as they were all reserved. They finally put two tables together and solved the problem; from here on in it was a treat
We got Samuel an order of ALBONDIGAS-veal, chorizo and pork meatballs in a piquant tomato sauce which he adored. His second tapas was the PAPAS FRITAS-housemade potato chips with crumbles Cabrales blue cheese which he also gobbled up along with the rest of us.
Meanwhile we were sipping a VINA SALCEDA RESERVA 2001 from Rioja region made from Tempranillom Maziano and Graciano grapes. This wine resembled a red zin as it had lots of spice in the finish and went with the varied tapas we ordered. We might have normally started with white, but the place had the a/c on so high (it was 70 outside and 65 inside!) we opted to head for a warm red right away. Our second wine was an amazing CONDESA de LEGANZA RESERVA 1996 Tempranilla from La Mancha that was so smooth it was amazing at $30! An aged Bordeaux of the same price range would not be able to compete.
Our first tapas were cold ceviche and we chose two: DE LA CASA which was a shrimp, squid, fish & scallop combo that could not compare in taste, size or price with the one we had in Guatemala last week, but the CEVICHE A LA RUSE was a plate of three superb plump oysters with an onion cilantro relish topped with caviar and a shot of Ice cold Russian vodka on the side!
BOQUERONES were top quality freshly marinated anchovies in a cilantro relish and the ESPINACAS was out of this world sauteed spinach with FIGS, HONEY & GARLIC!
ALCACHOFAS RELLENAS were artichoke bottoms filled with HAM & SHRIMP and served in a tasty SHERRY CREAM SAUCE that we wanted to mop up. Speaking of mopping up, Sam opted to do this with his meatball sauce and a chunk of bread, a major development in food eating skills in my book (mopping that is!).
CROQUETAS de BACALAO were super rich creamy cod croquettes with BECHAMEL both inside and to dip as well....way too rich, but YUM YUM. Our fab server Jessica (she recommended the 2nd wine) said we must try the PIQUILLOS RELLENOS-Roasted Red Peppers with Ground Veal and Chorizo in a Light Sherry Sauce that was another big winner. The one semi-dud on the menu was the PULPO ALA GALLEGA which was an herb marinated octopus served on potato on bread with paprika. Two of the pieces were quite chewy and did not impress, even though the preparation was excellent.
Sam opted for vanilla ice cream with berries for dessert and ended up eating just the berries because he was so full. We shared two other standard: FLAN LORENA, a very firm and fine version of the traditional dish and PUDIN DE PAIN which was excellent and made with dried fruit and Spanish Sherry.
We parted both the restaurant and our friends on a sad note, hoping that we will see Phyllis & Michael again soon, and hopefully find more wonderful dining spots like Ceviche again as well.
