My visit to Cava dissipated two preconceived ideas that I had about the menu. One, the idea that the tapas dishes would be small little nibbles similar to what you get at a bar counter in Spain and two, that the menu would be limited to the typical array of tapas that you might find on the Costa del Sol. Neither proved to be the case, the portions are quite large indeed, very often as big as a typical main course, eg, my cured roasted duck leg served with baby potatoes fried in duck fat was of a size that would satisfy most appetites, and the selection is absolutely spectacular. JP and his team seem to have found some of the very best tapas dishes from around the world and recreated them with 100 per cent authenticity. Suffice it to say that the tapas here are much better than anything I have been offered in the touristy parts of Spain. It is worth saying that my initial impression of the menu was that for tapas it seemed expensive, however, from the size of the portions and the inventive dishes I have to say the opposite is the case.
We arrived at about 6.30pm on a midweek evening and we were lucky to be able to get a seat, the restaurant was packed and it was still packed when we left, with people waiting to be seated, so perhaps booking would save disappointment if you intend to go there some night. The telephone number is (091 ) 539884. The early bird special was still available (just about as it finishes at 6.30pm ), ie, five tapas for the price of four, so we opted for that deal. As it was a Tuesday night we could also have chosen one of three paellas — chicken, seafood, or vegetarian — with a glass of wine for €15. To drink, we opted for ice cold bottles of San Miguel beer.
Most of the staff are either family or long serving team members, which is always a great sign for any restaurant. A quick visit to the loo revealed an absolutely gleaming facility. This is a restaurant with quite a buzz, so if you want a quiet meal in sedated surroundings this is not the place for you. The atmosphere is good and at the weekends you can listen to some flamenco or gypsy jazz live music.
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Parking can be difficult in Dominick Street; however the public car park beside the Garda station is free after 6.30pm.
Now to the food. We chose the ever popular patatas brava, €5, which is cubed potatoes, roasted and served with a very mild tomato aioli sauce. I think everyone would like this. We chose a dish I never had before; figs with chorizo and a red wine sauce, €8.50, which was delicious. The chorizo was sliced chunky and had a great flavour while the figs in the sauce were delicious. Moving on to the more expensive dishes, we chose hand picked scallops with Spanish black pudding, €12.55. I realise that this is a dish that is available in places (except the Spanish black pudding would probably be Clonakilty or McGeoghs ), however I cannot pass up on a scallop dish. These were of a very high quality and cooked perfectly. Next up was my star dish of the evening, slow roasted cured pork belly with apply compote, €8.75. The pork had been rolled, cooked, then sliced and was served with a chunky apple chutney, it is the dish I would return for. Finally we had the cured roasted duck leg with rosemary baby potatoes, €13.50. This was also good but slightly tougher than the typical French style confit of duck leg. The flavour was excellent; however we could not finish it as we were stuffed. A doggy bag was provided so nothing went to waste.
All in all a great meal and a restaurant that requires at least one if not several return visits to get through the interesting dishes on the menu.
It would be a brilliant choice for a Christmas party — so book now.
