Pintxo for Sangria and Tapas

Pintxo Spanish Taperia
http://www.pintxo.com/

It's impossible to turn your head these days without seeing a new 'tapas' establishment. Small plates for shared dining seems to be the trending food culture. There are plenty of restaurants that offer tapas-style menus that encourage this style of eating and the dishes can be anything from an array of international cuisine, but originally tapas was a Spanish thing. I know that there are other versions of the same concept in other countries (e.g. Chinese yum cha or Greek mezze) but on this occasion, Marc and I went to a Spanish tapas bar.

Pintxo is located on Brunswick St in New Farm. We walked there from the city and underestimated the distance so we got there late and nearly missed our booking. Luckily, the staff were very accomodating.

The restaurant is small but the space is divided up nicely so it doesn't feel cramped at all. They even have a tapas train, which is just adorable. We got there late on a Tuesday night so it was fairly quiet.

Peach sangria and classic red wine sangria

One of my favorite things about eating at a Spanish or Mexican restaurant is the sangria. I'm not huge on wine but I adore sangria. Pintxo has a couple of different flavors of sangria on offer. I went with peach sangria and Marc stuck with classic red. They were quite good. I found my flavored one to be a bit odd and preferred the red wine sangria.

Bread and olive oil

We started with some bread with olive oil. I love a warm, crusty loaf with good, full-bodied olive oil. I was starving at this point and the bread tasted pretty damn good!

Tapas platter

Next, we launched straight into the big plate of tapas. There was a lot of food on that platter and we were feasting with our eyes before we even sampled any. It's easy to get startled and impressed by a giant selection of food. My biggest problem was not knowing where to start.


I gradually worked my way from one end of the platter to the other. Many of the usual tapas favorites were present: meatballs, grilled chorizo, roast potato nuggets and pastries. In terms of flavor, it was a mixed bag for me.

Close-up

I enjoyed the empanada the most because it was hot and crunchy. The meatballs were underwhelming. I've definitely had better. Chorizo and proscuitto-wrapped toast is difficult to comment on because there's not much cooking involved.

Another close-up

The salad was simple but zesty and refreshing. The potato nuggest were probably the most disappointing because they just weren't crunchy at all. I suppose the crumbed olives would be great for olive lovers but neither Marc or I are huge fans of olives.

Churros con chocolate - classic Spanish donuts with brandy infused chocolate dipping sauce

We ended our meal with dessert. I broke the food blogger rule of 'needing' to order different things because we both wanted the churros. They were alright and hit the spot, curbing our sweet/fried cravings but not as great as San Churros. The chocolate sauce was a bit too out-of-the-bottle for my liking.

We didn't mind Pintxo but didn't think it was anything too spectacular either. It's a cute restaurant but for the most part, the food looked better than it tasted.