A Spanish-themed restaurant run by an Italian guy and a German guy. But who's counting countries?
Despite the unfortunate business name, Ritzy was one of the hotter spots we found for dinner in Merimbula (assuming you can use that terms for anything in this town). They had a good crowd every night (especially weekends), and featured a pretty broad menu of tapas which changed every few weeks.
I liked that they had a bar area that felt like its own, separate space. In my never-ending quest to find a decent Old Fashioned in this town, that is where I made a detour just before dinner (after our waiter said they didn't have them.) The bartenders knew exactly what to do, barely blinking when I asked. They even had rye whiskey. Score!
As the name implies, they had a decent wine list too. But our group was pretty boring and kept ordering the same Pinot that we discovered on our first night here.
Sadly the food was a mixed bag, at least for me. The lamb dishes I tried on both visits were underwhelming, as were about half the other dishes. The unexpected standout was a Greek-style chicken schwarma plate that was not unlike something you'd get at a good Greek takeout joint (but much smaller). We ended up ordering several of these plates to share.
Which brings me to the overall theme I noticed: small plates at higher prices, as expected; but with an overall quality below my expectations. I'm used to tapas restaurants having small portions, but what you get is usually beautiful, special, delicious. The plates at Ritzy were unimaginative; more like standard appetizers, and we had to do a lot of sampling to find the ones we really liked. Our dinners here were pretty pricey in the end. A bit of an imbalance.
There was a nice vibe here, and the staff were friendly, but Ritzy was not a favorite destination of mine. But they did make the best Old Fashioned in town, so I'll keep it civil. read more
