Ate here on a beautiful spring evening. The sun was shining with a gentle wind to cool you off, and we were seated outside to enjoy the weather. We had almost 1-1/2 hours to enjoy our meal before catching a show later in the evening. The inside decor was "fine," the outside aluminum tables and chairs were "fine." Nothing fancy, nothing cheap, just "fine."
Our waitress gave us a few minutes to look over the menus (food, drinks, wine). I'll start with the wine list, err... book. It was abundant and overwhelming, with at least 15 options for each style of wine! For a moment, I thought we were looking at a Wine Enthusiast magazine. However, those thoughts quickly vanished when we started to read the paragraph long descriptions of each bottle of wine. "masculine brother" and "sexy and wet" were a couple of the more memorable descriptions in just the "juicy white" section alone. The bottles seem reasonably priced, with most selections in the $30-40 range. Our bottle of Albarino was a nice choice on such a hot day. Too bad it wasn't chilled when it got to us.
The food menu also had a vast selection of meats, fish, and veggies. Hot and Cold tapas, along with a few main dishes. We stuck with 4 tapas selections:
- The Patatas bravas were delivered to our table about 2 minutes after we ordered them. Surprisingly, they were cooked well, not too crisp, not soggy. But the "feisty" sauce was either Sriracha or Frank's Red Hot with a little cream to soften it. There were no other seasonings, which left them fairly boring, yet "feisty."
- The Gambas al ajillo were small little shrimp (50-60/lb) that sat in olive oil, with a couple bits of garlic. These also came out within minutes of our order, but the oil had already formed a solid layer on top, so they had been sitting for a while(?) The only garlic flavor came from the garlic itself, the shrimp were fairly bland, though they were cooked fine. A very non-impressive dish for $14.
- The Lomo con ciruelas y endibias was presently as thinly sliced cuts, with little slices of Plum and endive. Again, this plate was brought to the table almost immediately, and we were concerned that we'd be done with our meal in less than 15 minutes... I found the pork to be another bland representation of a good dish. I'm not sure what part of "house cured" it was missing, maybe it was just the flavor. The plum was probably the best part of this dish, full of flavor and a nice contrast in texture.
- Finally, the Berenjena con mato came out last, a solid 20 minutes after everything else, and after we thought they forgot about the dish. Three disks of olive oil soaked eggplant. I couldn't even tell you what kind of cheese it was, other than soft and flavorless. The honey drizzle stole the show on these.
- And to add to the meal, we decided to order dessert. Who could pass on the trufas porrera, with their showering of cocoa and sea salt! Well, the bare truffles came out on a plate, paired with some slices of french bread. I'm pretty sure the truffles had been sitting on the plate for a while, evident by the fact that they were permanently "fused" to the plate. After setting the plate down, the waitress took out a shaker and tapped some cocoa dust on the truffles and bread, followed by a salt shaker and a few grains of sea salt. Finally, she doused everything in EVOO. Huh? I was shocked that the fine balance of chocolate and sea salt was left up to the fingers of the waitress, what chef would allow that? Surprisingly, the truffles were good, flavorful, and tasty. Though, I really don't know what the bread was doing on the plate.
Overall, we were very disappointed with this restaurant. I think the combination of bland food and high(er) prices sank our opinion of Taberna de Haro. It's a solid 3 Stars, mostly because of the wine list, the variety of offerings, and the location. read more