A bite at Tapas Las Ramblas, Andersonville

First came Atlantique. Then Rioja. Next up, Il Fiasco. Welcome to Tapas Las Ramblas, the newest (opened in August) iteration in the ever-changing landscape at 5101 N. Clark Street.

We’ll be the first to admit that we’ve liked the three previous incarnations. Indeed, we were very happy to see Eric Aubriot come to Il Fiasco and thought things were looking up from an already pretty good starting point. But all good things come to an end and so did Il Fiasco. It’s now an ostensibly Spanish tapas place. I say ostensibly because, even though our waiter acknowledged that others have already complained about this same issue, this is a tapas place that doesn’t serve sherry! Well, okay, they serve a cream sherry and a “medium-dry” sherry, if memory serves. The justification, so near as I was able to understand, is that the customers don’t order it. Given the extensive list of sherries, including several choices of flights, at Café Ba-Ba-Reeba, I find this explanation completely unconvincing.

The two rooms remain largely untouched, save for large boldly-colored abstract murals now painted on all the walls.


(Photo courtesy of the restaurant's website)

The large-screen TVs remain on the walls but have been blessedly turned off (thank you, Lord!). Pleasant Spanish music (I’m not sophisticated enough in that area to distinguish Spanish from, say, Latin American) is trifle loud but well within ordinary levels. A wall of booths share space in the front room with the attractive, long bar (and a new, what we presume must be waiting area with large comfy couches). The second/back room remains filled with two- and four-tops. Arriving at a bit after 6 pm, there wasn’t a soul in the second room although about five or six of the booths were already occupied.

We had five dishes and enjoyed them all. In the interest of fidelity to description, I cut-and-paste the list from the (online) menu. This is also the order in which they were received from the kitchen:


patatas con aioli - potato salad with garlic mayonnaise
First up, a generous portion of very garlicky potato salad. Nothing out of the ordinary but very well-done, perfectly cooked and dressed potatoes. Heavy on the garlic but not in the least off-putting. Handled exactly right.


alcachofas rellenas – artichoke hearts stuffed with crab meat served with brandy tomato sauce
Arriving almost at the same moment, four smallish artichoke hearts, each cradling a good full tablespoon of crab. The presentation included a tiny salad of greens and diced tomatoes with an excellent vinaigrette and four blobs (I know no better word) of what appeared to be a sweet red pepper mayonnaise. Neither of us tasted the brandy tomato sauce to speak of and both of us were a little disappointed with the crab. It wasn’t bad in the least, it just didn’t particularly taste of crab. I fear that if blindfolded, we would have been surprised to learn that it was largely crab. It’s not that they skimped on the crabmeat (they didn’t), just that it didn’t have a lot of crabosity (?) to it. Sad, because it was a beautiful presentation, great idea, and enjoyable dish otherwise.


esparagos ala plancha - grilled asparagus with pine nuts and pesto vinaigrette
Next we got another impressive presentation: five large spears of asparagus and a heap of what looked for all the world like chunky guacamole on the side. “What is that,” quoth I? “Pesto vinaigrette?” quotheth the Lovely Dining Companion, reading from the menu. Remarkably enough, yes. Lots of diced tomato “dressed” with a pesto at once boasting a very mild flavor of basil and an assertive but not overpowering dash of vinegar. The asparagus were perfectly grilled, some more diced tomato and roasted pine nuts scattered liberally around and the heap of “vinaigrette” on the side. Who knew? Vinaigrette as guacamole. Excellent dish.


pincho de santander - grilled chicken and cured Spanish chorizo brochette, roasted peppers and a red wine sauce
On to the hot dishes. First up, in honor of my esteemed colleague, the pincho de Santander. In the immortal words in Rachael Ray, “Yum-o”! Not quite as much of this dish as we wanted. Hell, we got one skewer and could have polished off another ten or so. Three slices (!) of Spanish chorizo interspersed with chunks of chicken breast, grilled, resting in a delightful pond of roasted green and yellow peppers and red onions in a red wine sauce. (Not to be churlish, but a pincho (or pintxo, if you’re Basque) means a slice of bread on which is served the main attraction, held in place by the pincho (which means thorn or spike—usually replaced by the ubiquitous toothpick). Here, the bread in the bread bowl was to serve, I guess. Either that or the skewer was the pincho on which the main attraction was, um, impaled.)


cazuela de mariscos – shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, and lobster in a saffron broth over angel hair pasta
Just as satiety began to set in, the last (and largest) dish arrived, a very generous serving of seafood in the cazuela de mariscos. Shrimp, mussels, scallops, a ton of (somewhat chewy) calamari and lobster (advertised but no discrete pieces of which were identifiably present). Lovely. A nice light broth tasted of the sea but could have used a bit more saffron. The dish would have also profited from less calamari; otherwise, it was a nice way to close on a very cold night.

We should also point out that five dishes were definitely enough for us (though, in the interest of complete disclosure, the Lovely Dining Companion gets full a bit sooner than most folks).

Service was fine without being noteworthy. Water glasses were kept filled, plates delivered and removed in promptitude. (We were a little puzzled by the tiny melba-toast-sized loaf of bread and bottle of olive oil left on the table, though. Apparently a hold-over from sunny Il Fiasco days.)

SOAPBOX WARNING!
We have an issue that we’re becoming tired of noting: how about some GOOD bread? We live in Chicago; it’s not hard to get excellent bread. So, please, please spend the extra money and pass the cost along to us. We’re so tired of adequate bread that we’ll happily pay for the “privilege” of getting some good bread.
END OF SOAPBOX

Dessert selection was limited and unexciting (flan, banana with caramel sauce, poached pear, flourless chocolate cake, and profiteroles). Speaking of oddities: not that we’re ever likely have “cordials” in a restaurant, but in perusing that portion of the drinks menu, we were startled—or perhaps I should say dumbfounded—to see that they add a $1 upcharge for cordials “on the rocks.” Apparently the upcharge doesn’t apply to other drinks since the disclaimer appears exclusively in that section of the drinks menu. I can’t even begin to comprehend this. Maybe it’s a new thing, but we’ve never seen it before and the idea of charging $1 for a couple of ice cubes is so flat-out idiotic that I had to make note of it. And ridicule it. I don’t care if you’ve got someone supplying 10,000 year-old ice cut just this morning from the Whereizit Glacier in Lower Upper Eastern West Newfoundland, I’m not paying for ice.

On the other hand, maintaining the excellent standard set by its predecessors in this spot, prices are extremely reasonable. Without drinks or dessert (just tax), our bill came to $32. Who can complain? By the time we left (about 7 pm), the second room was about half-full, thanks in part to a table of sixteen. Quibbles and soapbox aside, we enjoyed the dinner and will return. This is a good (not great) neighborhood restaurant, it’s not a destination. We liked it and we devoutly hope that we don’t have a fifth incarnation just as we get used to this one!

Tapas Las Ramblas
5101 N. Clark Street
773-769-9700

Looks like you had a very fine meal here, and we'll have to check it out. A total tangent in your post, but regarding the $1 upcharge for serving liquor on the rocks. I've had this explained to me, by folks who at least ought to know, as reflecting the need to put a little extra booze in the glass when serving on the rocks, versus neat. Now, why is that? To counteract the melting ice/dilution of the drink, I suppose? And do they actually always pour more booze? Who could say, with the ice cubes in there. Moreover, I don't know if it's true that they pour more on the rocks, never having tended bar. But that's the explanation I was once given; I wonder if others could chime in on this?

Looks like you had a very fine meal here, and we'll have to check it out. A total tangent in your post, but regarding the $1 upcharge for serving liquor on the rocks. I've had this explained to me, by folks who at least ought to know, as reflecting the need to put a little extra booze in the glass when serving on the rocks, versus neat. Now, why is that? To counteract the melting ice/dilution of the drink, I suppose? And do they actually always pour more booze? Who could say, with the ice cubes in there. Moreover, I don't know if it's true that they pour more on the rocks, never having tended bar. But that's the explanation I was once given; I wonder if others could chime in on this?

Sounds skeezy. If anything, liqueurs tend to be short-poured when served on the rocks. I'd ask for mine up in a snifter and a glass of ice, and see if they dare to charge for the ice.

An interesting and almost plausible explanation, but for one thing. At least as the menu read, the charge applied solely to "cordials." If what you were told is accurate--and I have no reason to believe otherwise--I cannot see how it would be applied to those drinks and not to any other drinks. Still, I'm here to be educated and if someone can shed light on that particular tangent, I'd be happy to be edified.

Went to Tapas Las Ramblas with eight friends to celebrate a birthday last night. The cold patatas con aioli (which Gypsy Boy photographed above) was really good. Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. RAB liked the mussels with bacon. I thought they were only okay. The queso de cabra wasn't half as good as Iberico's version. The dates wrapped in bacon were only good because they were hot, and well, dates wrapped in bacon. Not a tough dish to pull off.

Nothing was horrible. But, nothing was good enough to tempt me back. Well, let me take that back - - the tortilla bordered on horrible. Dry, dry, dry and tasteless. IIRC, RAB compared it to eating a sock or a shoe or something else that you wouldn't choose to have for dinner.

The service was friendly and attentive, although part of that may be because the restaurant was so slow. Only a few other tables occupied.

Ronna

I'm embarrassed I still haven't made it up to try the pincho de Santander. I tend to like all tapas places even if not everything is perfect - you can always find at least one dish - so a visit is due. Thanks for the continued reports.

Hard chorizo and lots of roasted red pepper are very Cantabrian (the province of Santander). Wild boar or ox would be even more appropriate on the skewers than chicken, which they love much more next door in Asturias, the province of Oviedo. The latter is Woody Allen's favorite city in Europe and features prominently in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which I love as much for its use of the pre-Romanesque church of Santa Maria de Naranco (the subject of a thesis in a former life) as the kiss between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz. Wait - where was I again?

We have been very impressed with this place. Been 4-5 times. We didn't really like Il Fiasco that was housed here previously, though we know it was the same owners.

Good good for the money, make sure you get a few plates of potatoes to fill out the dishes, along with the bread. And the sangria is really good.

Great pics OP!

Darren72 wrote:As posted by Hopped Up in the Openings and Closings thread:

Hopped Up wrote:Tapas Las Ramblas in a location of the damned in Andersonville (northeast corner of Clark and Carmen) appears to be closed. Sign in the door directing customers to check out a different tapas place (Twist a Tapas on Sheffield if I recall) and mail piling up behind the front door. Phone number is disconnected. Seems like they were doing a good business and food was decent, but didn't survive.

Tapas Las Ramblas
5101 N Clark

http://www.edgevillebuzz.com/news/tapas ... d-for-good

Thanks (especially for including the link to the Edgeville Buzz story).