Tapas Valencia vs. Cafe Iberico

I love me some tapas, and when I'm feeling more budget-y than say Mercat or even Ba-Ba-Reeba I enjoy Iberico as a casual spot -- it's not blow-your-mind, but it's good enough and reasonably priced. I've found it can be very loud, however.

I've never been to Tapas Valencia in the South Loop, though it looks similar-ish to Iberico. For those of you who have been to both places, which do you prefer and why?

I haven't been to TV, so I can't answer your question the way you have phrased it; hopefully others can. However, I've been to CI several times for lunch, and I like it a lot. It's not at all loud at lunchtime, and the fact that they don't take reservations for smaller parties is not a problem, both because they're never even close to full at lunch. And of course CI is the only choice for lunch, since TV is not open for lunch (other than Sunday brunch). However, if you're going for dinner, especially on a Friday or Saturday evening, the fact that TV accepts reservations may be a consideration in choosing between the two.

I've been to Meson Sabika (sister restaurant to TV, in Naperville) several times for both lunch and dinner. It was good, but I've preferred the food at CI to MS. OTOH, MS has a wonderful dessert called Tarta de Pera which is also on the menu at TV; if you go to TV, don't miss it.

HTH!

nsxtasy wrote:I've been to CI several times for lunch, and I like it a lot.

As it happens, I had lunch at Café Iberico again today, and was reminded why I like it so much. Every dish was excellent. I was especially impressed with the pulpo a la plancha; I often order octopus, and this may be the best preparation I've had in the entire city. I also loved the arroz con leche (rice pudding) for dessert. The other two dishes we had, the mejillones (mussels) and paella iberica, were both very good as well. I was reminded too of how generous the portions were, which I had forgotten; thank goodness we didn't over-order, since two of us were more than satisfied with those three savory dishes plus the one dessert.