TAPAS, POR FAVOR

I recently visited Santa Barbara over the weekend, and I met up with friends for a few glasses of wine along busy State Street. We stumbled upon a Spanish tapas restaurant/bar called Matador Tapas Bar & Spanish Steakhouse, and decided to give it a try. While our main draw for the place was wine, we became interested in their menu of small dishes. Our waitress, Jessie, turned us on to a bottle of Argentinian cabernet sauvignon called “Terrazas,” which she described as having an “explosion” of tastes. She was spot-on with the description, and we found the wine absolutely enjoyable. For eats, we decided to go with both frias y calientes. Our cold selection was the Seleccion Matador, or special selection antipasto, a nice mixture of cheeses, olives, bread and Spanish cured meats. It was a sure-thing, and we ate it up. The green and brown olives were not strong tasting, but very mild; a nice compliment to the mild cheeses and meats as well. It would’ve been more interesting to have more daring flavors, but it seemed that the establishment decided to go for “safe” rather than “exotic.” We found the same to be true with the warm dish, Plato Mixto – a dish of chicken & beef skewers, miniature lamb chops, and a mixture of roasted veggies. While the flavors were good enough to be enjoyed, they could’ve pushed the envelope a little bit and added more fuel to the fire. To be fair, we didn’t try any of the restaurant’s main dishes, but we were left a little wanton after the tapas. The wine, however, made up for the experience.

I give Matador an A- for ambience. It has a nice, dark interior which makes it a nice place for a “date night.” There are interesting art pieces on the walls, and you get the feeling that you’re in a cozy wine bar. It doesn’t scream “trendy” at all, but definitely is more comfortable. For food, I give it a C+. For a nice place with nice wines, I expected more flavors to come alive in their dishes.

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Matador Tapas Bar & Latin Steakhouse, 714 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805.965.1307