Tintos Spanish Restaurant & Wine Bar has opened in that hidden nook of the River Oaks Shopping Center, in the space formerly occupied by sad, sad Hunan River.
The stylish tapas bar seems much more of a fit here. And if my first visit, Friday at happy hour, is any indication, Tintos is a winner.
I picked a cozy spot at the end of the bar and made a new friend in Boyd, the bartender. The tapas menu looked interesting (salt cod croquettes with pineapple and mango mojo and grilled quail with caccao chocolate glaze) and there were a couple of happy hour specials. But being cranky hungry, I went straight for seafood paella.
Coupled with a $5-a-glass HH malbec, the paella was a treat. You could smell it as soon as it emerged from the kitchen and winded its way around the bar. The deftly-spiced dish was studded with shrimp, fish, mussels and calamari and topped with a perfectly cooked baby octopus.
(A quibble and I know I shouldn't when a restaurant is this new: the mussels were just too tiny. Why bother?)
And now I feel really bad about the quibble because I just reviewed my check and discovered that I was charged $13 for the paella instead of the menu price of $18.
Anyway, looking forward to visiting Boyd and Tintos again.
My wife and I went to Tinto's during their soft opening about a week ago. We weren't quite as impressed as you were. My wife knows Spanish cuisine pretty well having lived there for 5 months. We had 4 tapas - I forget them all right now - and the paella. The croquettes were very good and very authentic. We didn't love the rest of it. The most important part of any paella dish is the rice and we felt that fell considerably short. The mussels were very "fishy" too, which took away our enjoyment.
They had a nice wine list, including a decent number of Spain. Our review of the paella may be a little harsh but after you've had Rioja's ... it's hard to be objective. We may try Tinto's again after they've been up and running for a little longer than a few hours.
Rioja's is on my short must-try list. I'll be curious to see how this place grows. It has so much potential.
It has a lot of potential simply because of location. The food needs to step up, however.
Rioja's is a bit of a haul for me from Pearland but it's completely worth it as the paella is really the best I've had. You have to try it soon.
I just love the tapa eating style. For convenience, my wife and I go to Mi Luna frequently and just order tapas and a pitcher of sangria. Their paella also leaves a little to be desired next to Rioja's.
I have to agree with Brent. I went there a few weeks ago on a date, and was really not impressed with the overall experience. Our waiter knew nothing about the wine list and never offered to get the somelier/manager/etc., which really is a disservice to their customers when they have such an extensive list. The food was marginal, at best - the fish was not fresh, the paella was not good, and we were charged for a double order of paella when we had only ordered a single order. Bottom line, we left hungry, having spent considerably more than the meal was worth.
thanks
Buy Spanish Rioja
Languedoc Wine
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