Pamplona

I went to Pamplona for lunch with a friend today. It's a Spanish restaurant on 28th st between Park and Madison - a bit of a weird location, but at least it's close to my work! We decided to opt out of entrees and just get tapas.

1) Bunuelos de Queso - Iberico cheese, Manchego cheese, and Cider fritters. Each little bunuelo (fried ball) had a mixture of the three inside. I ALWAYS love fried goat cheese whenever i have tapas at other places, so this was a nice alternative and probably one of my favorite tapas at Pamplona. I really liked the cider that was mixed in inside.

2) Pincho de Chorizo y Gambas - the order came with 2 pinchos - one skewer over toast with goat cheese. I really liked this tapa/pincho as well, not only because I like all of the ingredients, but just the fact that it was on toast with a goat cheese spread. It really made the dish more tasty and interesting.

3) Patatas Bravas - unlike most things on Pamplona's menu, this is perhaps the most traditional/typical tapa ever. in spite of that, some places make really awesome patatas bravas. unforunately, there wasn't anything too notable about Pamplona's. it wasn't as crispy or tasty as the patatas bravas I've had at other places.

4) Bocadillo de Jamon - with Jamon Serrano and Iberico cheese. unlike bocadillos I've had before, this one used something more resemblant of Italian white bread with no crust. It was like the bread 'ino uses for their paninis. So this bocadillo was slightly different from what I've always had, but it was so good - very tasty, crispy, the bread almost dripping with olive oil which I do like. I just wish it were a bigger portion for the $9 price tag.

5) Bocadillo de Conejo - the same thing as above except with rabbit and crema de cabra. I loved this bocadillo too. It was the first time I've really ever had rabbit. The thought weirded me out at first, but rabbit just tastes pretty similar to chicken. While this bocadillo was more interesting in terms of ingredients, I think I still preferred the taste of the Bocadillo de Jamon.

6) Churros con chocolate - for whatever reason, not too many Spanish restaurants in the city serve this typical dessert. This one was pretty good. Nowhere as good as the ones I've had in Madrid, but it was good enough. I liked the melted Valhrona chocolate too.

Overall, this is a pretty good Spanish restaurant. It's not as traditional or Spanish in ambiance/atmosphere as all the other Spanish restaurants I've been to. It had a more modern decor. Since I spent a summer in Spain, a Spanish restaurant in NYC that actually has Spanish ambiance makes a big difference to me. Such restaurants would be Las Ramblas and Tia Pol, as their waiters and waitresses seem to be either Spanish born and raised or people who've spent a lot of time in Spain. Pamplona is certainly worth a try though. I wouldn't mind coming back again to try the chorizo with suckling pig hamburguesa and the paella.