Olé Tapas Lounge

It's unfortunate to be a Spanish tapas restaurant within a fifty mile radius of Jose Garces' Amada and Tinto in Philadelphia. You are going to be measured by the high bar Garces has set, and, probably, not measure up. And that was the case with our first visit to Olé Tapas Lounge in Newark, DE.

It was probably a mistake to dine at Olé Tapas on Valentine's and being forced to order their prix fixe menu, but if their website or the person who took my reservation over the phone had mentioned the holiday menu, I probably would have saved Olé Tapas for some other evening.

I'm not fond of prix fixe menus because: 1) half of the time restaurants don't have vegetarian options (Olé Tapas was thoughtful enough to accommodate vegetarians); 2) vegetarians can always eat cheaper off the menu; and 3) you don't get to order the foods you like. But it was what it was, and our party of four settled. Plus, the seven courses with seven wine pairings for $70 per person was not that bad of a deal.

Olé Tapas sits in a strip mall between a Dunkin Donuts and a Jackson Hewitt. The interior with crescent booths, large round tables, and bar has a feel of new construction trying to be warm and cozy, but misses the cozy mark. Large tables sit as islands in the aisle between booths on the wall and the bar, making the dining experience not so intimate, and a TV above the bar tuned to sports seemed out of place in a restaurant that is obviously not a sports bar.

Things started off rough when our server appeared fifteen minutes after we sat down to apologize for not seeing us and bringing water. Didn't see us?

The night's menu was printed on cards, but the wine pairings and vegetarian options were not. So when our first course was dropped off without any description and the wine did not appear until five minutes later, also without an explanation, we all started thinking, "Um...hello!" It took a couple rounds of courses having to explicitly ask the server what we were being served and what the wine was (she could only point to the wines on the list) before she got into the groove of informing our party what we were eating. Our server was plenty nice, patient, and accommodating, so I'll have to blame the managers/owners for not training their servers how to present food and wine pairings.
Everyone at our table agreed that the pumpkin hummus was a winner with it's subtle pumpkin flavor and velvety texture. The flavors aren't huge with this humus, but are still delightful.
This peasant-type dish of garbanzos (the server called them lentils) with spinach and onions was the best dish of the evening, and, while I did not see this dish on their regular menu, it should be added to the menu (Update: it's on the menu as garbanzos con chistorra, but you'll have to request it be made without the sausage if you're veg.) The spices (my palate has been failing me lately on singling out spices) were complex and interesting.
The third course befuddled us all. Olé Tapas called this thick potato soup-like dish a potato omelette. I get that traditional Spanish tortillas are like omelettes with potatoes, but this was neither a tortilla nor an omelette. With a fried waffle-cut potato chip atop a thick potato slurry, this dish tasted like liquid sour cream and onion potato chips. Not a bad thing, just not an omelette.
This salad of greens, red onions, pickled grapes and a strong cheese (don't eat with a notebook, sorry) was interesting just because of the pickled grapes, which I enjoyed quite a bit, but another at our table was put off by the whole plate. To each his own, I guess.
A glass of Cava poured over strawberry sorbet and a strawberry seemed like a cop-out course and wine pairing, but was quite delightful. I would have preferred a glass of Cava unmuddied by sorbet alongside a cup of sorbet unmuddied by Cava. And to each his own, again!
The main course of mushroom and goat cheese tart with accompanying onions, pumpkin, peppers and beets was quite large and filling. The tart filling was musty and mushroomy good, but the tart shell itself was flavorless and lacking the elusive flakiness. The vegetables were mushy and lacking interesting spices – kinda like baby food.
The study of chocolate dessert course was hit or miss. The white chocolate ice cream with raspberry swirl tasted great, but was already ice cream soup when it landed on our table. The chocolate tart with toasted almonds was flavorless and lacking intensity. The truffles rolled in cocoa, on the other hand, were quite intense and satisfied the chocolate craving that the tart could not.

I can't say we had anything unpleasant at Olé Tapas, but, other than the garbanzo and spinach plate, there was nothing that excited me or made me want to return and order it again. Unfortunately, Olé Tapas is missing the intense flavors and brilliant combinations that Garces delivers just 40 miles down the road.

I will say that in comparison to Delaware's other Spanish tapas restaurant, Orillas in downtown Wilmington, Olé Tapas has a wider selection of vegetarian dishes and cheaper prices. And if you eat at the bar on weekdays during happy hour, you can't beat Olé's half-price tapas. And on weekends, Olé has half-price wine bottles. (Update: just check their website for specials; they apparently change.) Orillas in downtown Wilmington wins on atmosphere, though, with their tighter more intimate quarters in an older building with exposed brick walls. Either way, Delawareans, you at least have a couple decent Spanish tapas options if you're just too pooped to drive into Philly.

Olé Tapas Lounge
1126 Capitol Trail (Kirkwood Hwy), Newark, DE 19711
302-224-9378
Mon.-Thurs., 11:45am-9pm; Fri., 11:45am-11pm; Sat., 4pm-11pm; Sun., 4pm-9pm