Café Europa

Hankering some small Spanish dishes (tapas to be untechnical) last night (Jaleo ummmm), we revisited Café Europa in Shockoe Bottom. Our first visit to this place was far from satisfactory with some really terrible service and forgettable food. The last time around, our food arrived late. We didn’t get our bread till right before the meal and our waiter didn’t get us our drinks. We didn’t even see our waiter for around 10 minutes and naturally he disappeared once he took our order. We had to complain to the hostess (and 2 tries later) got our drinks!! But… we decided to give this place a second shot.

Wrong decision!

This time, they outdid themselves. Our food took 50 minutes to arrive!! Now, any kitchen might be overwhelmed and understaffed on a given night, that too a Sunday night. So fine, but it definitely behooves the staff to at least stop by after 20-30 minutes and inform the table of the delay. We got nothing. After flagging down our waitress at approx breaking point (40 minutes), we were informed “2 more minutes”. The manager showed up and apologized (fine). We declined his offer for more bread and a round of drinks. Another 10 minutes later, the food arrives. Despite the nature of the restaurant, this place believes in delivering all the food at once (debatable?)

Now this is a “tapas” restaurant, with a fairly standard “Mediterranean and Spanish-inspired” menu. There were the usual risottos, paellas, a couple of chorizo-type small dishes, a few plates of cheeses, nuts and olives, helpfully split between seafood, meat and vegetarian categories. We picked a mix of 6 plates. Our last trip we had picked 7 and found that a bit too much.

The bread which also arrived late was terrible. It was undercooked and hence a bit chewy in spots, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar which really didn’t do much to rescue it. Quickies on what we had: asparagus with parmesan cheese (fair), croquettes of potatoes with sundried tomato (good), rockfish ceviche (decent), stuffed shrimp wrapped in jamon (tasteless), stuffed piquillo peppers with chorizo and chicken (decent) and braised duck (terrible, gave me a little stomach ache after). The previous time, I can only remember the grilled squid (burnt) and the salmon (dull).

The good: I’m not completely bashing the place. They have a pleasant little lounge downstairs, a nice brick façade and décor and a fairly large menu. On our visits, a couple of the dishes were pretty decent but such a low strike rate isn’t worth it, especially since the ones that weren’t were terrible. So statistically speaking it is possible to get a good meal at Europa (service notwithstanding). In contrast, when I think of Jaleo, maybe 1 or 2 dishes would be off the mark, if at all.

The check came to around $50 (needless to say we didn’t stay for dessert). Should we have been comp’d something (maybe one dish)? Perhaps. To be fair, I guess the manager did offer us a drink, right? I don’t think it would have made a difference (certainly wouldn’t have been a big deal financially) but it would have reflected some degree of customer care on the part of the restaurant (ie we’re sorry we didn’t get you the food on time and definitely sorry for not even checking up on you while you waited).

Bottomline: F/C-. Café Europa is definitely off the list. The service is horrendous, the food not worth it.

from good italian to bad

A terrible dining experience was during a quick visit to Pasta Luna prior to catching a movie (Michael Clayton is a pretty good movie btw). This place billed itself as the best Italian food in all of Richmond for many years in a row. This "award" presumably from our old friends @ Richmond magazine was obviously taken with a heaping of NaCl (see first post) but boy, what an exaggerated pat on the back that was.
The bread was cold, the pasta was overcooked and just terrible tastewise. The tomato sauce tasted like it came from a can. My chicken marsala was stringy and the end product of some sad poultry process. The sauce with the mushrooms no better. What a change from good italian (ie sensi)
The best part of the meal - We were out in a jiffy.

Grade: F.

sensi

My first dining experience in Richmond when I visited is now my latest! And I was impressed by this place back then and on my second visit, I still continue to think that it is a very good dining experience.
A very burgundy (from the chairs to the table to the carpet), dimly lit interior greets you as you enter the dining area passing an oddly solitary statue with raised arms. Perhaps this is to remind you that you are about to enter "italia". A metallic bronze link curtain separates the bar from the main dining area. Under the glare of the spot lit tables, the restaurant didnt look quite so dim anymore. I was left wondering what the strange mural on the back wall was all about!
To start out, we had the caprese with mozarella and tomato with grana padano and balsamic vinegar. This classic caprese did disappoint slightly because of the blandness of the tomato and what we felt was a little undersalting of the dish.
A nice touch to the menu is the "half" portions of the pastas. We still ended up getting two different pastas for the main course, but if one is interested in a lighter meal, a half portion is more than enough. I wasnt too taken in by the gnocchi although my dining companion disagreed with me. Again a trifle undersalted, this was quickly rectified.
I had the rack of lamb encrusted with mustard seeds and served with napa grapes. The sauce and the grapes, tiny and perfectly sour/sweet went perfectly with the meat. I did wish that there were some vegetables or some member of the carbohydrate-family to complement the meat and the grapes. That not withstanding, this was a very well prepared entree and the portion that accompanied me home for dinner the next day entertained my palate equally well.

I will probably devote another posting on this apparent ubiquity of large portion sizes in and around Richmond.

We did save some room for dessert and amidst a bevy of rather pedestrian sounding options recited to us by our server, a delicious bodino with strawberry compote stood out. This turned out to be an absolutely delightful capping of a good meal. Creamy and delicious with strawberries and raspberries, it disappeared quickly. Our check came to around $120 (incl. tax+tip) with a drink each, shared appetizer, an entree each and a shared dessert.
Service: Our waiter was very good. Not only did he have an excellent grasp of the menu, but was also prompt in service and generally very engaging. While I dont recall the service on my last visit, I'm pretty sure it was very good then as well.
Bottomline: This place was definitely an excellent, if expensive dinner. B

Sensi: 2222 E Cary St, Richmond, VA 23223. Maps

Nara Sushi

Cheap dining (or accurately eating) options, quite naturally, seem to abound around VCU. While I havent yet gotten to explore much of this, I shall be posting every now and then of my lunch adventures, sans the mentions of the chains of course !
The first stop I mention is a place I've been to a few times now. Nara is a little sushi place that has provided quite a few satisfactory lunches so far. I've experimented with the sushi/rolls, the chirashi, noodles and I must say, what is probably one of the best lunch-deals around - an extremely filling lunch box for $6.50. And to very satisfactory result in most cases !
The menu is very simplistic (ie what have become "sushi" staples across the country -tuna, salmon etc) with a few other ubiquitous options thrown in. Prices are very cheap. I had a throw back to Kotobuki in DC on seeing the prices (no where near in taste of course!). The seafood appeared and tasted fresh. I must mention that the sushi while not great is very satisfactory nonetheless and tad better than standard grocery store fare. One might argue that simple california rolls and their ilk isnt much to write home about but at least they do the basics right. The tempuras were ok, I wasnt too taken in by the taste of a shrimp tempura I had there. I also didnt like the noodles very much. They were devoid of any substantial accoutrements and rather bland. Also one other -ve that comes to mind is the wasabi. While I wasnt expecting authentic wasabi, Nara has some version that just doesnt kick any thing let alone a tastebud.

The decor is one of those faux japan types with an inflatable sumo wrestler, kimono-ed dolls, a few mandatory bamboo umbrellas and some pictures of Mt. Fuji (I guess). Clean and spartan if a little worn down. Service is pretty decent and every time I've been there, the food arrived in a timely manner and they certainly took care to see that I never ran short on a water supply ! The check with tax and tip average between $8-$15 pp.

Bottomline: You will not find an omakase meal here, superior sashimi or any complex and innovative melanges of ingredients by the chef but for a cheap and simple lunch, this place is extremely satisfactory.C. Now dinner there might be a different ballgame.......