Tapas in Newark

[jtphjl]

Looking for tapas in Newark (Mid December date) and was consiering Mompou. Any recent visitors? Feedack? or other recommendations?

Thanks!

Jan

[Curlz]

I haven't been there yet, but a friend of mine swears by Mompou for tapas AND atmosphere.

[lano]

I haven't been there yet, but a friend of mine swears by Mompou for tapas AND atmosphere.

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been to mompou 4-5 times. Good for tapas and drinks. Nothing earth shattering, but good. Atmosphere reminds me a bit like the bar in Adega Grill, though bigger. Have also heard good things about Vivo for tapas, a block or so up ferry st.

[richl2214]

I like Mompou better than Adega. They have some great tapas and the atmosphere is much better. Try the octopus

[lano]

had dinner/drinks at mompou tonight. As I previously stated that the atmosphere was similar to Adega bar, I stand corrected-- atmosphere was much better than I remembered. Very lively, if not a bit too loud. A packed room thinned out around 7:30-8 to just a few tables very quickly. Was a guitarist who started around 8-- very good.

Onto the food-- ordered the following:

1. Meiga salad-- so-so mozz, unripened cherry tomatoes, very ripe avocadoes and watercress with a tasty vinaigrette. Unforgettable.

2. Chorizo slices served in a spicy garlic broth with a couple toasted slices of a dense portuguese bread. Delicious.

3. Chicken Meatballs with an almond garlic sauce-- also had some wild mushroooms, touch of garlic, and sauce was slightly creamy, though was not a cream sauce. Possibly finished with a creamy cheese. Good-- meatballs were surprisingly moist, though garlic used was definitely jarred variety-- had the acidic taste of jarred garlic and later confirmed by viewing a jar in semi-open kitchen.

4. Tortilla Herminia--Spanish tortilla with Yukon gold potatoes, onions, spinach with a stilton bleu cheese sauce. Sounded much better than it was. I thought Stilton sauce would be warm, as I have had many divine warm bleu cheese sauces, but this was much closer to a Stilton Bleu Cheese dressing. Sauce was not good.

5. Griled Lamb Chops w/ Wild Mushrooms, butter and garlic. Very nice tasty crust on the lamb chops and cooked to a nice medium rare-- very simple, yet was executed well.

Overall, the food sounded much better than it was. Again, garlic was not fresh and there was a slightly acidic taste to dishes with it. Good atmosphere. Dessert was "Creme Catalan", which was supposedly Creme Brulee with Chunks of Chocolate. Awful. No Crust on top and was apparently not torched, though was supposed to be. Did not finish it. Meal and a bottle of wine came to $110, no tip.

Overall, was good.

Edited December 5, 2008 by lano (log)

[vsasson]

I haven't been there yet, but a friend of mine swears by Mompou for tapas AND atmosphere.

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been to mompou 4-5 times. Good for tapas and drinks. Nothing earth shattering, but good. Atmosphere reminds me a bit like the bar in Adega Grill, though bigger. Have also heard good things about Vivo for tapas, a block or so up ferry st.

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Strangely, they do not have any sherry, which is great with tapas. Might be Portuguese-owned, judging by the ports listed on the drink menu. The food is good, though not up to the dishes we had at Casa Mono in Manhattan, but compared to the cramped and noisy Casa Mono, there is plenty of stretch-out room. We will try Vivo, a tapas place a few blocks down Ferry Street, next time.

[Dmarie]

We ate here last night. There is a nice patio out back. We were seated here until we saw them bring out the big glass ashtrays for the smokers. The patio is definitely not a place for non smokers.

Inside the front doors were opened to the street.They brought over a nice bread with an oil dipping sauce. Some items come in two sizes.There were some specials as well.

We ordered the chorizo, yukon potatoes, tortilla with the stilton , chicken skewers, a fruit and cheese plate and a small pitcher of sangria. There were three of us it was around $ 80 before the tip. Service was attentive and very courteous.We left about 7:30 , but there were never more than a few tables.

We walked around afterward looking for dessert but didn't find anything interesting.