Just when you think the city may have tired of small plates or Spanish food, you go to a place like Tia Pol, established in 2004, and find it’s still mobbed. What is it about this formula that keeps bringing New Yorkers through the door? For one thing, Tia Pol is fun and lively, loud but not too loud, with good music and even better service. That plus well-executed food means it has a certain x-factor that makes it worth recommending.
To the space “intimate” would be an understatement – when the narrow little slip of a room that houses Tia Pol is full, you have to jockey for position at a small side bar (the actual bar was full of diners) or wait outside for your table. The wait on a recent night – one hour starting at 8pm on a Wednesday
– was mitigated by excellent sangria, which was fruity but not a hair too sweet, and crunchy garbanzos fritos ($4) on the house. The garbanzo beans struck us as particularly authentic. There was a hint of smoky spice to them, but what?
One advantage of waiting for a while is the sneak preview you get of the food as one tapas dish after another passes by. A particularly popular one was the deviled eggs, so D. and I took a cue from the other diners and ordered it up. The presentation was beautiful, with a sprinkling of fine red powder covering the perfectly piped yolk mixture. There it was – that smoky spiciness that could transport you to Barcelona at first bite. What was the spice? Our waitress clued us in: smoked paprika, or pimenton. It combines the best of several worlds, flavor-wise: slightly sweet, peppery paprika, a deviled-egg standard, but with the faint but distinct aroma of smoke. Delicious.
This chorizo al jerez ($8) cooked with rosemary and sherry, which pooled a little at the bottom and added a nice fragrant edge to the dish, was wonderfully plump and juicy. The only sad thing was that it didn’t come with shrimp – that tapas standard is not on the menu here.
These gildas ($1.50 each) packed a lot of flavor with a combination of ondarroan anchovies, pickled peppers, and olives. Ours were served a little too close to refrigerator temperature but improved as they warmed up.
Brandada ($7) is always a careful balance between potato and salt cod, and in this case it was a little too heavy on the potato, making it a bit bland. Still, they got the fluffy, airy interior and crispy top just right.
And of course, it’s hard to resist patatas bravas ($7) anytime you’re within reach of them. Tia Pol’s were quite good, with a generous helping of spicy aioli and best of all, more of that smoked paprika.
We didn’t get to order as many dishes as I would like to try – the tortilla espanola ($6) also looked quite good, as did the gambas a la plancha ($7.50), and the pork loin and piquillo sandwich ($9.50) – but alas, that will always be the issue with restaurants so tiny that you’re better off with a table for two. The only solution seems to be another visit – and in the meantime, learning how to make those deviled eggs.
Tia Pol
205 10th Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Streets
West Chelsea
New York, NY
(212) 675-8805
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bellastraniera
a.k.a. Marcy Swingle - obsessed with food and fashion.
An excellent restaurant to hang out!!
Ok…I know I am a foodie and have travelled quite a bit and been to lot many places but the one city which is always an extension of mine is undoubtedly New York. I am proud to wear my Nike NY cap and cheer my Basketball team without fail. I have been to almost all the food joints, restaurants, pubs and bars located in Manhattan and I must say they all are pretty good considering this age of twittering and Face book wherein if you fail once your name pops up on all the social networking websites with negative comments. This is a welcome change becoz ultimately we the customers become the king as shoddy service or bad quality food can easily land the owners into trouble.
But the one place which has succeeded in amazing me is the newly refurbished Restaurant named Point Break. Formerly named as Nation Restaurant & Bar, Point Break is a new Surf Bar located in the heart of mid-town Manhattan. Now I remember sometime back I had been to this place when it had the old look and feel and I thought ok..seems to be an average place..what’s the big deal? But even during my last visit when it was still in its old shape it served me excellent food and the service was razor sharp. So last Saturday when one of my friend threw a party and told me the venue to be a swanky new outlet which he was speaking so highly about I thought ok..let’s try this one too. When he told me about the address I wasn’t sure it was the same place but when I reached there the whole look and feel from Outside was changed and once I entered in, the earlier known Nation was truly looking like a break from the past and hats off this guy, I don’t remember the name of the owner, but he has rightly renamed it as Point Break!! It appeals to the newer generation guys like me. We had a great time there. The menu featured old classics and new additions. I loved the wheel o’ shots which made me crazy!! I had the fish tacos which was delicious..yummeee and it has got plenty of room for parties, the DJ that they had was great, excellent sound system as well and the drinks were strong and I had a look at the menu and thought the prices were pretty good.
Guys on top of it the next day when I searched this place on the internet, this restaurant has a Face book page too wherein they post photos and updates of recent happenings/parties and upcoming events/parties/offers too. They tweet also which is really nice thinking by the owner.
Anyways not wanting to sound like a paid blogger I would say as a foodie this restaurant is a nice one and I would not hesitate to give my recommendation for it to my guests coming in from out of town. Go and try once and do not hesitate to leave a comment once you are there. I know I am only going to get thumbs up from you all!!!
Ciao…
John Smith, NYC
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