Until recently.
I had no expectations, thanks to the bipolarity of the opinions of some people I know; some like the place very much, some think it's overrated. The only things I did know is that I'd never been, I wanted a drink, and I wanted small portions of food. For the uninitiated, tapas are basically Spanish small plates - small portions of food that is shared at the table. Thus, Tapa The World met my food criteria. Oh, and there's a bar, too. Drink criteria: met.
For those in my position, it's a very cozy place. It's dim and festive with a relative small number of tables inside. And the tables for two are... small. To put it nicely. With a glass of water each for my dining companion and me, a basket of bread, two menus, and a drink list, the table was already out of space for our incoming glasses of wine and eventual dishes.
Our server was nice. Bonus points to her for recommending a very, very enjoyable glass of white wine based on my tastes (a verdot)... I know nothing about Spanish wines.
Then the food came, which meant less room on the table. We ordered one plate at a time, which was a wise decision, although I did end up ordering the dipping sauce for the bread - extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic - because while the bread was decent, it was missing... pizzazz. Good texture but definitely meant to be dipped. I will note that this is the first I've experienced where such a basic dipping sauce needed to be ordered. Still, it made my bread happy.
I noticed that, for a restaurant the specializes in tapas (I mean, it's in the name), the tapas menu itself is small. The tapas themselves make up just under half of the menu. Everything else consists of salads and entrees. On one hand, that was a little disappointing. On the other hand, more tapas means larger menu which means making it harder on kitchen. On the whole, there were plenty of tapas to choose from... kind of. My dining companion for the evening did not want to eat certain things, so, wanting to share, I did not order any shellfish. I'll return for those at a later day.
First, the Croquetas del Dia, that night made with beef and kalamata olives. Creamy. "How's that, you say?" Yeah, I know. Looking at the ground beef filling, you'd never guess that it had a creamy texture, but it did. There was no visual sign of kalamata olives, nor a real presence in the flavor; I can only imagine that a very fine mine or puree was used. In any case, with the aioli, these Croquetas were delicious.
I was tempted to order more, but next we'd decided on the Pinchos Morunos - skewered Kurobuta pork seasoned with cumin, pimenton, chilies, drizzled with garlic aioli. Dark and flavorful on the outside, the first bite is at once pleasant and confusing, until you realize there's no reason to be confused. The meat seemed dry at first but it really wasn't. It was tender. Tender, delicious, and delicious.
Finally, the Calamares Fritos - essentially, fried calamari. I had hoped for something more than just breaded, fried rings, but that's what was on the plate. Upon first glance I was disappointed. I unjustly wanted fried calamari prepared in a way I'd not had before, but at it's most fundamental, fried and breaded calamari is simply fried and breaded calamari. The rest is the seasoning and accompanying sauce.
It was the most tender fried calamari I can remember having. Soft, with very little bite, each fried ring begat a need for another bite.
There were some odd things on the menu, most notably the day's empanadas with curried beef. That's not Spanish. Of course, the menu does say they feature traditional Spanish tapas along with chef creations, which use ingredients from around the world. On some level, I like that. There's nothing wrong with fusing other cuisines with a base cuisine. On the other hand, I really just wanted Spanish food. Tapas. I don't get tapas very often, and there are only a couple of restaurants in Sacramento that feature tapas as a main attraction. When I want tapas, I want Spanish food. But, it's not necessary to take marks off for that.
 | I was transported to Spain. |
 | I wanted to keep eating, but the table was too small. |
 | Damn good... but if it weren't for this and that... |
 | It was alright. I mean, yeah... it was alright. |
 | I still don't know what tapas are, and this place didn't help. |
I think Tapa The World is worth 4 stars. There's no denying that the food is delicious and the ambience is quite nice. The service is friendly and prompt. But I was admittedly surprised by how large the menu was overall but how little space the tapas occupied. Plus, those are some pretty small tables for two. No matter. I shall return for the quality of the food.
Tapa The World
2115 J St.
Sacramento, CA 95816
916-442-4353
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