Trailing Tapas y Vino – Redondo Beach

Bar Comida was crowded. So crowded there was no comfortable place to stand, even around the bar. But there’s usually a good reason to wait, and if we didn’t have a movie to catch I would have stood outside all night. But we did have a movie to catch, and both we and the movie weren’t getting any younger so we settled for Tapas y Vino. Same genre, just a little further down the street.

We figured we couldn't go wrong with a standard sampler, but the Assorted Meat and Cheese Plate showed us exactly why this place was totally empty on a Saturday night. You see, it's not an assortment when half the stuff tastes the same. I don't know if I could tell the chorizo and salumi apart when blindfolded. No complaints about the Jamon Serrano, but I've had better in a common bocadilla. Then we have the common manchego and a "baby brie" which means brie minus half the flavor that makes it brie. And I'm not sure when the Spanish started making white cheddar, but I’m pretty sure they never did.

The assorted plate made it pretty easy for the next plate to impress. And the Roasted Beets definitely stepped it up to a higher grade of mediocre. You can't beat beets and goat cheese, but the beets were weirdly watery, and I couldn't really taste much more than beet water and cheese.

I’m a sucker for Lamb Lollipops, and the mint pesto really made this dish. Definitely not the best lamb I’ve ever had, but by far not the worst.

Next time Bar Comida is crowded, I’ll  just skip the movie. Going from the ravely-reviewed down to the marginally mediocre is about as appealing as trading Hunger Games for the two-hour torture of Ender’s Game. Both have the word game in it, but just because both places make tapas doesn’t mean they make them the same.