Esquina

After a couple of visits, I've decided that I enjoy the casual chic of a tapas bar that's Esquina. The food is decent, giving you a twist to Spanish food. It serves up a good Spanish omelette and a spicy beef tartare that's almost on par with restaurants in other cities. Frankly, we don't have excellent Spanish restaurants in Singapore, compared to say nearby Shanghai and Beijing. So I'll take what I can get.

I've not had a problem getting seats (they don't take reservations; last orders at 10.30pm) on each visit. Probably because of the timings I choose to pop in. I've only gone in twos or threes, and we usually don't mind sitting outside along the five-foot-way. Those al fresco seats might be slightly more comfortable than the metal high chairs at the counter. Unlike Ivan, I've never been curious about the other patrons who share the counter.

I'm not a big eater, so their portions for tapas work for me. By no means stingy, their portions are good to share among two or three people. The meats are rich (think baked bone marrow with snails, parsley and horseradish pesto, and veal sweetbread and foie gras empanada with burnt onion and caper jam), so sharing is definitely prudent. Order more items if you're starving. Three of us could polish off 8 dishes, no problem. The difficulty- we tend to have drinks before coming to Esquina, so control must be exercised in not ordering bar bites to fill the stomach. It's no fun coming to Esquina to eat one dish.

There're many items on the menu to suit different dietary preferences. Vegetarian is not an issue either. They're happy to whip up something on-the-spot. Vegan would be slightly dicey though. The one dish that I crave and love- heritage tomato and sherry dressing. That is so awesome. Sweet, bitter, tangy, mushy and crunchy all at once. A total perk-me-up. It's not so much of the treatment I like. Anyone can replicate it at home. It's those tomatoes that are amazing.

Awesome heritage tomatoes in sherry dressing.

Dessert. Depending on chef's moods, there might be a complimentary dessert on the house. I really don't mind their sangria ice-cream that has a consistency of a sorbet. Not that sweet. It's purplish. I believe I've this thing for purple in my food or drinks. I like things in a shade of purple! I've had this for the last few visits. WIEEEEEE. Watermelon salad, gazpacho and basil sorbet. Surprise surprise. The man doesn't like it! Muahahahahaha. Well, it's dessert, but in terms of taste, not exactly. It's not sweet. You really need to like basil to take to this combination of flavors. Liking watermelon itself doesn't work. This dessert can be odd and disturbing. Bold. I love it.

You know what will be the icing for the evening? If there's a boutique cocktail bar next door, or if Esquina serves up great cocktails in addition to their floral beers and wine. :) Each time we go, we rarely order drinks. Maybe a beer. But none of us are into their selections of beer, and we never bother with wine. For some reason, we've never enquired about whether there's a whisky list.

Basil sorbet plonked amidst a gazpacho of watermelon.