Tapas
Teatro
1711 N
Charles St.
Baltimore,
MD 21201
Phone: (410)
332-0110
Hours: Tues-Fri 5pm to 2am & Sat-Sun 4pm to 2am
www.tapasteatro.com
Tapas Teatro is a little treasure
located in Downtown North, right next to the Charles Theatre. It does not take
reservations and is very small but the food is well worth the wait. The chef is
completely on top of his game. Keep your eye out for this adorable, yet quiet
guy with his ball cap pulled low over his eyes.
We were fortunate enough to be introduced to the chef; he has a truly
humble spirit.
We had a very, very good meal here. The
food was electric, bold and heartwarming. The décor consists of exposed brick, windows
all along the front which are opened up when the weather is warm, dark colored
wood and red paneling. There is an L-shaped bar and tiny restrooms. This
restaurant has a very artsy feel. Tapas Teatro is of course a great place to go
before or after taking in a show at the historic Charles Theatre, as well as a
good place to go with friends, family, coworkers or your significant other. The
menu changes frequently, so there is not an updated menu, rather a sample menu
is outlined on its website. We enjoyed
our waitress. She was very attentive and
helpful; she was able to answer all of our questions about the menu. The prices here are rather affordable and
quite reasonable. The two of us enjoyed
this meal for a total of $80. There is paid
street parking and a cheap garage across the street. Overall we give Tapas Teatro ♪♪♪♪.
THE FOOD:
MEMBRILLO: This dish consisted of
home-made quince paste, toasted ciabatta, montealva cheese and truffle oil. The
cheese gave the dish a sour tartness that meshed nicely with the sweetness of
the quince paste. The truffle oil grounds the dish, giving it an
earthiness. The flavors here blend so
well that it is difficult to differentiate one from another. The crostini is
light, airy, crunchy and soft all at the same time.
TROUTA AHUMADO: This dish was
basically a minced, smoked-trout salad, fresh and made in-house. Smoky, salty,
earthy smoked trout is the main ingredient in this dish. The onions give a
refreshing brightness and the egg further helps to brighten and smooth out the
dish. The egg here was an unexpected but completely welcome ingredient.
CATALAN KALE: Here Kale was sautéed
with pine-nuts and raisins. The pine nuts added a woody, oaky-ness reminiscent
of fall. There were onions and fresh horseradish within which added a kick of
spicy-ness. There was even a char on some pieces of Kale, which was wonderful. This
dish was a study in contrasts; savory, sweet, and salty all at the same time.
It had a heavy robust flavor and was almost greasy but it worked. It was sort of like eating a sautéed kale
trail mix.
ALMEJAS: Little neck clams were
combined with bacon, tomato, egg, sherry and herbs in this dish. The sauce here
had a nice, briny flavor. The egg added a meaty-ness along with the bacon and
tomato. The bacon seemed to have been marinated in the sauce rather than fried.
The tomato also added a touch of sweetness. Eating this dish was like eating a
clam stew. It was quite good.
CALAMARI A LA PARILLA: Calamari
tubes here were perfectly grilled with a char on the ends; giving a soft,
bouncy, tender, pillow-y texture; very sensuous. They were ensconced in a
pepperoncini vinaigrette; a sour, hot, spicy combo which enhanced the ocean-y
sweetness of the calamari perfectly.
Alone it would have been overpowering, but combined with the calamari,
it was the PERFECT accompaniment. We did not want this dish to come to an end.
PAN-SEARED ANGUS: The first bite of
this dish pushed Melissa into a fit of giggles. The buttery-ness and tenderness
of this cut of beef was unparalleled… transcendent even… lol. The beef was
seared to perfection. We asked for rare and it was perfectly rare. The char was
perfect. The sauce was a perfect compliment. All I can say is… WOW!
ROASTED EGGPLANT: There were
wonderful middle-eastern flavors here. It had a combination of roasted eggplant
and assorted curried vegetables. The
dish however did not exactly come into a coherent whole. The eggplant was very
mild, and slightly overpowered by the supper yummy curried veggies. The vegetables stole the show from the
eggplant in this dish. We felt that the
yogurt sauce would have been better placed atop the curried veggies rather than
the milder eggplant.
DARK CHOCOLATE AND HAZELNUT PANNA
COTTA: Dark chocolate, hazelnuts and espresso crème fraise made for a heavenly
combination. It was not too sweet, was light and refreshing, and tasted like
Christmas. The only criticism was that there were almost too many nuts.
