05/10/09

Tapas, Sangria and More

by GlenbraeGuitaris

I love Spain, and have visited her a couple of times in the recent past. And I have enjoyed a variety of regional dishes, wines and mostly tapas that have sustained me throughout my travels. And it is my pleasure to report that Ole Tapas Bar is a breath of warm and dusky Iberian air right here in the San Fernando Valley.

From the moment we were warmly invited into the darkly reddish, glowing interior, we knew that the mood and tastes of Spain awaited.

We came specifically for Sangria and tapas. and we ordered accordingly. A pitcher of iced red sangria and the following: Pollo al Sabor de Granada--chicken breast strips with pomegranate sauce, and Pinchitos de Cordero--lamb brochettes in a sangria reduction sauce. We also enjoyed the Placa Caliente, which is an assortment of tapas featuring grilled shrimp, fried goat cheese in honey, patatas bravas, fried calamari, sauteed mushrooms and artichokes. We rounded out our meal ordering a fresh spinach salad with poached pear and goat cheese. Dessert was a lovely dish of sauteed banana carmelized in brandy, introduced into a puff pastry, baked and served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and slivered almonds. Delicious and uncommon.

The dishes were appetizingly presented and satisfying. We definitely intend to return and sample more of the eclectic Spain-inspired fare. We also wish to enjoy the live flamenco show hat is currently scheduled for Tuesday nights.

The geography of southern California is very evocative of much of Spain. A meal and an evening at Ole Tapas Bar inspired memories and visions of our next journey to the ancient peninsula.

• Pros: Ambience, menu selections, table staff
• Cons: None of any consequence noted

04/22/09

Nothing Spanish about this place

by Buke413

Spain is now arguably the top culinary destination in the Western world. Chefs across the Iberian peninsula are transforming simple ingredients into mouth-watering, original fare. Unfortunately, Ole Tapas Bar is anything but original or mouth-watering.

My wife and I started our dinner with a couple glasses of wine. Mine was a Temperanillo that came from a bottle that was probably opened the previous week ... dry, chalky and flat. My wife ordered the sauteed mushrooms and artichokes which, after one bite, was ignored the rest of the evening. I ordered coconut shrimp with avocado sauce (avocado sauce? what is this ... mexico?) and they tasted like they came out of the frozen section of Trader Joe's ... and I love TJ's but I expected more. The final straw was when I bit into the lamb skewers and proceeded to chew for what seemed like days before washing it down with a whole glass of water. It tasted like rump roast ... and not in a good way. All in all, the only thing Spanish about this place were the busboys ... and they were probably Mexican ... so there you go.

Que lastima!

• Pros: Service was friendly but unimpressive
• Cons: Food was horrible

02/23/09

Fabulous place!!!! Just had my engagement party here

by luv2paintthetown

I have been to this restaurant a hand full of times and I really like to food and the staff has always been super friendly. I just got engaged and wanted to have an engagement party somewhere near where I live, some place that was nice but also casual and somewhere that had good food. I thought of this place and boy, was I happy. We had around 50 people show up and we had the bar/ lounge area and a couple tables near the bar just for us. The food was terrific!! The staff, again, was so so nice!! And everybody really enjoyed themselves and just loved this place. Also, the sangria, white and red, is awesome. I seriously could not say anything bad about this place...and by the way, in an economy like this one, if you still are able to go out and eat, the prices here are super. I highly recommend Ole' :)

• Pros: friendly staff, great food, love the artwork, sangrias
• Cons: none!

01/17/09

Nice ambience...

by judo354

this place is a nice local place. no long waiting line. we just went in a sat right down. i liked that they had a full bar so i can get my drink on. the food was surprisingly good. we have to go back and try other tapas we didn't get to try.

01/10/09

great local find!

by jonna85

i heard about this place from a friend. i thought i try this place out and i absolutely loved it. i enjoyed all the tapas i ordered. my fav was the tuna and avocado salad. the environment was friendly and cozy. i would definitely go back again and again.

10/15/08

WOW

by happyjme

i took my friend for her special 30th birthday. wow. i was impressed. i wasn't expecting much and we had food, great wine, great sangria, and great service. i really liked it a lot. the waitress had brought over a fruit dessert plate with candles for my friend. we planned to go a bar after dinner but we just chatted the night away.

• Pros: free parking. great tapas. FULL BAR. good service. great atmosphere

09/28/08

Wow

by w0lfgh0st

I'm no 'foodie' or wine snob, but I know what's good, and this place was good enough to get me to write my first review.

We sat at the bar and she served us from the 'bar menu', the regular menu, had two of the nights specials and then dessert, all while sampling most of the speciatly drinks and martinis! We don't usually go through that much food, or drink for that matter, but it was sooo good we just kept ordering more.

We're actually going to go back on Tuesday, now, for the flaminco the guy next to us was raving about, and I would suggest to anyone to do the same.

• Pros: Free Parking, Great Food, Full Bar, Good Service
• Cons: We just loved it!

09/27/08

Great bar. warm ambiance and knowledgeable staff...

by c70

So, we have driven by this place a hundred times, and finally stopped in and had a blast! I've been to most places on Ventura and have to say this was a great place for a girls' night (as we did) or to meet an old friend out. The bar had a great bartender who knew his wines really well and made us feel like we stepped into Barcelona for the evening... It was a thursday and got fairly busy, but never too busy to chat with the staff or conversate about the great tapas...Try the Sangria Martini and the Placa Caliente (sampler platter)!! Fantastic!

08/29/08

Great local place

by leila08

i was very glad when my friend referred this place to me. i had the sangria for the first time and it was great! then i tried 3 different tapas. the aoili sauce is to die for. the tapas filled me up so i didn't order any main dish. i'm a petite person so the portion was good enough for me. if my boyfriend came here then he would of have to order a main dish to feel full. i thought the service was friendly unlike what the other reviewer has said. i would go back with my bf.

• Pros: sangria and tapas
• Cons: self parking

08/24/08

Poor Service

by julyseptember

The service was not attentive at all. My friend and I had to request refills of our drinks. The food overall was marginal but we sent back one dish that did not fit the description listed in the menu. The escargot tasted like a sweet and sour soup and was sent back. I felt like I had to offer an explanation for sending back the escargot dish because the staff seemed reluctant to take it back. I only sampled the dish with a few bites and found the taste so different to any escargot I had ever had and not to my liking at all. The ambience is nice with red color scheme, and lighting, but overall, the food was rather bland, nothing special, and the service left much to be desired, and bill too high in price for the service and food offered.

• Pros: ambience
• Cons: service, food, price