The bar for tapas or bar de tapas at Patio, it's a new place in Georgetown that is located at Pengkalan Weld. It's serving tapas that means appetisers or snacks in Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be either cold food such as cheese and olives or hot dish such as meat and seafood that are battered or fried. I've just learnt that Tapas are actually meant to cultivate the communication and relationship among the people that they're not so focused upon eating the whole meal. Well, Tapas are meant as tidbits that you can enjoy slowly while chitchatting with the families and friends.
It's "countable" whereby there's a total of 13 dishes in their short menu. Other than the Gambas or garlic prawn that is out of order and the Paella that is limited to only 3 sets per day, we've decided to share the remaining 11 dishes. I'll do the introduction according to the sequence in the menu itself. 1st is the Bruschetta or the toasted ciabatta that is topped with tomato and basil. The ciabatta bread is tasty especially with a thin layer of butter garlic. Attila loves the Bruschetta for without onion. 2nd is Frita that is served with Alioli or what is commonly known to us as Fries. Alioli is a traditional sauce that is garlic-based and being mixed with olive oil, lemon juice and egg yolk. Other than the nice aroma of the garlic and the freshness from the sour lemon, mustard is sometimes added to give a little spiciness to the sauce. I'm more impressed with the 3rd dish that is called Cebolla. These are tartlets that are filled with caramelised onion and goat's cheese. The compact and crispy butter-based pastry skin being filled with the shiny onion that tastes sweet and then being completed with the strong aroma of the goat's cheese, I've never imagined such deliciousness in my life especially I normally dislike the goat's cheese for its "goaty" smell.
Counting on 4th, it's the Pierna or squid legs that are served with spicy sour sauce. Legs? I know it as tentacles and they've been fried with a coating of flour that is then served with the Thai-style sauce. The plain squid is completed by the spicy and sour sauce that tastes very appetizing. 5th and 6th dishes are the Hongos and Bombas respectively. A plate of mixed mushrooms with garlic and black pepper, simple yet delicious except that I think that it's slightly too oily. Bombas is definitely another of my favourite menu whereby the potato bombs or balls are filled with Chorizo or the pork sausage that are then breaded and fried before being garnished with the capsicum sauce. I like neither the potato nor the capsicum but believe me, this is one of the dish that you'll enjoy it to the fullest satisfaction. I like the saltiness of the pork sausage and also the slight spiciness of sauce that has made the potato bombs to taste very refreshing.
Next dish is the Calamares or the pork stuffed squid that is served together with the squid ink compote. The minced pork is very juicy and it goes very well with the grilled squid. The 8th dish is the Almejas or the clams that are cooked with the white wine sauce. The creamy and salty sauce with the nice aroma of the white wine and the refreshing taste of the chili is a perfect match to the clams. It's a disappointment that the clams are not cleaned properly that we can taste the sand or the broken shells in this white sauce. The 9th is called Pollo or the fried spiced chicken fillet with Alioli. The fried chicken tastes a little alike the Oriental Belacan Chicken but I do enjoy its saltiness and juiciness anyway.
The 10th and 11th dishes that we've eaten are basically the pork meals. They're the Barriga or twice cooked pork belly with apple and carrot puree and Costillas or char-grilled pork ribs. The pork belly is tender and but it's slightly dry due to the lean mean. It maybe tastier with a thicker layer of fat meat or it'll be too sinful then?!! The pork ribs taste good whereby the marination sauce reminds me of the Satay sauce. The meat is tender but it appears to be slightly too sweet for the guys. I like especially the sauce that has been boiled with sliced orange that it tastes very appetising.
Thanks to Berndie for treating us to Patio for his birthday dinner. The meal is definitely delicious that we've enjoyed it by filling up our stomach to the fullest. Anyway, I'm a little pissed off by the unfriendly bar tender while claiming our free Sangria drinks. I dare not to take any pictures around the restaurant in order not to trigger the anger of the customers.
It's called Xen Teck Cafe緣德茶餐室 and I remember that it's located nearby the Tan Jetty. The stall is actually selling the Chinese-Style Economic Rice whereby we can choose either the white rice白飯 or the Nasi Lemak椰漿飯 that is then to be topped with various dishes such as chicken, pork, fish or egg. Attila feels a little disappointed that they serve neither fried anchovies, peanuts nor Sambal that are supposed to be seen for a traditional Nasi Lemak. Anyway, we've decided to try by sharing the Nasi Lemak that is put with Fried Mantis Prawn, Hard-boiled Egg, Roasted Pork in Dark Soy Sauce and Fried Chicken Wing. All the dishes are quite delicious but not really very outstanding. I like the nice aroma of the coconut milk in the Nasi Lemak and I think that the owner is using young coconut milk that the rice is very appetising and refreshing. I've asked for the Chicken Curry as the topping sauce. It's indeed slightly salty yet the thick sauce is really delicious.
