Pintxo - If Heaven Were a Restaurant...

Pintxo in Belltown is my new favorite restaurant!!! If I had to spend eternity in any restaurant, I would choose to spend it here.

Full disclosure: I lived in Spain (Cadiz province) for six months, so my standards on Spanish cuisine are very high. This place was excellent in nearly every respect: the space is narrow, long, and compact like nearly any restaurant/bar in Spain. The ambiance is elegant and chic but certainly nowhere near fine dining a la Tango. Service was friendly and attentive but not overbearing - many orders of magnitude better than what you'd get in an "authentic" Spanish restaurant, that's for damn sure! There is some of the best modern art I've ever seen decorating their walls - be sure to ask for their art list, many of the pieces are reasonably priced.

The food:

Matt and I had the following courses as part of the Yollar (groupon) package - it really turned out to be the perfect little evening :)

-Pintxo platter
---manchego cheese
---queso de cabra
---chorizo
---jamon serrano
---catalan sausage
---BACON-WRAPPED DATES!
---marinated olives

Each of these dishes was near-perfection and reminded me deeply of the wonderful meals I had in Spain. The jamon serrano is worth the hype, it really melts in your mouth and (save for the expensive jamon iberico) is the best ham on the planet. The cheeses were perfect compliments as far as flavor, although we could've done without the catalan sausage (repetitive after chorizo). Bacon-wrapped dates were sugary and succulent - a totally unexpected delight! This is not "typical" spanish food, but then again maybe it should be!

-Main course
---Oxtail over a bed of potato cakes and spinach
---Rockfish over rice, vegetables

The oxtail was perfectly cooked and seasoned, its morsels were succulent and tender not unlike lamb. The rockfish was salty but still delicious.

-Dessert
---Chocolate mousse - served in a cute shot glass, rich, dense, and everything that mousse should be
---Bread pudding - a bit overcooked and crispy, but still good.



I would highly recommend this restaurant for any occasion, but reservations are a must - this place is tiny!