I’d been looking forward to eating at Europa for some time. The concept of Tapas or small plates has always appealed to the part of me that wants to taste as many dishes as possible. Naturally, I had read through the menu several times prior to my visit to consider and anticipate the interesting dishes I’d order. My wife and I arrived and immediately argued about how many plates to order. She pointed to the statement on the menu that suggested that 2-3 tapas could be considered a main course. I pointed to the special offer of 4 dishes for $25. Clearly 4 wouldn’t be sufficient for the two of us (I argued); therefore it only made sense to order 8. She sighed, knowing she would lose this one.
The restaurant was relatively empty on this weekend night, and the wait staff was attentive and gracious. We sat at a lovely curved booth with a large table designed to accommodate many plates. The first two things to arrive were the salad and a basket of bread. The salad was delicious – fresh greens, juicy grape tomatoes and light, crisp croutons that had crunch but still melted in your mouth. The balsamic vinaigrette was absolutely wonderful, and we particularly enjoyed soaking the accompanying bread in the vinaigrette. Note – the bread basket was filled with a combination of boring, dry, less than standard rolls, as well as the most wonderful homemade rustic white bread I’ve had since I was a child. When we questioned the wait staff, they explained that Mike’s (the owner’s) mother made the crusty white bread herself, and when we requested it, another plate of mom’s bread was promptly delivered to the table. I should mention that the bread bowl was accompanied by an olive tapenade made of unusually flavorful calamata olives (my wife’s favorite), and she dove in happily, licking her fingers after every morsel she devoured.
Two at a time our dishes began to arrive. Various wait staff appeared at reasonably spaced intervals to deliver each new offering. Our first two dishes were the pork pinchos (a Spanish marinated pork kebab with cucumber sauce) and herbed goat cheese grilled shrimp with presunto (a kind of prosciuotto ham) in a balsamic vinaigrette. Yes, it was the same as the vinaigrette from the house salad, and we soaked up the remainder of the bread with it! The shrimp was slightly overdone, and the presunto flavor strong enough to overwhelm the delicate seafood, but when all the elements were combined with the cheese and sauce, it was a bright burst of flavor and a tasty starter. I’d recommend it. Although it arrived looking delicious, the pork kebab had a thick coating of spices on the meat that resulted in an unpleasant texture when eaten.
Next we were presented with lollipop lamb chops in surprisingly tangy orange vinaigrette. The combination of perfectly cooked lamb with the orange sauce and boursin cheese was a delightful flavor treat, and we rolled the chops around to soak up as much of the vibrant orange sauce as we could. The spanakopita was a disappointment. An overabundance of spinach and a tiny amount of filo resulted in a soggy mess. While the red pepper sauce it sat in was adequate tasting, it worsened the sogginess and did nothing for the overall flavor.
The Mediterranean flat bread was a welcome platter of crisp bread, sweet caramelized onion, sweet grape tomatoes, flavorful feta, delicious calamata olives (“same as the ones from the tapenade,” my wife exclaimed) and more of that terrific balsamic vinaigrette. No, we weren’t tired of it. It was fortunate that the flat bread was so wonderful because it came with a plate of lobster
The next two tapas to arrive were both seafood. We first sampled the salt cod fritters in a romesco sauce. It was a generous portion of crispy fritters filled with the potato cod mixture but was just okay - what we expected, but nothing particularly unusual or flavorful. The sauce was not one of our favorites either. The second fish dish was a truly enormous piece of Basa filet crusted in almonds accompanied by a generous amount of the same romesco sauce. Sadly, size doesn’t matter when fish is so terribly overcooked and dry as to be literally inedible.
We ended our meal with rice pudding, since we felt we needed comfort to make up for the disappointing final fish dishes. Comforting it was, but surprising as well. The tart lemon kick in the pudding was unexpected and lifted the traditional dessert to another level, and we polished off every bite and licked our spoons. Presentation was fanciful, as well, with a fork impression on lemon peel dust scattered on the plate. Taste is everything of course, but creative presentation makes us happy too.
All in all, it was a fun experience. Attentive staff (who worried each time we didn’t finish a plate of food), a few stand out dishes, and lots of exciting flavors and tastes. On the other hand, with almost half of the dishes disappointing us, it’s probably not a place we’d return. Unless Mike’s mom starts selling loaves of her bread – we’d absolutely go back to buy that at least once a week!
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