First Bite: Tapa the World - Sacramento, CA
Tapa the World is a Spanish style tapas restaurant in Sacramento that’s popular as a late night stop before going out dancing or clubbing on weekends. Since they stay open until midnight, it’s also popular for some of those coming home from the clubs as well. Rob and I decided to drop by on a whim for a light dinner earlier on and see if we could grab a table amongst the hustle and bustle of trendy and pretending-to-be-trendy crowd.We started out with olives, which were meaty and salty, just as olive should be. I always hate when an olive dish is pallid and lacking diversity or served in a petri dish that barely satiates one person, but this was a large terra cotta dish filled to the brim with a nice variety of olives. We did have an issue with one of the one pitted variety of olives on the plate. Something was wrong with those, they tasted a little funky and had a sort of mildew taste to it. The others were superb.
The tapa of the night was a delicious shrimp plate with melted butter and sprinkled with black salt and aioli. They were fabulous, salty, and creamy and perfectly cooked so the shrimp was just flavorful and tender. There’s also something delightfully barbaric about ripping the heads and shells off of shrimp and devouring them. Love it.
The kobe beef was gamey and melted in your mouth with a full flavor that was helped with a nice blue cheese butter and crispy onions. Though it was a bit overdone, the food was still delicious.
We were seated in the courtyard, which had it’s pitfalls. For instance, be prepared if there happens to be any fire or emergency because the sirens’ cacophony in that cave will drive you deaf. Also, the table next to us had their table extended for a birthday party which came so close that anyone wanting to get by ended up having in intimate positions with our table.
I am not sure we ever saw our server or else we had four of them. One took our order, one brought the olives, one brought the food, and the last took the check. No one ever asked how we were or even gave us side plates for bread. We had to stop a girl to get the check. Really, busy or not, it was shoddy service.
All and all, a nice meal, but be seated in the front patio if you can and go on an off-day.
Tapa the World
2115 J Street
Sacramento, CA
(916) 442-4353
