About a month ago, I met up with a good friend of mine to celebrate her birthday at an authentic Spanish restaurant in the CBD called Tapavino. Having not been there before (nor heard of it), I was excited to try out this new venue.
We started off with a lovely glass of Spanish white wine before choosing a few tapas items to share.
We couldn't resist the sound of the warm cow's cheese with walnuts in vine leaves, so started off with that. It was a beautiful, melted soft cheese, encased in vine leaves and served with toasted bread. The walnuts added a nice crunch and subtle flavour to balance out the saltiness of the cheese.
We then tried the corn on the cob with parmesan, lime and a refreshing salsa, which was a wonderful lighter dish before we moved onto one of their larger "from the land" options.
We opted for the spiced lamb shoulder with red grapes and yoghurt, which we did not regret one bit. The slow-cooked lamb was extremely tender, succulent and lean, while the sweetness of the grapes and tartness of the yoghurt were excellent accompaniments to the spicy meat.
Even though we were quite full at this stage, it is no lie that we both enjoy our desserts, so I decided to order the chocolate terrine with olive oil and salt flakes, while my friend chose the cookies cheesecake.
The terrine was incredibly rich and fudgey (I could only get through half of it, which is saying something for my standards). I wouldn't hesitate to order it again though.
I tried a spoonful of my friend's dessert, which had a good balance of sweetness from the cookies and a more subtle flavouring from the baked cheesecake.
If you are in the CBD and are looking for an authentic Spanish restaurant with a broad selection of tapas dishes, I would definitely recommend trying out Tapavino. A word of advice though - definitely book a table. We went on a Tuesday night and it was absolutely packed, which is of course a good sign of a restaurant worth trying.
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