Eiir El Rincon
Queen Victoria Market, Corner of Victoria Street and Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
0421 117 777
Bar Food, Cafe, Spanish
$$
Food
- Salmorejo & Olives
- Croquettes With Jamon Serrano And Chorizo
- Sardinas Fritas (Fried Sardines & Cod Croquettes)
- Albondigas (Spanish Meatballs With Almond Sauce)
- Spanish Flan
- Sangria
The Good
Starting off the evening was a beautiful glass of Sangria. With a rich heritage and now served in many restaurants in and around Melbourne, their house sangria is not only famous, but is also on tap. A first that I've ever seen. Sweet with fruits and bold in flavour, this sangria was tasty and refreshing.
The Salmorejo was outstanding. Beautifully flavourful and smooth, the tasty puree was a great accompaniment to the toasted bread sticks. The consistency was simply divine and the rich tomato base was well balanced with hints of garlic. It's no surprise that this is a traditional Spanish staple and forms the base of many dishes.
The Jamon and Chorizo Croquette was very enjoyable. A nice crunchy outer enclosed an incredibly rich and cheesy inner. While this could've definitely done with more protein within, I certainly thoroughly enjoyed the abundance of cheese amidst the crunch.
The Flan was a rather tasty dessert, and would definitely tickle any custard lover's fancy. Without being overly sweet, the custard was smooth and creamy. Combined with the chocolate sauce and a tad of cream, the flavour was spot on.
The Mediocre
Despite loving canned fish of all varieties from Portugal, the Sardinas Fritas was not to my taste. I found it too fishy for my liking. Even with the beautiful crumbling that was light and crunchy, as well as a rich tomato based sauce, the fishyness still penetrated nonetheless.
While the Albondigas (meatball) itself was absolutely divine, incredibly juicy, soft and bursting with flavour, same can't be said for the almond sauce. The sauce was definitely too salty for my palate and definitely distracted away from the meatball itself. This could've been salvaged by a tomato based sauce providing some acidity to balance out the dish.
The Bad
Portion sizes were definitely on the small side, even for tapas. These were probably more like pintxos, which are usually served complimentary of drinks ordered.
The Verdict
Overall the tapas served tonight were enjoyable and holds true to their traditional Spanish origins. With an incredibly warm and hospitable crew of wait staff, the experience definitely made me reminisce my travels in Spain. I did leave hungry and wanting for more though.
Would Penguin Eat Again?
Sure. I'd definitely be back for a drink of their famous, traditional Sangria, along with their complimentary pintox of course. The food? I will just need to make sure to order a whole lot more next time around to fill up!
We'd like to thank El Rincon for inviting us to sample their new tapas menu.
We have received repeated requests from restaurant management insisting for the "small portion sizes" comment be removed. They also insisted that the items served that evening were Pintxos and not Tapas, except all email correspondences as well as communication by wait staff on the night indicated they were serving Tapas.
Given the dishonesty of restaurant management, I cannot in good conscience recommend any readers to visit.