New Bandra eatery aims to draw customers with more than just appetisers

El Toro – Cantina & Tapas Bar comes from the owners of Bombay Coffee House and is an all-day eatery specialising in tapas (Spanish for appetisers). The menu, surprisingly, includes several other regular dishes such as Fish and Chips

Pimentos Rellenos con Tres Quesos

The list of open and shut cases of Bandra restaurants can get a little tiring. So, when we heard of a new tapas bar in Reclamation, we went in hoping for the best.

El Toro – Cantina & Tapas Bar comes from the owners of Bombay Coffee House and is an all-day eatery specialising in tapas (Spanish for appetisers). The menu, surprisingly, includes several other regular dishes such as Fish and Chips, and Chicken Yakitori.

Phoebelicious

Comfortably seated close to the picturesque bar, we skipped the generic options and ordered Pimentos Rellenos con Tres Quesos (Rs 250). Originally batter-fried, El Toro's version used local chillies and came drizzled with balsamic. The stuffing of Manchego, Red Leicester and cottage cheese worked well with the mildly hot local chillies and made for a pleasant, light appetiser. The Pastel de Cangrejo (Rs 400) or crabmeat cakes prepared in the house special sauce could have done with a little more crunch on the outside. The Phoebelicios (Rs 300) mocktail, with its refreshing fruity contents, fared better and is worth calling a second round of.

Pork Belly

Our pockets felt the pinch when we ordered Vieiras (Rs 900), pan-seared Norwegian scallops served on a bed of cauliflower puree and topped with orange hollandaise.

Pollo Aceitunas y Chorizo

Though fairly good to taste, the dish includes just two portions of scallop. The Pork Belly (Rs 400), cooked in an apple cinnamon sauce, had an inconsistent texture. The pickled red cabbage that the menu promised with the pork was overpowered by the sauce. Our favourite was Pollo, Aceitunas y Chorizo (Rs 400). Cooked in chorizo oil with an addition of diced chorizo and olives, there was nothing to complain about in this chicken dish.

With just about a month of being in service and a decently-priced alcohol menu, we give El Toro some grace marks, but they need to iron out the creases in their menu and serve dishes that are value for your money.

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