11.25.11
Review of La Nacional, Tuesday November 2010
239 W.14th St. & 7th/8th Aves. (Centro Español), 212-929-7873
Great for: vegetable and meat tapas, sangria, large parties, flamenco shows
I starred in a webseries that teaches foreign nurses English – it took all day for a whole month. This was our wrap party. I’d been here a few years ago to watch flamenco, and I really wish I’d had the food then! Tapas is often mildly disappointing in NYC – too salty, oily or bland. These guys get it right. (Well, I’ve only been to Marbella, where my family opted not to eat the local food, so it’s not like I know what’s completely authentic, but I do know from yummy.)
There were nine of us and I think we sampled most of the menu. All their “vegetable” tapas were simple and lovely – we had the pan con tomate, tortilla (scrambled eggs with creamy potatoes), patatas bravas and egg tomato soup. The seafood tapas were not as good, though decent. I found the grilled octopus tasteless and squishy but still okay, and liked the fried calamari better. I didn’t bother with the grilled calamari since I usually don’t like that.
The meat tapas, on the other hand, were stellar. We had a nice cheese and meat plate with two cheeses, a spicy chorizo and a prosciutto-type meat with olives. The chorizo escarole soup was pretty good, as were the shrimp in garlic oil. I loved the chorizo dish and its sauce, and the croquetas were perfect, thinly breaded balls of cod mousse that came six to a plate.
My favorites were the tortilla, chorizo, patatas bravas, croquetas and egg tomato soup. I’m getting hungry just thinking about them! The waiters were sweet and patient, and we really enjoyed the delicious sangria. It’s sweet and not too alcoholic. This place definitely stays on my list.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $335 (12 kinds of tapas, 5 pitchers of sangria)
Noise level: noisy party
Chance of walking in: it’s busy.
