Tapas @ El Meson

It had been a long time since my dad and I tried tapas, and so we decided to head over to El Meson and give the place a try - rather than the our usual La Bodega. El Meson is a Spanish restaurant located right next to Madam Kwan's, on Jalan Telawi 3, Bangsar Baru - right opposite Bangsar Village II.

Upon arriving at El Meson, we were told that the kitchen was closing at 10. I found this quite odd, considering the fact that tapas was meant to be 'late night eating'. Nonetheless, we sat down outside and ordered three varieties of tapas dishes from the 'hot tapas' section of the menu.

Before the tapas was served, we were given a complementary Basket of Baguette Slices with Garlic Aioli. The bread was soft and warm while the aioli - an emulsion of olive oil, garlic and egg yolk - complemented it nicely. My dad on the other hand, felt that the aioli was too bland and tasteless for his liking, as he prefers more bolder flavours.

We were then served Queso Frito worth RM14 (no picture available), which was essentially deep fried goat's cheese with tomato jam. The cheese was crisp on the outside and soft and stringy inside. The tomato jam complemented the fried cheese well as it added flavour to the cheese, rather than overpowering it.

We were then served Champinones worth RM16, which was button mushrooms in a garlic cream sauce, flavoured with white wine. The mushroom flavour was a bit too bold for my liking though the sauce curbed it - being mallow in taste. Unlike my dad, I did not fancy this dish very much as I felt the sauce was not thick enough.

Lastly, we were served Albondigas - meatballs in a tomato sauce, also worth RM14. Though simple in nature, the dish tasted fantastic as the meatballs were wonderfully prepared, being crisp on the outside and juicy inside. The tomato sauce did not overpower the flavour of the meat, but rather complemented it very nicely.

On the whole, I really enjoyed my time at El Meson. The menu had a considerable variety of tapas, which I felt were very well prepared. I feel that this establishment poses a threat to La Bodega, due to the fact that in my opinion, La Bodega has slightly dropped in quality.

When in Bangsar, I highly recommend you try El Meson if ever you're in the mood for tapas, as the restaurant offers good service and good quality food with a considerable amount of variety. Our total bill came up to around RM60, including a glass of lime juice which my dad had ordered.

Presentation: 7/10

Ambiance: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Overall Taste: 7/10

General Impression: 7/10

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Cheers,

BrianandRepublic