Socarrat

On one cold night, a few of us (Mr. Matzo Ball, Miss Poutine Esq, Mr. M&P, and myself) decided to get some dinner together. We wanted to have a real dinner as opposed to a bar meal like a regular Tuesday night. So off we went to Socarrat for some Spanish food. I've heard good things about it and Mr. Matzo Ball recommended it since he's been before.

To start off, we ordered a few tapas to share while our paella cooked. They recommend ordering the paella ahead of time since it takes a while to cook properly. The first tapa that we enjoyed was the grilled squid ($10). This was really good and perfect as the first dish. It was light and refreshing. The lightly grilled squid wasn't chewy at all. It was seasoned with garlic, parsley, and lemon juice. It reminded me of ceviche. I would definitely order this again.

Our next dish was the garlic shrimp ($10) which was fantastic as well. Super garlicky and sizzling as it came to the table, the shrimp were plump and juicy. This dish was perfectly garlicky including the remaining oil. We used our bread to dip in its garlic glory.

Another light dish that we ordered was the pan seared scallops ($10) with maitake mushrooms and butter vinaigrette. This was very good as well. The scallops were cooked nicely keeping them plump and soft. The mushrooms added a nice earthy depth to the dish and the butter sauce added a layer of richness. This dish was kind of small but it certainly was delicious.

For our last tapa, we had the fried artichoke ($9) which were fantastic. The squeeze of lemon added a nice freshness to the dish. The artichokes were crispy and light. They tasted great.

The timing of the tapas and the paella was perfect. As the last plates of the appetizers were moved away, our large pan of the Socarrat paella ($44) arrived piping hot. The crispy rice was topped with copious amounts of chicken, beef, squid, shrimp, cuttle fish, mussels, clams, and green beans. Everything was delicious and cooked well. None of the seafood was overcooked and the meat was tender. The rice was nicely seasoned and tasted lovely of saffron. As we made our way down to the bottom of the pan, the waiter came by and scraped up the crispy socarrat rice bottom for all of us to enjoy. I really love the crispy rice bottom. It's all about texture for me and crunchy always wins me over.

Socarrat was fantastic. I would definitely go back again. Once you step into the place, you can smell the fantastic foods cooking. Service was attentive and very friendly. The sangria was tasty and well made. The food, most of all, made us very happy.

Socarrat
284 Mulberry St # B
New York, NY 10012-3344
(212) 219-0101
socarratpaellabar.com‎