"The Med", as the staff refers to it, is a comfortable upscale Spanish restaurant specializing in Tapas, located on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, CA. The room is long and narrow with the Bar on the right and the dining area on the left. We sat at a table along the wall that had a comfortable padded seat and a good view of the rest of the dining room and bar area.
The menu has two sides: one side has hot (caliente) and cold (fria) tapas and the other has salads and entrees. The tapas menu is quite extensive while the entree menu only has a few items. We decided to skip the salads and entrees and concentrate on the tapas menu which was what drew us to this place anyway. They give you a paper version of the menu that you can use to mark what you want as you go, just like at a sushi bar. Here is what we had:
GAMBAS - Grilled black tiger shrimp with paprika oil
There were four perfectly grilled shrimp, simply seasoned with salt, paprika oil, and parsley. The shrimp tasted very fresh and the paprika oil gave it a bit of a spicy kick that we liked very much.
CHORIZO AL VINO - Baked Spanish sausage with red wine and bay leaves
This came in a small baking dish with several pieces of chorizo and the wine it was baked with. The Chorizo would have been great on it's own but the wine gave it a bit of sweetness that complimented the spicy, fatty sausage very nicely. Such simple ingredients but it was one of our favorite tapas of the evening.
CHILLED MUSSELS - in a light lemon vinaigrette
This plate had four large mussels that were cooked and chilled, coated very lightly with the lemon vinaigrette, and served with extra lemon slices. The mussels were fresh and meaty and the vinaigrette enhanced the flavor without overpowering the flavor of the sea. Delicious!
BABA GHANOUCH - puree of eggplant served with pita
This plate was good but was not our favorite tapas. It had a dark chocolaty flavor in the background, which I liked, but I prefer my Baba Ghanouch a little chunkier and more lemony.
MEDITERRANEAN OLIVES
As much of a lover of Mediterranean food as I am I have never enjoyed the taste of olives. Olives have always been the one and only food that I truly did not like. But in the last few years I have been trying to make myself like them because they are so much a part of the Mediterranean diet. When we went to Spain I had some that I could tolerate and I have had some since then that were not too bad. The olives we had here, I am proud to say, were good! There were three different types:
- Large green olives with plenty of chewy, briney meat on them
- Large kalamata olives that were a bit bitter
- Smaller purple olives that were more shriveled than the others
My favorites were the large green ones but I think I can now say that there is nothing in the Mediterranean diet that I don't enjoy
CHEESE PLATE - three cheeses served with crackers, dates, fig, and thin sliced pear
Bannon Feuille - soft, goats milk, from France
A soft and creamy cheese with the mild taste of gamy goats milk. Very nice flavor and not too stinky
Mahon - semi-firm, cow's milk, from Spain
This cheese was pretty firm with a nice chewy bite but not much flavor compared with the other two cheeses
Picon - semi-soft, blue, from Spain
This cheese was quite pungent and had nice blue veins running through it. It had a strong blue flavor that paired very well with the fruit, especially the pear slices. Yum!
ZUCCHINI INVOLTINI - baked with buffalo mozzarella, herbed bread crumbs
The presentation was nice. Each piece of zucchini was wrapped around a a piece of mozzarella and topped with bread crumbs, then baked. They resembled pieces of sushi. These were nice and light but I found myself wishing they were set in a puddle of tomato sauce to give them more flavor
PORTABELLA NAPOLEON - portabello mushrooms, piquillo peppers, Spanish cheese, on toasted bread
This plate had two good sized pieces of toasted bread stacked with the mushroom, mild and sweet tasting pepper, and melted cheese on top. It was fresh and mild tasting but again I found myself wishing it had something else for flavor. A thin layer of salami or prosciutto would have given it a bit salt and fat that I was missing.
The restaurant staff were all very friendly and attractive. Our waiter was really nice and knowledgeable and encouraged us to sit back and relax and enjoy the food at our leisure, despite the fact that nearly every table was occupied and people were waiting to get a seat. We had a very enjoyable meal and I would definitely go back again. Next time we'll sit on the patio so we can watch the people walking by on the pier.
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