The bovine must be a significant contributor to a business to receive top billing over poor Angela. The Ox could be a dude I guess. There are celebrities named after stones, liquid fuel, and money, so why not. Ox & Angela (which could be compressed to O&A…but I never will) is a Spanish tapas restaurant balancing the knife of edge of what defines tapas. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, and my crystal ball foretells an extremely positive review, but I adhere to the tradition demanding a tapas restaurant list dozens upon dozens of options for people to pull from. I’ve been to some with literally sixty options.
Tapas must be difficult for a restaurant to offer given the number of options required. You have to support a large enough staff to handle the orders, or else freeze everything beforehand, a horrid idea leading my preference to limited tapas over a menu offering the world stuck in an ice age. That being said, a successful restaurant in a town like Calgary shouldn’t have that problem. Ox & Angela offers less than thirty options that can be classed as actual tapas. Not bad, could be more, but far beyond some of the insults to the name I’ve been to. A local business in my hometown only features tapas in title only, renaming the appetizers page. A disgrace. Ox & Angela is birthed from Mary’s womb in comparison. However, to enjoy the full experience, the suggestion is to order the “The Spanish Table”, which is, let’s be honest, actually a chef’s menu—a set list of small plates (about ten). At $45 per person, such a menu is a remarkable deal. I’ve spent triple that on some tasting menus.
The décor is charming, with a wall splitting the establishment. I love restaurants that do this—it increases intimacy, but more importantly, it greatly decreases sound pollution. I’ve been in colossal restaurants where one cannot hear friends across a table. Ox & Angela takes it one step further by altering the décor in each half, leading me to think one side is the Ox while the other side is the Angela. I would wager I was on the Angela side…it looked more feminine.
There were three of us that day, a day where the The Spanish Table was $10 off. Given its two person minimum, it became the obvious choice. Each course was shared, and of course, it had to open with olives, followed by Persian dates wrapped with serrano ham and stuffed with manchego cheese, walnuts, and coated in pomegranate molasses. Sharing that plate was dry cured Spanish serrano ham. Then came the (apparently) famous croquettes with salt cod, potato allioli (not a spelling mistake, the Spaniards add an “L”) and chili oil. So far, so good. What was elaborately described as toasted pan rustica with crushed tomatoes, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil was really a mouthful for bruschetta. After that was a personal favorite, albacore tuna with tomato relish and crispy capers. It remained a favorite for about three minutes, followed by something that shouldn’t have been amazing but was--ensalada escalivada--charred marinated vegetables, whipped goat cheese, and anchovies. Yes, anchovies. After which, we had a butter lettuce salad with toasted walnuts, apple, manchego cheese, and a sherry vinaigrette.
Bored yet? Not I. Patatas Bravas--crispy fried baby potatoes, something I’m going to replicate the first chance I get. It was followed by the only course I was not a fan of--grilled spring onions on romesco sauce. But redemption came moments with grilled hanger steak with browned mushrooms, olorosso sherry butter, and pickled onions. We had room for dessert, so while one of us had the flan, the rest had churros in chocolate sauce.
By the way, I just love saying flan. Flan, flan, flan.
Along with drinks, the bill came to around $150, pretty much a bargain in my book. Ox & Angela is a legitimate score. The food is fantastic, sublime and astounding. I immediately wanted to return. However, I would not order the “The Spanish Table” again, as that menu is fixed. I would spice it up with other options, or better still, challenge the chef (whose name is listed on menu) to create something entirely original. Given the selection, I bet he would take up the task. Ox & Angela makes virtually no mistakes and knocks everything else out of the park.
Flan, Flan, Flan…
Food: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Presentation: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Recommendation: 5/5
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