Spanish sweetness

>> Villa España offers a warm atmosphere
and tasty sangria for the Little Italy crowd

by MARK SLUTSKY

As a lifelong fan of Spanish food I’ve always found Montreal’s selection of Iberian eateries to be less than plentiful, but very satisfying on the whole. In their own particular ways, restaurants like Tapeo, Casa Tapas, la Sala Rosa and Pintxo set their own high standards for the cuisine here. So I was excited to learn about Villa España in Little Italy. Villa España is run by the same people who were behind the now-shuttered Étoile du Sud, which I never visited, but which re-opened in its new incarnation this year.

The restaurant is located on St-Laurent on the lower end of the Little Italy strip, kitty-corner to the park (sit near the windows and you can get a decent view). The decor is definitely a little...unusual. There are the traditional Spanish colours and a painting of flamenco dancers near the front (they do flamenco nights on Saturdays and co-owner Jack apparently plays a mean guitar), but there’s also a strange neon tinge to the place. The row of booths by the back have a glowing pink accent, which, combined with some bold colouring in that general area, gives the place a funhouse atmosphere I’m not sure they’re going for.

The atmosphere is redeemed, though, by the friendly service. Jack introduced himself to me and my pals as soon as we arrived, when we visited on a recent weekend evening, and he was solicitous and helpful throughout the entire night. His enthusiasm for the food and the restaurant itself was evident.

We started off with a complimentary plate of olives, diced tomatoes and olive oil—all Spanish, we were assured. It was delicious—the olives were fat and juicy, the tomato sweet, the oil warm and sumptuous. In retrospect, this was probably the crowd favourite of the evening, and we didn’t even pay for it!

The Basque-style chicken ($15.50), actually a southern French dish, was described to us in such mouthwatering detail we had to try it. As it was explained to us, the chicken is flavoured with traditional espelette hot peppers, which gives the dish a unique flavour—though to be honest, we were disappointed. The chicken was dry and the special flavour was nowhere to be found.

The rest of our meal concentrated on the tapas. We went for a three-course tapas taster ($23), which included garlic shrimp, mushrooms primavera and Spanish-style beef, as well as a couple of others. The garlic shrimp were plump and juicy, though I would have liked to have tasted more garlic, and the big, fat mushrooms, served with unremarkable vegetables, could have bursted with a little more flavour. The beef, however, shredded and stewed, was quite tender and tasty.

The tortilla española with chorizo and cheese ($12) was a little singed on the outside, but it was an overstuffed and otherwise flavourful variation on the traditional potato omelette. Another dish that incorporated chorizo was the very strange “Don Quijote” ($12.50), which consisted of a toothpick-speared mushroom cap, a slice of sausage, a piece of ham and steak. Give this one points for inventiveness, though it was overall too dry.

At least the sangria, which we were promised was “the best in town,” didn’t let us down. Was it? Well, it was pretty darn good. Unlike many a sangria, this one dispensed with the chopped apples, oranges and other assorted fruit that usually bob around in the pitcher for a more homogenous, but no less flavourful, offering. The secret? We couldn’t get it out of them, but I suspect it was the Xeres (a Spanish sherry), of which we received complimentary glasses at the end of the evening, to “keep the taste of Spain with you,” as our host put it.

To be honest, the food at Villa España can’t compete with the city’s better offerings; it was a disappointment. But the atmosphere was so welcoming, the hosts so charming and sweet, the sangria so pleasant, that I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself there again in the future.