As we enter the second month of 2019 (can you believe?) I'm just about starting to make a dent in my 'to-eat' list i.e the restaurant edition of the Never Ending Story that's listed in the notes section on my phone. One of these places, and one I've been meaning to try for a while is Sabrosa, a fairly new and completely independent Spanish restaurant that has opened just outside of Woolton village.
Having done very little research about this place in advance, which is v. unusual for a fun-sponge like myself, I've got to admit it was nice for everything to be a surprise- and a surprise it certainly was.
The set-up inside is pretty basic and gave me the feel of being a pop-up restaurant in somebody's living room. There's a mismatch of chairs, a stack of wooden crates and the very same IKEA lampshades that I have in my own hallway. If it weren't for the howling wind and rain pelting down in the darkness outside I would have taken one look at the laminated menus and have felt like I was on a foreign-exchange in Barcelona.
It was definitely unusual, but I can't say I didn't like it. I've been to enough Insta-friendly, cacti-filled brunch spots recently to appreciate something different, and there's certainly nowhere else quite like this one.
Drinks-wise there's only 3 wines on the menu: red, rose or white, or there's an option to bring your own booze. The latter seemed to be the preferred option of the table of pensioners next to us who were pulling bottle after bottle of Echo Falls out of an ASDA bag like teenagers at a festival... I'm not surprised this place is so popular.
On the food front there's around 20 tapas dishes on the menu alongside a few full-pan paella options (but these need to be ordered in advance). Since we didn't have enough foresight to either go drink shopping or call ahead for paella we settled for a bottle of Rioja and a good selection of plates from the main menu to tuck into.
Overall the food was really good. The highlights for us were the Patatas Bravas which were crisp and coated in a sweet and smoky paprika oil rather than a thick tomato sauce and the Mini Chorizos de Leon which were cooked and served in a puddle of white wine. Also good was the Tortilla de Patatas, the classic Spanish Omelette and the Serrano Ham Croquetas. In fact, the only minor let down on the food front was the Gambas al Ajillo that were lacking a punch of garlic and, in my opinion, would have been better served in the shell...but then maybe I just like getting messy.
The tapas at Sabrosa didn't blow my mind, but it was definitely authentic and it all tasted pretty good. The staff are really welcoming, the restaurant is cosy and what's more fun that sharing small plates with your mates alongside the smuggled-in contents of your booze cupboard? Exactly.
Find out more on their website here.
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