Really excellent Spanish food and wine in a cozy, romantic setting. Bf and I came here after a long and very stressful week. We started with a bottle of one of their Rioja reds - it was fairly inexpensive and extremely delicious. We really enjoyed the depth and thought it paired wonderfully with the food. We shared the pan con tomate, their tortilla espanola, the patatas and the arroz a la plancha. Each was fantastic. The pan con tomate was super garlicky and fresh, with the tomato thinly spread over top. The tortilla was light and delicious, and came with some accouterments that we really enjoyed. The patatas were excellent - smoky, crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and with just enough crema for a textural and refreshing contrast. The arroz a la plancha was unreal - crusty and sort of caramelized on the outside, with a deliciously savory inside. We loved our meal here. We were really looking for someplace relaxing, tasty, and cozy, and Tertulia hit the nail on the head.

I recently returned to Tertulia for their amazing brunch deal, which included unlimited sangria or Catalan cava, coffee, and one entrée all for $29. We opted for the mimosa of the day, which was cava infused with blood orange juice. It was heavenly, so we were happy to indulge in as many as possible. Also, since we were one of their last brunch reservations, they allowed us to extend our endless string of beverages a bit past their traditional cut-off time. For my main course, I selected the Grilled Spanish Octopus, which had been cooked to tender perfection. The two tendrils were plated over three large Yukon gold potatoes, shaved celery, and a fermented mojo picón, or Spanish red pepper sauce. The marinade sure packed a punch of spice, that I loved, but my companion found overpowering for his less heat-tolerant taste buds. However, he really enjoyed his hamburger. We wrapped up our meals with the complimentary drip coffee, which was disappointingly bland and watery. Despite this less than stellar conclusion to our meal, we loved our brunch experience, and I would definitely return for this terrific deal, which really made sense if you planned to get multiple beverages.

I had one of the best Spanish lunch here at Tertulia! Sangria was very on point. It was a mix of red wine and brandy. The fruit in the drink was separately preserved in a jar with spices and maybe some brandy too. The drink was pleasant, sweet and a bit strong. Tortilla was an enhanced version of the traditional Spanish tortilla, topped with pickled vegetables and chopped meat, drizzled with olive oil. It was really delicious! Pulpo a la Brasa was probably the best I've ever had. I loved the spicy sauce with a touch of cumin taste. The octopus was so tender yet still crispy on the outside. Tertulia is definitely the go-to place for Spanish food lovers!

We came here early after trekking around the city. We knew if we headed home we wouldn't make it back. It was such a lovely day, we sat outside and figured we'd have drinks and a snack as they weren't even open for dinner yet. We ordered a pitcher of sangria -- some of the best I've had. Red wine, a touch of sparkling water, bits of peaches, apples, and oranges. Served very cold over ice it was refreshing on a hot afternoon. We shared their ham croquettes -- crispy on the outside and creamy and cheesy inside. And an order of patatas bravas-- fried potato chunks. Ordinarily I wouldn't waste the $ on potatoes but my friends had had this there before and raved about them. Each chunk was crispy on all sides and flavorful. Not sure what they were cooked in, but the fat gave it great flavor. For dinner we shared more small plates -- grilled shishito peppers with salt to start. The tiny peppers had good grill flavor. Most were fairly mild with a bit of kick in the end. But every once in awhile you'd get one that was surprisingly killer hot and unexpected to take your breath away. Not sure I'd order that again as quite small for $9, but they are popular now (featured in today's local food section, even). Then we got a double order of gambas al ajillo -- shrimps in garlic. This scampi like dish also came with slices of toasted bread to dip in the garlic oil. Tasty and filling. Nice size shrimp too. The last item we shared was a special that night -- cordera paella -- lamb paella. It was served in a huge cast iron pan with a very large round spatula. We were told to use the spatula to scrape up all the crispy rice bits on the bottom. The rice had shredded lamb, carrots, and celeriac root (?) mixed into it. It was topped with lamb medallions -- some rare and some cooked more well done. This dish was so good we made sure to eat every bite -- crispy bits on the bottom and all. I took a picture of the pan to give you an idea of the dish size and the spatula to show how you'd scrape the bottom. I'd never seen a spatula so large. And the empty dish also shows how good it was. Kudos to the chef!! For desert, we all shared their lemon tart (pie). A great palate cleanser -- not too sweet -- but a lovely ending to a delish meal. Can't wait to go back next time I'm in NYC!

Stopped by for dinner before watching a show at the comedy cellar. As our group walked in Terulia, a dry-cured ham was being carved up on one of the back tables. Because this was a company event we were able to sample a bunch of offerings. Needless to say it was a feast and one of the best meals I had on my last trip to nyc. Oysters - At a buck a pop we ordered a tray of them. They were a little on the small size but be sure to ask for their special hot sauce on the side. That was great. Nuestras Patatas - crispy seasoned potatoes with a cream sauce on top. While not as good as Rally's ( or checkers ) season fires, they were addictive. Cojonudo Revisited - smoked pig cheek, quail egg. This was interesting but I'd probably pass on it. Tosta Matrimonio - black and white anchovies. I love these. The sweetness cut though most of the saltiness. I'd order this again for sure. Pulpo a La Brasa - grilled spanish octopus - Looked cool, tasted okay. Arroz Negro - squid ink - By far this was my favorite of all the Tapas. Embutidos - 3 cured meats - Pretty good charcuterie board Quesos Artesanales - cheese - Good selection

I will never stop loving tapas. They are amazing for so many reasons. The main two being that 1) Spanish food is all kinds of YUM and 2) Sharing = trying many more things. What could be better? Came here on a Friday night at 8:45 and the place was packed. Thankfully we had a reservation, so we had our table all ready for us when we got there. First things first: the service. A+++. Our waiter was awesome. Enthusiastic, funny, helpful, all of that good stuff. Before I move onto the main event, just a comment on the general environment here. It's quite pleasant. Somehow it pulls off a slight intimate vibe despite being light and cheery. It's a lot of wood and exposed brick, which make it both fancy and homey. Really just exudes warm and friendly. Now, the food. We were set on ordering something - anything really - with Iberico ham, so we started off with the Iberico ham platter, which was served with some crostini-esque bread. Absolutely delicious. I don't eat read meat too much, both for health reasons and because I don't particularly like the taste, but this stuff was packed with flavor - flavor that I liked very very much. The saltiness wasn't overpowering, and it was incredibly rich. We probably could've eaten that all night and left content. When I order tapas, I typically like to order a mix of vegetables and meats/poultry/seafood. So next, we ordered the snap peas and the broccoli salad. They weren't out of this world great, but still very good. The snap peas were pretty heavily dressed, so any sort of potential for healthiness there was squandered. Not necessarily a bad thing, just the reality of the dish. And the broccoli was served with - if I'm not mistaken - lamb bacon, which packed almost as much of a punch as the Iberico ham (though comparing the two would be silly - the ham is the star of the show and that bacon could only stand as a supporting character). Now for my personal favorite of the night - the smoked pig cheek with fried quail egg. GET THIS. DO NOT BE DETERRED/AFRAID OF BIG CHEEK IT IS SO WORTH IT. The only negative thing about this dish is that I only got one bite. Well, technically two, but that's only because I tried to savor something that is really meant to be enjoyed all at once. A tip for trying to savor this: don't break the yolk on the first bite. Otherwise you will be needing to ask for a stack of napkins. Take it from a very messy eater - I had to be careful with this. If you're not a weirdo who likes to make your food last an egregiously long time, just ignore that tip. Now comes that sad part of the night. We were still waiting on the octopus and duck dishes, but much to our chagrin, we had both reached food baby status. So, with a look of defeat in our eyes, we cancelled the octopus because the duck had caught both of our eyes initially. The website menu isn't updated, otherwise I'd tell you exactly what was in it. The only thing I remember is that it was dry roasted or dry rubbed.....something like that. I'm only proficient in chef-speak - some things are beyond me. Anyway, the duck was fantastic, and I managed to eat a whole bite-sized piece. I should get a medal. A note on drinks - the gin and rye cocktails are both decent, but nothing special. They are both pretty unique though, which was a nice surprise at a tapas bar. A lot of the tapas bars I've been to just serve wine/beer/sangria, so the cocktail option was much appreciated. Too much wine makes me fall asleep, which is not exactly conducive to eating.

Tertulia?!? What the heck does that mean? Well this Spanish word means 'a gathering of friends marked by great conversation, food and drink.' According to the restaurant, this was also a name of a popular Spanish type of salon in the 17th Century. While in New York, I had a chance to dine here with friends....we found out later that this restaurant was a finalist for the James Beard best new restaurant in 2012. We attended the restaurant for dinner, and when we arrived it had a nice buzz going on. There were people dining outside and as we entered the buzz was definitely louder. It does have a hip, fun environment inside, and it was full of people. There is not a lot of room inside, but it does give the restaurant a cozy feel. The kitchen is towards the back of the restaurant, of which we didn't have a good view (bummer!) and the bar is towards the front. And when I say towards the front, I mean literally in front of you when you walk in! We were happy with our large booth, as there were 5 of us, and started to look at the menu. We started with Spanish cider and Sangria, which we enjoyed. For food, we had..... Baby squid special Delicious and slightly chewy. Not a large portion, but very tasty. Heirloom tomato and cucumber salad special Really great salad, fresh and vibrant flavors of summer. Pan con tomate Toasty, tomato-ey goodness....great flavor...and got my palette working. Tosta huevo roto y jamon iberico This was a combination of egg, potato, and aged jamon iberico. This was scarfed down so fast...everyone couldn't get enough. When you stepped back and thought about it, it was almost breakfast. But eating it, it was so much more. Choclo Probably my favorite savory dish, this was a mix of fried crisp hominy, pork belly, lime dressing, and cilantro. It was an unbelievable contrast of texture and taste. Every bite was crispy, chewy, soft, and aromatic. Paella del huerto The paella came out and it was a very large platter. At first I was worried we wouldn't be able to finish it all, but with further inspection, I noticed the cooked paella was actually a very, very thin layer. If you know anything about cooking times for paella, you know this makes sense in order to make the food in time for the customer, but I would have liked a little more. The other interesting part was this was our least favorite dish... Moving on to dessert..... Blackberry port sorbet This had a nice blackberry flavor with an medium aftertaste of the port. I liked it very much, my wife not so much......this sorbet is not recommended for non drinkers. Olive oil ice cream Tasted like your typical olive oil ice cream...nothing special Churros y chocolate My favorite dessert....short sugared churros sticking out of a drinking glass that is half full of melted dark chocolate....SO MONEY!!! Rich, decadent, yet very simple. It was hard to share....always the sign of a great dessert! Drunken bread pudding with walnut ice cream This was the rest of the table's favorite dessert. I believe it was served slightly warm and went well with the walnut ice cream. I barely got a bite before it was gone. All in all, a good experience. I would go back if I was in there area, if for nothing else but to pop in for some quick tapas. The waiter we had was attentive enough, and the food came out in a semi timely matter, especially because it was packed. In short, the restaurant embodied the definition of it's name....

Tertulia was definitely high on my "To Try" list since I really enjoyed chef Seamus Mullen's first restaurant Boqueria several visits back (review: http://bit.ly/ZEMlS3). I'm happy to report that this tapas hot spot is just as good even though it gets jam-packed in about thirty seconds flat. It's definitely tight quarters in here, but I made a reservation for when they first open at 5:30PM because we had tickets to see "Pippin" that night. Coincidentally, Jamie W. and I just tried Michael Chiarello's virginal foray into upscale tapas fare, Coqueta in San Francisco (review: http://bit.ly/11kXh5D) and were quite impressed. This place is even better, and I think it has to do with Mullen's tried-and-true experience with Spanish cuisine. Experience will show after all. We decided to stay put at our high-top table for two across from the bar instead of entering the dining area, the better to take in the hubbub of activity that appeared to be growing by the second. It also gave us a chance to say hello to the bike-helmet-wearing Mullen who kept passing by us making sure the restaurant was ready to do business that evening. My colleague back at work is in love with him, so this review will likely raise the volume on her envy meter. Anyway, it was hard to decide which temptations to graze on (photo: http://bit.ly/13xndtA), so to lubricate our decision-making skills, we ordered a pitcher of their House Sangria which was a refreshing mix of dry red wine, brandy de Jerez, orange liqueur, fresh orange and lemon juice, all over ice (photo: http://bit.ly/19A2FoS). A perfect starter. We began with a $9 plate of Pimientos de Padrón, a pile of tangy roasted shishito peppers doused with quite a bit of sea salt (photo: http://bit.ly/10S8zLm). Addictive and the ideal companion to the sangria. We segued into the $14 Alcachofas a la Brasa, grilled artichoke leaves accompanied by an anchovy-infused aioli and a smoked lemon half (photo: http://bit.ly/15usHHB). Jamie found them a bit too chewy, but artichoke aficionado that I am, I enjoyed the toothiness of the charred leaves. We then shared the $18 Pulpo a la Brasa, which was a hefty, grilled octopus tentacle prepared in traditional tapas style with Verdina beans, Lacinato kale pistou and toasted pine nuts (photo: http://bit.ly/18HRNUv). I'm not sure what it takes to make the normally fibrous octopus so tender, but they nailed it. The $9 Nuestras Patatas were perfectly prepared, potato chunks crisped with Pimentón de la Vera and a garlic aioli (photo: http://bit.ly/ZmV74N). There was quite an abundance with this dish, and actually we ended up leaving a quarter of it on the table. Perhaps fortuitously, we had ordered a duck special as our final dish, but the waitress didn't make note of it. It was just as well, as we were quite sated at that point. Besides, we needed to get moving to get to the theater on time. The waitress, however, felt so badly about her misstep that she gave us several Churros to go with a thick Nutella-like hazelnut sauce that turned out to be the perfect post-show snack (photo: http://bit.ly/14lTu5A). Seamus, we're coming back for your big dishes next time. For sure. FOOD - 5 stars...tapas that go beyond satisfying, wish I went for the paella in hindsight AMBIANCE - 4 stars...buzzy, bustling and there goes Seamus SERVICE - 4 stars...despite her oversight, she was cordial and attentive TOTAL - 5 stars...tapas central in Manhattan, hands down