Pulpo Negro — Restaurant in Winchester

I booked a table for two seven weeks in advance to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, having eaten there once before and having an outstanding experience, foodwise and service-wise. On arrival, we were put at what I can only describe as a shelf running along the window sill and facing the street. Not exactly an intimate start to our celebration. Our waitress was very good, taking time to find out if we were conservative eaters or more adventurous and she recommended what turned out to be the best dish of the evening. The downside was that while we were choosing (we'd had a power cut all day and hadn't eaten so were pretty hungry) we said we'd probably be ordering more and were informed in the nicest possible way, they needed the table back at 9pm. (Our booking was for 7pm and we arrived in plenty of time). Hmm, nice to feel valued ...... well, for 2 hours anyway! Food was nice to mediocre to bland, but of course, this is very subjective. Expensive too ..... £12 for a small (albeit beautifully cooked) octopus tentacle? You can get much better value for money at a Michelin star restaurant. Compared to our previous visit when the food was wonderful, it was awful. The final straw was that despite there being plenty of room behind my chair, which I'd pulled in as tightly to the "shelf" as possible, it was constantly kicked and banged into by passing waiting staff. I did bring this to the attention of our waitress, but only so that I could apologise to the waiter, whose first time knocking my chair resulted in me exclaiming "for goodness sake!" At the end of the evening when your server asks "how was everything?" and you immediately think "I just want to go home", pretty much sums up how disappointing the experience was. A very expensive mistake and we...

Not a place for couples wanting a romantic, quiet or reasonably priced evening. Went to this restaurant last night (26th Feb 22). Despite booking 3 weeks in advance for a table for 2, we were only given the choice of 2 tables. One too cramped to sit at or a ‘wall facing’ table with stools. As the stools had more space we went there. Big mistake as we had to sit side by side staring at a darkly painted wall just 2 feet away. The kitchen was just 10 feet away and very noisy. The head waitress was pleasant enough but was on us too quickly wanting us to order because it was busy (6pm). Then there was the menu. Main tapas list contained 11 vegetable dishes, 3 seafood and 4 meat dishes. £12 for 5 prawns, £14 for just one octopus (pulpo) leg (just 3 inches long). All dishes standard tapas size but very expensive to my mind. Other than the head waitress who had some training, the other staff were untrained. They would just reach over you without saying excuse me and twice nearly bumped hot food on my shoulder or face. I had just 2 soft drinks, my wife had 2 glasses of wine in a carafe. We couldn’t have any churros for desert because they’d run out already (and our table was at 6pm, so not late). Surrounding us were many tables for 4 with children (they were most disappointed that the chocolate churros had run out). I suspect many parents go there just to give their children that delicacy. We left after having no starters and just 6 small tapas plates between us. The bill was £98 (shocker). I left there hungry, disappointed and depressed from staring at a dark wall. I’m sure it’s better at lunchtime in the daylight by a window but at the price it is, I’d only go back if I was in a group of 4 or more to get a...

Having lived in Spain for 5 years, we developed a liking for good Spanish food. After our self-isolation of 2 weeks on return from Florida, we had a delayed celebration of our 21st wedding anniversary.

We had intended to sit outside but the 3 or 4 tables were right on the pavement in the main street, so we asked to go inside.

The very helpful Polish lady (Domenica or Mika for short) patiently explained the precautions the restaurant was taking, such as disposable menus and hand sanitiser on the table.

We started with bubbles made from Albarino grapes & very pleasant it was too. Mika asked if we were here on a special occasion, so we explained…. (See later.)

Nibbles were some olives, delicious warm, crispy bread with aioli, one of our favourite things in the world!

As is typical with tapas, the meals arrived as and when they were ready, so everything was piping hot where necessary.

We had a tomato salad as that was recommended to cleanse the palate / accompany the brandade. “Brandade is an emulsion of salt cod, olive oil, and usually potatoes. It is eaten in the winter with bread or potatoes. In Spanish it can be called brandada de bacalao.”Wikipedia This was truly delicious and something Eve is going to cook at home for sure.

Other main dishes we had were huevos rotos, “broken eggs”, which was nice but we prefer good chunks of sliced potato vs. the thin strips served here, plus chicharrones. ” Chicharrón is a dish generally consisting of fried pork belly or fried pork rinds.” Wikipedia This was scrummy.

We chose a Ribera del Duero red to accompany the above, which was OK, but not cheap at £7.50 for a small 125ml glass.

We had a Basque cheesecake to share to...